Baritone guitar

A standard guitar's standard tuning (from lowest string to highest) is E A D G B E. Baritone guitars are usually tuned a perfect fifth lower (A D G C E A), a perfect fourth lower (B E A D F B), or a major third lower (C F B E G C). Gretsch, Fender, Gibson (EB-6), PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Jerry Jones, Burns London and many other companies have produced baritone guitars since the 1960s, although always in small numbers due to low popularity.

Baritone guitars have larger bodies than standard guitars, especially in the case of acoustic instruments, and have longer scale lengths which allow the strings to be tuned lower while remaining close to or at normal tension. On a standard, steel-string, acoustic guitar, the scale length (the distance from the nut or string guide to the saddle on the bridge) is typically 24.9" to 25.7", and the strings range in diameter from .012" to .054". The scale lengths of various baritone designs range from 27" to 30.5", and the string gauges range from the normal .012 - .054" set to sets as thick as .017 - .095". Shorter-scale baritone guitars are more like long-scale guitars, having more midrange volume, whereas the longer scale lengths and heavier string sets give more bass to the instrument's timbre. Shorter scale baritones tend to be tuned C-C or B-B whereas longer ones are typically tuned A-A.

Baritone guitarists

Metal bands started using baritone guitars in the 1990s, as it became increasingly popular to "down-tune" or "drop-tune". Dylan Carlson of drone metal band Earth played a baritone guitar on Hex (Or Printing in the Infernal Method). Ko Melina of The Dirtbombs plays a Fender Jaguar Baritone Custom. Teppei Teranishi of Thrice plays a baritone on the "Fire" disc of The Alchemy Index. Pete Loeffler of Chevelle uses PRS custom guitars with baritone necks, and two custom Fender Stratocaster Baritones. D.A. Sebasstian of Kill Switch...Klick used a standard scale DeArmond Starfire professionally set-up and restrung as a Baritone extensively on his second self-titled solo album. Ian Mackaye plays a baritone guitar when playing with his band The Evens. Daron Malakian of the band System of a Down also uses a custom Ibanez Iceman IC300 baritone with graphics done by his father, Vartan Malakian, in the studio and in some live performances to give the songs "More Kick". It is not a commercially available guitar and is Ibanez's only baritone type guitar, Although they did produce an Ibanez Iceman DMM1 Daron Malakian signature with custom graphics also painted by his father as a Limited edition run, with only 300 made available worldwide.

Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny used baritone guitars made by Linda Manzer on his 2003 solo album One Quiet Night. Ani DiFranco often plays a baritone guitar, including those by David Berkowitz, Joe Veillette, and Alvarez, frequently employing alternate tunings. Clifton Hyde has had his acoustic baritone guitar featured in the music of Sigur Rós, Gato Loco, and Pape Armond Boye. Nico Audy-Rowland of Trocadero played a Dan Electro Baritone Guitar for the theme music of the machinima series Red vs. Blue. Dave Matthews plays a Baritone on certain songs such as "The Space Between" and "Some Devil". Parker Lauzon of Evans Blue uses an Ibanez. Brian 'Head' Welch of Korn uses Ibanez baritone guitars on his debut solo-album Save Me From Myself. Australian Stu Thomas has been using Barracuda baritone guitars by Burns London onstage for a number of years.

Numerous fingerstyle guitarists use baritone guitars, including Andy McKee, Don Ross, Martin Simpson, Iain Micah Weigert and Dave Amato. Don Ross plays a baritone by Canadian Luthier Mark Beneteau, and Simpson has played baritones made by English luthier Ralph Bown. Andy McKee plays a baritone guitar made by another Canadian Luthier Michael Greenfield.

The Les Deux Love Orchestra often performs with two baritone guitars playing together, a Jerry Jones and a Danelectro, as can be heard on their recording of Henry Mancini's "Experiment In Terror."

The Danelectro baritone was used by million-selling guitarist Duane Eddy on some of his huge hits, such as "Bonnie Came Back," "Because They're Young," "Kommotion," (all 1960), "My Blue Heaven"(1961), "Deep in the Heart of Texas" (1962), and "The Son of Rebel Rouser" (1964). The instrument was used almost exclusively on his best-selling album "The Twang's The Thang" (Jamie Records, 1960) and pops up regularly on singles and albums throughout his career (for instance, "Twang Thang," The Duane Eddy Anthology, Rhino Records).

The "twangy" sound of his guitars (which include Duane Eddy custom-builts by Guild, Grestch and Gibson) augmented the even deeper twangy sound made by the Danelectro baritone. Duane used the familiar black model and an unusual gray "Longhorn" model.

Mike Mushok of the band Staind has a signature model baritone guitar manufactured by PRS Guitars. Prior to his PRS signature model, Mushok had a signature baritone guitar produced by Ibanez called the MMM1.

Shawn Lewis from the band Hyperstatic Union plays an Avante AV-2 on the songs "In Remembrance of Him" and "Meet Him In the Air". You can hear the sound of the Avante AV-2 on their website.

John Petrucci of the band Dream Theater has used baritone guitars on numerous songs since the "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" album. These songs include "Blind Faith", "These Walls", "Panic Attack" and "Wither". He originally used a Music Man Silhouette bass (a 6 string baritone guitar/bass), but now has his own signature model produced by Music Man.

Classical guitarist Fred Benedetti uses a custom Baritone Classical guitar built by Len Laviolette.

Ben Burnley of the band Breaking Benjamin uses a custom made hollowbody baritone guitar manufactured by PRS Guitars.

Crap and Flux, both guitarists of the German industrial metal band Oomph! used baritone guitars in B tuning in the albums Plastik, Ego and Wahrheit oder Pflicht, and in their single Niemand.

Chicago indie rock band Pinebender is known for their use of the baritone guitar, replacing bass and lead guitar roles with it.

Thomas Erak of the band The Fall of Troy used a baritone guitar to record the songs "Empty The Clip, The King Has Been Slain, Long Live The Queen" "Nobody's Perfect" and "Webs" off of the album "In the Unlikely Event". He does not always use the guitar for live performances.

Pier Gonella of the bands Necrodeath, Labyrinth and Mastercastle uses a custom made baritone guitar.

Devin Townsend used baritone guitars to record the album Addicted with his band The Devin Townsend Project.

Kenny Hickey of the Brooklyn, NY based bands Type O Negative and Seventh Void, plays either in either baritone tuning or with a baritone guitar on all of the Type O Negative recordings. In 2007, he began using Schecter guitars, most prominently a green C-1 Baritone. Unlike his previous guitars, this has true green fret inlays, exposed pickups (A Seymour Duncan PATB-2B bridge, and a Sustainiac neck pickup), and the body is all green, including the headstock, and the back of the neck and headstock.

Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Scott McCaughey played baritone guitar with the supergroup Tired Pony in their album "The Place We Ran From."

Paul (Pazzo) Mehling, Gypsy jazz guitarist, of the Hot Club of San Francisco and Le Jazz Hot played baritone guitar on their CD "Hot Club, Cool Yule", Azica Records Inc. 2009

Bobb Bruno of the California indie rock band Best Coast plays a Danelectro '67 Hornet to cover both bass and lead guitar roles.

Alternative Metalcore outfit Underoath used a Baritone guitar in the first track "In Division" from their new album O (Disambiguation).

Mike Rutherford had a custom double neck back in 1974 consisting of a rickenbacker 12 string guitar and a baritone guitar made by micro-frets. He used the baritone guitar as a bass most of the time, playing occasionally higher octave parts in songs such as back in n.y.c. Another double neck model (12 string/baritone guitar) was made for him for the next album and tour, trick of the tail, in 1976, by the master luthier Dick Knight.

Jarred Thomas Orr of Atlanta based Drone/Noise rock duo 'Sycophants Wannabes Leeches and Voyeurs' plays a Danelectro Danoblaster Baritone through numerous effects pedals, simultaneously creating melodies and bass rhythms.

Joe Bonamassa plays an Ernie Ball/Music Man John Petrucci Baritone guitar tuned to C on his song "The Ballad of John Henry".

Peter Buck of R.E.M. plays baritone guitar on a single "Down By the Water" from The Decemberists album The King is Dead.

Wayne Wesley Johnson plays an early 60's Fender Bass VI on the tune "Chi di di cha cha" from the album Canciones del alma / Songs from the Soul.

Avril Lavigne plays baritone guitar on the song "4 Real" from her album Goodbye Lullaby.

Jackson Browne plays acoustic baritone guitar on his acoustic shows (notably "Love is Strange" with David Lindley)

See also

References

Category:Guitar family instruments Category:Guitar tunings