Baritone, double top and pickup research

[Murray Kuun]

I have been asked to research making an "African" baritone acoustic (African woods and aesthetic) that has particularly deep bass.
- For starters, what would be an ideal scale length, string spacing and body size?
- Also, what would be the advantage, if any, of making it a double top (to aid the deep bass?)
- Any suggestions of what would be the ideal pickup system.

Thanks,
Murray Kuun

[Patrick DeGreve]

Hi Murray: There was a discussion about baritones here last fall. At that time I decided to build my first baritone. I wasn't sure about scale length. A friend of mine has a Fender electric baritone with a scale length of 30". There are two issues with his. He finds it just too much of a reach to play in first position, and the string tension makes it difficult to play bar chords. I went to a local music store and played a two Taylor baritones, a 6 string and the GT 8 string baritone. They both have a scale lenght of 27". I liked them both, but decided to build an 8 string. I used a dreadnought body style, but made it a little deeper (about .5" deeper than a normal dred. I can't tell you how it sounds yet, I am on the last steps of finishing it now, (but I have high hopes). If you want to enhance the bass, you could make the sound hole a little bit smaller? I am leaving for a long vacation in Maine in a few weeks, so I don't know if I will finish mine before I go, or in Sept. When I finish, I will post pictures here, and let you know what I think. Good Luck with yours, please post when you finish. Check out the Taylor GT 8 string, I liked it very much, it played very easy, and had a unique sound.

[Matthew Lau]

Murray,

For what it's worth, I'm working on something similar:
Baritone: I'm using a 665 mm scale length. This is what Joe Veillette uses. I'm using it, because it closely corresponds to a '66 Ramirez.
String spacing: doesn't matter that much
Body size, I'd assume that anything from Dreadnaught to Jumbo would work.
Double top: would help with dynamic range, but not necessarily better bass. You'll need a bigger internal air volume (?, not sure if that's the right word). I'm hoping to drop the frequency on my build with a soundport (hole is the side of the upper bout).

Al Carruther would be the best man to ask.

[Michael Lewis]

A single sound hole in the upper bout should enhance/ lower the main air frequency compared to 'f' holes or typical central round hole.

[Matthew Orifice]

I play primarily Baritones and 27" is easily the most comfortable while keeping a reasonable string tension, keep in mind that even at normal tensions playing a bari is a bit tougher on the hands just from the size of the strings and the increased spread so when you build the neck something to grab onto with your thumb would be good ( i like V shaped necks). when you get down to the Low B (if you;re going with a B-B tuning) you need to be moving a lot of air so keep that in mind.