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Hi all,

First time posting on this forum, I'm planning my next project which will be a acoustic baritone. I built only 2 guitars so far, a classical and a dreadnought so little experience. Baritone acoustic are not so common and good sources of information pretty rare. So I'm here looking for resources or people who built one to share their experience.

My plan is to use the specs from Herman Arendsen (with his permission https://www.hermanarendsenguitars.nl/baritone.html). It's based on a jumbo size with a 28 inch scale and 70-16 ga strings. But I'm wondering if I wouldn't prefer a 28,5 scale and I'm also actually considering a multiscale fretboard.

I bought a Engelman spruce top and braces, still thinking about what I'm going to use for the rest of it and that's where I'm at for now, brainstorming!

I would love to hear about your baritone, technical considerations and experience building it.

Thanks
Dominic

What tuning are you planning on using?

What gages of strings do you use for standard guitar?

I’ve built a few. I prefer a lighter string set 60 -15 and then tuned to C rather than B. The 70 on top just doesn’t have the shimmer that I get out of a 60 raised a semitone. I’ve actually got a pile of parts for a 27” baritone sitting at the back of my bench. I personally think 28” is too long do be a really comfortable player especially when playing in first position. I do build a 28 over 26-1/2” multi-scale baritone but use a partial capo which gets me a couple of frets above first position making it very comfortable to play.

That’s a beauty Michael!

Beautiful guitar Michael! Dreadnought shape? And what about this bridge? Custom shape?

Thanks,

It’s my take on the Modified Dreadnaught shape ala Somogyi. I’ve since changed the bridge shape a bit, finding this one a bit harsh and overly angular.

And do you use a bigger shape for longer scale? What are your considerations on size vs scale?

I use the same body for my 25.5” scale, 27” baritone, and the 28” multi-scale. They all have a Manzer Wedge body making the bigger body more comfortable to play. As for scale considerations, being able to comfortably play a bar cord on the first fret is important. I find 27” to be my sweet spot.

Here is a very handy resource - https://www.liutaiomottola.com/formulae/fret.htm

PS the bracing is different on all three.

I use a 26 1/2 inch scale for my ladder brace “baritone“ six strings and 12 string guitars.
Since you’re just talking about six strings, I’ll just address that here

I use the medium gauge strings and tune down about one whole step.

I have a jumbo Stella shape which is 16 inch guitar and I also have a grand concert which is a 14 1/2 half inch guitar which I use it on


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My third guitar also was a baritone. The main suggestion I have, based on my experience, is that you play on baritones with different strings and scales before you construct one. The experience would be very valuable. This didn't occur to me before I build one, but I was new to building at that point. It may be hard to find baritones to play. There's a reason for this (more below).

I used a 28 1/4 scale and medium strings. The long scale wasn't a problem (though I have large hands, and play the guitar in classical position, which facilitates big reaches. I found the mediums so difficult to play on that I switched out to light gauge strings. I was surprised to find that they sound better, to my ear. The string compensation changed radically, but fortunately I had designed the bridge using moveable saddles, so I could adapt to the new strings, barely.

Quality of tone is largely subjective. In my personal opinion, the reason baritone guitars are relatively rare is that they don't work as well overall as conventionally tuned guitars. The conventions of how high and low a conventional guitar goes weren't established arbitrarily--they reflect a lot of trial and error. I'm glad I have my baritone because it's a nice option to have in a 2-guitar jam, but it's not what I like to play on every day. YMMV.

_________________
Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."

This is very relevant Tim, tank you! It makes lot of sense to try as many as possible of these instruments but unfortunately, I don't know anyone who owns a baritone and the last guitar shops I went didn't have any. It's just a curiosity I want to try to build and add to my bucket list and gain some more experience doing it. It'll be my 3rd built just like yours was.

I gave this project a little bit of planning and here is where I'm at.

Engelman spruce top
Maple back and sides. nothing figured, unfortunately going low budget
Laminated maple neck with wenge/padouk/wenge core
Wenge fretboard, bridge and headstock (my wenge slab is not quarter sawn, any issue using this for fretboard and bridge?)
Multiscale 28/26.5, parallel fret 8
Jumbo inspired body shape (not sure about that yet, might be dreadnought)
I'm considering a Manzer wedge like Michael

I started making a plan but I still need to figure out the shape.

Any thoughts are welcome.
Dominic

How bad is it if I use this piece of rift sawn Wenge for a fretboard?