Blacktop Baritone Neck, good for project?

[hobo]

I'm in the process of building a baritone Tele, and was thinking about acquiring a new Blacktop Baritone neck instead of a Warmoth. The Warmoth is designed to retrofit on a stock body without moving the bridge; would I have to relocate the bridge on my body if I used the Blacktop bari neck? It's 27" scale; it doesn't seem like I would have to change anything on the body.

[wannapickone]

The Fender Blacktop Bari neck is 19 7/8" nut to heel. The nut to saddles is of course 27". How long is the Warmoth neck? I just bought a new FBlktop and the neck was "horrible" right out of the box. It must have been "training day" when the truss rod was installed. I took 2 1/4 turns "out" to get the neck "bow" out...and I'm not even gonna mention the "fret ends"......geeezummmm!! All is well now, but I certainly expected "better" from Esanada or where ever the hell it is..........IMHO, I'd go with the Warmoth!
"KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP ON A PICKIN" WPO

[jmiles]

+1 for Warmoth. No issues. Simple install. Gorgeous. Strat,,,, I know;

[hobo]

Originally Posted by wannapickone

The Fender Blacktop Bari neck is 19 7/8" nut to heel. The nut to saddles is of course 27". How long is the Warmoth neck? I just bought a new FBlktop and the neck was "horrible" right out of the box. It must have been "training day" when the truss rod was installed. I took 2 1/4 turns "out" to get the neck "bow" out...and I'm not even gonna mention the "fret ends"......geeezummmm!! All is well now, but I certainly expected "better" from Esanada or where ever the hell it is..........IMHO, I'd go with the Warmoth!
"KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP ON A PICKIN" WPO

The Warmoth bari neck is 28 5/8"; not sure about nut to heel length. I guess I liked the idea of grabbing the Blacktop bari neck because (I thought) I wouldn't need to have it worked so much by a luthier, and also I could probably score one with tuners. I'm really just assembling a parts-caster bari; I don't have any fret or nut files so all of that is going to be farmed out.

@jmiles: that's a beauty Strat, for sure.

[jmiles]

"would I have to relocate the bridge on my body "

That's the determining factor, eh? If it's a standard Tele body, the Warmoth bolts right on. No changes. 27" seems like a kinda short scale for a Baritone. However my first Baritone was just a Tele with really heavy strings on it. Didn't play that well though. My Strat plays just as easily as a regular Strat. Unwound 3rd string. You can do anything on it that you can on a regularly voiced Strat.

[wannapickone]

Originally Posted by hobo

The Warmoth bari neck is 28 5/8"; not sure about nut to heel length. I guess I liked the idea of grabbing the Blacktop bari neck because (I thought) I wouldn't need to have it worked so much by a luthier, and also I could probably score one with tuners. I'm really just assembling a parts-caster bari; I don't have any fret or nut files so all of that is going to be farmed out.

@jmiles: that's a beauty Strat, for sure.

The Fender Blacktop Bari neck is 27 1/2" from the "very tip" of the headstock to the heel. The measurement from the heel pocket to C/L of saddles is 7 1/8". The Scale length is measured from the edge of the nut (closest to the body) to the C/L (center line) of the saddles or more correctly, measured from the edge of the nut to the 12th fret and then doubled, i.e. 12.75 x 2 = 25.5" as is a standard Telecaster. So, the Baritone scale length being 27" should measure 13.5" from edge of nut to the 12th fret and of course that number X2 = 27". Just to be clear I measured the distance from the heel pocket to the saddle C/L and it is 7 1/8"....same as a Standard Telecaster. So, the answer to your OQ is no.....you will not need to move the saddles/bridge plate if you use the Fender Bari neck. The longer Warmoth neck will not put as much tension on the strings as the Fender neck. Good luck with your project......the fun is just beginning.

Also @ jmiles......YES! That is a beautiul BariStrat! I would love to hear it. Are you familiar with "Darlene" sung by T. Graham Brown.....check it out the Strat solo.

[hobo]

Originally Posted by wannapickone

The Fender Blacktop Bari neck is 27 1/2" from the "very tip" of the headstock to the heel. The measurement from the heel pocket to C/L of saddles is 7 1/8". The Scale length is measured from the edge of the nut (closest to the body) to the C/L (center line) of the saddles or more correctly, measured from the edge of the nut to the 12th fret and then doubled, i.e. 12.75 x 2 = 25.5" as is a standard Telecaster. So, the Baritone scale length being 27" should measure 13.5" from edge of nut to the 12th fret and of course that number X2 = 27". Just to be clear I measured the distance from the heel pocket to the saddle C/L and it is 7 1/8"....same as a Standard Telecaster. So, the answer to your OQ is no.....you will not need to move the saddles/bridge plate if you use the Fender Bari neck. The longer Warmoth neck will not put as much tension on the strings as the Fender neck. Good luck with your project......the fun is just beginning.

Also @ jmiles......YES! That is a beautiul BariStrat! I would love to hear it. Are you familiar with "Darlene" sung by T. Graham Brown.....check it out the Strat solo.

Awesome, thanks! Of course, now I actually have to decide what to do...

[Davo17]

Originally Posted by jmiles

+1 for Warmoth. No issues. Simple install. Gorgeous. Strat,,,, I know;

Wow got any clips of that? Id love to hear how that sounds.

A blackguard baritone tele would twang like it was cool....
Id put twangzilla on the headstock.

[hobo]

That's pretty much what I'm building, but with just one pickup in the bridge position. Also, I'm doing it real cheap, so it may suck.

[Davo17]

Originally Posted by hobo

That's pretty much what I'm building, but with just one pickup in the bridge position. Also, I'm doing it real cheap, so it may suck.

A tele is a simple guitar, and if the only real "mod" is bolting on and setting up a bari scale neck, you should be able to rock it.

Thats a cool idea.

[Gary in Boston]

In Premier Guitar this month there is an article about converting a Thinline to a baritone


Gary

[jmiles]

Sorry! No audio clips. Plays normally, all bends easily doable. Behind the nut bends are tougher on the fingers though. The Hipshot drop-tuner works perfectly too,

[Davo17]

Originally Posted by jmiles

Sorry! No audio clips. Plays normally, all bends easily doable. Behind the nut bends are tougher on the fingers though. The Hipshot drop-tuner works perfectly too,

Does it sound like a big strat or would it not be recognizable as one at all?

I was wondering it a beefed up bigsby trem could be used with a bari as well. Probably would have issues, id guess.

[hobo]

Originally Posted by Davo17

A tele is a simple guitar, and if the only real "mod" is bolting on and setting up a bari scale neck, you should be able to rock it.

Thats a cool idea.

Seems like it should work, right? A bari neck, a (free) honey blond body, a $15 top loader bridge and pickup from a cheap Squier with the pickup bolted to the body and the bridge sawed in half. If the result is at all playable I might switch the pickup out for something decent, but for my first effort I wanted to minimize my exposure.

[Davo17]

Originally Posted by hobo

Seems like it should work, right? A bari neck, a (free) honey blond body, a $15 top loader bridge and pickup from a cheap Squier with the pickup bolted to the body and the bridge sawed in half. If the result is at all playable I might switch the pickup out for something decent, but for my first effort I wanted to minimize my exposure.

Sounds like a great first build. Let us know how it works out.

And heres one voiced more like a 50's tele, played through a looper. I like the additional mids here, and think it sounds great.

[hobo]

Awesome clips.

[Davo17]

Originally Posted by hobo

Awesome clips.

Just a heads up, these are supposed to be decent. 21 bucks...
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Matched-...OUT_p_474.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTieh...ayer_embedded#!

[jmiles]

"Does it sound like a big strat "

Yes it does. All pup combos great too. If I were building a Tele Bari, I'd certainly want the neck pup. They can do a lot more than just low Twang!

I think a trem might just work. Try and find the string tension for baritone and regular guitar. Don't use the Dano string set. Too heavy. Not very bendable.

[AlexCarlson]

Originally Posted by Davo17

And heres one voiced more like a 50's tele, played through a looper. I like the additional mids here, and think it sounds great.

Wow! I'm really curious about his setup. I've always had a weak spot for solo/ambient guitar stuff, and this guy's style is right up my alley.

[Davo17]

Originally Posted by AlexCarlson

Wow! I'm really curious about his setup. I've always had a weak spot for solo/ambient guitar stuff, and this guy's style is right up my alley.

Mine too, I always thought the tele was great for loops.