Tenor baritone!

[bonzo]

Hi everyone,  some advice please. I recently found an electro acoustic bass in a charity shop. I don't even try and resist G.A.S. anymore (plus it was only a tenner)! It's only a cheapo but nice looking, good tuners and the piezo? pickup works. The fixed bridge was being pulled off but other than that it was ok. I refixed the bridge successfully but didn't want to particularly use it as a bass. Now to the advice bit. It's a bit big for a tenor guitar, may work as a baritone, but will only have 4 strings. Newtone didn't have stock of baritone strings at the moment so I'm using Ernie Ball slinky baritones nickel wound 13 18 30 44 56 72 gauge. Should I use 72 to 30 or 13 to 44 or any other combinations? What open tunings could I use, I'd like to slide! I'm in the process of reinforcing the walls ready for lift off! Your thoughts and advice please.
Best wishes to you all, John

Ps as you can see in the photo I've already strung her up with some 13 gauge electric strings I had knocking about and tuned to cfcf. Scarey!

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[pete1951]

I have my eyes on a 5string bass (at the moment it is on the wall of a pub ) it would I think make a great 6 string Baritone. How wide is your bass neck Bonzo? I have converted a cheap bass to a 6string before and it was very nice to play. A 28 to 30” scale will sometimes take standard guitar strings, and you can tune it to E Spanish rather than a much lower C or B

[bonzo]

Hi Pete, how's things. I was thinking about making it into a 6 string baritone, the body seems well braced and the neck is straight. The bridge was much too high, I've filed the slots down as far as they will go. I've got 5mm at the 12th fret, okay for sliding! The nut is 42mm so enough room for 6 strings. Would I replace the bass tuners with regular ones or try to find something that matches the existing ones? I've put baritone strings on 70 down to 30. Tuned cfcf, sounds alright to me! I thought the guitar would explode if I went higher. Might replace the bridge with something lower and maybe use a tailpiece. Thanks for your thoughts, keep em coming.

Best wishes to you all, John
P.S. it's a 30 inch scale.

[pete1951]

I think filling the old large m/head holes and redrilling fo standard ones would be best. If the saddle is too high, even when cut down to the wood of the bridge, you my not have enough angle fo a tailpiece/ floating bridge. Cheap instruments often move a little after a while , I’m guessing you may not get low action without having some sort of fixed bridge that brings the strings down close to the top. This may cause problems with any piezo under the saddle.
Pete

[bonzo]

Everything you say is true Pete! I've lowered the bridge as far as it will go, and like you I think the tailpiece is a non starter. As I don't know what it's supposed to sound like, I'm not quite sure what I'm aiming for! However as I like the way it sounds I will leave well enough alone for the time being and spend more time practising.
I'm tuned cfcf at the moment thinking along the lines of a twelve string, not too much strain on the neck. Any other tuning suggestions would be welcome, for sliding of course!

Best wishes to you all, John

[pete1951]

Probably tune it CGCG, or A# F A# F. To give the root note on the bottom string. Though CFCF is the same pattern as the bottom 4strings in Spanish, so it still gives you the 1 5 1 set if you are playing in F.
I have been playing on a mandolin in 1515 , where the top string is very high, and I fell more comfortable on the bottom 3, with a baritone I might well want to play more on the top strings

[bonzo]

Thanks for the advice Pete.
I think I will switch from 6 5 4 3 to 1 2 3 4. Have I understood you correctly?
Best wishes, John

[pete1951]

Looks like your all at sixes and sevens,
Pete



To be clear, 1 is the root note, the note the scale is named after, so: C D E F G A B C is a major scale in C . C is 1. D is 2 E is 3 F is 4 and so la te doe.(not sure of spelling here)
1234, and 6543 don’t fit in this system , unless you are doing something very odd.
??

[bonzo]

Sorry for the confusion Pete.
I was referring to the string gauge! 1 being high and 4 being low.
I haven't done anything very odd today, but it is only lunchtime!

Best wishes, John

[bonzo]

A few broken strings later and she's back upstairs, hanging on me bedroom wall!

Best wishes to you all, John

[Pickers Ditch]

What? The wife?