Amp Recommendations for Baritone Guitar

I am putting together a tele style baritone guitar tuned to B or A and I am interested to know what kinds of amps others use with their baritones - and what kind of music they play on them of course.

I assembled one recently and haven't gigged with it yet. I think that tuning calls for a clean sound with reverb to maximize the twang -- so I would probably use my Peavey LTD 400 amp (15" JBL, solid state, designed for pedal steel) as a starting point.

I think I'd have to agree with the solid state amp or a big tube with a lot of head room..I don't think I'd like much distortion.
I put heavy strings on a Squire Tele and tuned it B to B.It's OK but not really great.I'm hoping to buy one from Rondo and tuning it A to A..Don't think I want to go any lower.

I have a Roland JC120 - 2 x 12 - already. I'm just not sure about the bottom end though as it is a fairly bright amp.

- and what kind of music they play on them of course.

This is just awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaCjPdtDBxo

(tuned to B)

This is just awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaCjPdtDBxo

(tuned to B)

Its definitely on my covers list!! Pity I cannot see what amp he is using.....

I use my silver Face twin and my 410 Peavey Classic 50, normally i dont mess with bass on the amp, and they both handle it well.

I use it on Turn it, turn it up, Turn me loose (Dwight)
Stop the world and let me off Dwight doing Waylon)
Aint a cow in Texas (Dale Watson)

Any opinions on these for practice or small gigs?

SFTR with the large first stage of filtering. Get some good speakers, too.

I play mine through a 70 watt ultralinear Fender Pro Reverb. Clean machine with great reverb and tons of bass when needed. Majestic sound!
Jef

SFTR with the large first stage of filtering. Get some good speakers, too.
I assume you mean Silver Face Twin Reverb - I don't know what you mean by the first stage of filtering though - is that a spec option or a setting?
Thanks

nrand, ;YEs, SFTR woudl be teh SF Twin REverb. The first stage of filtering feeds the OT and power tube plates. A large capacitance here yields firm low ends and a lot of punch. The later TR's had 110mfd's of capacitance here, versus 35mfd in the BFTR adn early SF TR. The Ultralinear amps of the late '70's would lend themselves very well to a baritone. I would also suggest for those amps that increased capacitance in the first stage and maybe even SS rectification would be a good thing for a baritone. At some point, a tube rectifier cannot handle any more capacitance, so Solid state becomes a necessity.
Example: a GZ34 rectifier is rated for 50 or 60mfds at the max. Teh 5U4 in the UL PRo Reverb cannot take more than two 100mfd caps in series, I would think. This would be better than the two 70's in series that are there.

Teh 5U4 in the UL PRo Reverb cannot take more than two 100mfd caps in series, I would think. This would be better than the two 70's in series that are there.

The UL Pro Reverb has a solid state rectifier and two big 220uF caps in series. It gives you all the attack and punch you need for big fat baritone notes!

Another very nice amp for baritone, although a bit pricey, is the Fender Vibro King. Heavy transformers, big filter caps and 3x10" speakers. And great reverb and tremolo too.

Jef

Check out Glen Campbell on a Jerry Jones baritone through a JMI 15/4 amp (starting at 1:48).

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I think his tone is the best I've heard for baritone. The JMI is an expensive amp, but a reissue Vox AC15 probably gets you close.
http://www.jmiamplification.com/

Jef, thanks for the correction. Something in the back of my mind was thinking that perhaps the UL PRo REverb had gone that way, but I couldn't be sure. INdeed, that would make a great baritone amp.

The heading speaks for itself - nothing else available in OZ at present for less than 2Gs. This was around US$700.00 and in excellent shape - I'll throw the guitar in the car and drive to Sydney to get it this week.

Danelectro baritone - used through a homemade Princeton Reverb clone with beefier trannies and a 15" speaker; we make alt.country/Americana/singer-songwriter/folk rock.

The amp is home now - its a bit smaller than I imagined - a 1976 model with six valves under the hood. Extremely clean and not used much from the look of it. It sounds silky smooth and clean at low volumes - eg '1' so there is plenty of headroom. Thanks to Wally for his help on this.

As a footnote I did not realize that Fender made amps that look like blackface amps this late - some guy on ebay was trying to sell one here in Australia as a 'blackface' for over 3 Gs last week.....

Very happy.

Being my new baby I just had to post a few pix - I'll have to wait a couple of days to turn it up though :)

My bari is that same Jerry Jones Glen Campbell plays, only black. It sounds remarkable through a Fender RI '57 lo power tweed twin. Just as good in a different way through the sorta tweed pro Sewell Wampus Cat.

I like the extended low end of some Mesa amps (DC5 in particular) with Baritones.

My bari is that same Jerry Jones Glen Campbell plays, only black. It sounds remarkable through a Fender RI '57 lo power tweed twin. Just as good in a different way through the sorta tweed pro Sewell Wampus Cat.

I'll have a play of Glen's Bari licks when my guitar is finished and post the results here for comparison.

Here's the other amp I like the bari with, a modded Ampeg Gemini II. 6L6s, tube rectifier, Big Ben. Working out a new tune at rehearsal. A little too much clean boost, so it got kinda crunchy. Still feeling my way with this guitar:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=1004157&songID=8352418

My two bobs worth.

For me it is my homebrew Baritone Tele (Warmoth neck) through a Gibson GA-80 (15" speaker). Glorious, sounds even better with ta touch of the inbuilt tremolo and reverb, the licks just roll out!

Got me a butt ugly Italia baritone w/ pickup special made by Becky and Bill Lawrence.

Tune it to A-A and do James McMurtry, Dave Alvin and alt-country originals.

Thing looks like it was painted w/bed liner and it's crazy neck-heavy but the tone is killer.

Lot more "meat" than the Danos an Jerry Jones types I've heard.

Best amp by far for baritones I've heard is an Ampeg Gemini II model G-15 w/15 inch spkr.

Hate to say it but mine's for sale, new cap job and original Jensen alnico...

On Ebay right now, hate to sell but gotta fix the Jeep!

Keep twangin' y'all

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250569333869&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Here's the other amp I like the bari with, a modded Ampeg Gemini II. 6L6s, tube rectifier, Big Ben. Working out a new tune at rehearsal. A little too much clean boost, so it got kinda crunchy. Still feeling my way with this guitar:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=1004157&songID=8352418

Very infectious licks!

Hot Rod Deluxe & Dano baritone ... yummy ...

anybody try the Dano 63 Baritone or the Dead On 67 ? and if you see one, I'm in the hunt for a 98 to 01 Single cut Dano Baritone...

I have the amp now and have been practicing with my G&L ASAT Tuned to B while we wait for all the coats of paint to dry. I am getting some pretty nice Bass sounds, within the limitations of the Tele Scale. I have a lot of confidence in the Amp being handwired, but one spec I might want to look at down the track is the rectifier. The Super Twin Rectifier is SS. Is there any logic in thinking about a tube transplant here down the track\? I know from experience that the SS components have a limited shelf life and besides I am always dreaming up ideas for tinkering with stuff. Is this at all sensible?

After months of changes and frustration, I finally have something that sounds great, anything but pure anything though. A cross-breed guitar through a cross breed amp with a little Fender in each.

The Super Twin I bought, bought it soon after, and to cut a long story short, I cut the top off the dead Super twin, sold the crapped out head, inserted a new 5/8" marine ply baffle into the slot, built and tolexed a new top, retained the original front grill, added some vintage EVM 12Ls, and a Dean Markley Signature Series 120 head.

The guitar has a Baritone Special neck, and the body is custom designed by me, described elsewhere here, with Wilde Keystone pups, a a Jag tremolo and a one of a kind scratch plate. The actual work on the guitar was done by Steve Salvi here in Adelaide.

I add just a touch of reverb with the bass at 12:00, and the mids and treble at 11:00. The guitar is a joy to play again and while it is not quite as crazy loud as the Super Twin it is not far from it, with more than enough head-room, currently running at 16 ohms. It is not quite as sterile sounding as the Super Twin, just really smooth pulsing bari-tones, with heaps of rich overtones. I may try 8 ohms after a week or so with this.

I use a Peavy Delta Blues with a 15. Changed out both teeny transformers with a big Hammond for the PT, and a Dr. Z for the OT. We miked everything, so I didn't need tons of power.

I use a Peavy Delta Blues with a 15. Changed out both teeny transformers with a big Hammond for the PT, and a Dr. Z for the OT. We miked everything, so I didn't need tons of power.

Man.....What a Great Lookin Strat !!!

How do they sound through a bass amp?

SFTR with the large first stage of filtering. Get some good speakers, too.

+1

Also, with a Twin Reverb you get a good reverb, for the Morricone and Wichita Lineman sound.