N (baritone) GD - squier vintage modified baritone jazzmaster

markblack

I've wanted to try a Baritone for a while and this popped up on gumtree about 20 mins from my house so I thought I'd have a punt.

The internet seems to think the squier vintage modified baritone jazzmaster is one of the best affordable baritones. 

It's a bit of a beast, the 30" scale takes a bit of getting used to. I tried a nice supro baritone which was a 26.75” scale  and it was more comfortable... but it was £600 more

That said its not too much of a reach and it's an interesting thing to have around, and great fun. I do like a dark guitar sound so it's right up my street.

I think I'll hang onto it as it wasn't too much cash and I think its something different to pick up now and again.

I wasn't sure about the NONE MORE BLACK! look, but its grown on me. 




it was this kind of stuff that got me interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqV3eDQd5as&t=40s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EooxUCzV20 - around 23:00

VJIves

RAISING THIS THREAD FROM THE DEAD, do you still play it much? I'm contemplating a baritone or a bass vi, but I'm worried I'll play it to death over the honeymoon period and then leave it to gather dust...

Seziertisch

I have a Baritone JM that I have had heavily modified - Sustainiac pickup in the neck, Fletcher PAF style in the bridge, Mastery bridge and Duesenberg Tremola, full nitro refinish. I use lighter baritone strings to make it more 'guitary' and tune to B (as opposed to A) 

Though fully stock, it was also great. The Danelectro style bridge has its vibe and the stock pickups are also cool. As to what use you will get out of it, I can't say. It is definitely worthy of regular use, and also quite versatile in terms of genres where it would work.

The Baritone JMs are definitely a bit more "guitar like" than "bass like" with their longer scale. You can do some bending and regular "guitar stuff" on it, whereas some other baritones are a bit more like short scale basses.

Creed_Clicks

I had the green JM baritone and while it was cool, the longer scale took a bit of getting used to. I found the tele conversion necks a lot more comfy.

VJIves

I'm quite tempted by the fortcoming Baritone Cabronita, although a Subsonic recently went on sale a few miles down the road and I can't work out how I feel about the reverse headstock. Life!

markblack

@VJIves I'll be honest I don't play it every day. But it gets picked up a few times a month. So it's not gathering dust. I play it quite a bit with a cappo and finger pick on it. It's different to anything else I have. That said,I'm  glad I bought a £120 baritone as if I had £700+ in it it might feel like a waste.

I do think they are something worth a try though.

markblack

Funkfingers

Seziertisch said:

You can do some bending

Maybe not as much as you might have hoped. This is why so many baritone guitars have a vibrato bridge/tailpiece. 

The Fender USA Jazzmaster/Jaguar type works especially well for baritone tunings. The budget lookalike tailpiece, less so.

I write this as somebody who bends bass strings. This is actually easier to do on bass strings because they are spaced further apart. 

AntonHunter

VJIves said:

I'm quite tempted by the fortcoming Baritone Cabronita, although a Subsonic recently went on sale a few miles down the road and I can't work out how I feel about the reverse headstock. Life!

Baritone Cabronita sounds cool, I can't find anything online about it, got a link?


*edit* Found it, these all look cool! https://www.gearnews.com/namm-2020-leak-squier-paranormal-series/

Seziertisch

VJIves said:

I'm quite tempted by the fortcoming Baritone Cabronita, although a Subsonic recently went on sale a few miles down the road and I can't work out how I feel about the reverse headstock. Life!

The problem with Fender and their more unusual models is that you will probably be waiting a while for these to hit the shops over on this side of the pond.

They announced a bunch of alternate reality series guitars at winter Namm 2019 and they are only just starting to come through in dribs and drabs now