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Re: Baryton guitar strings/tuning?



On Sat, Jun 2, 2012 at 12:19 AM, Jim Goodin <jimgoodinmusic@gmail.com> 
wrote:
> one standard thought is that yes it has longer scale of the neck so one
> suggested tuning is lo B E A D F# B which parallels std E A D G B E by 
> 4th
> down.

When I used this Telecaster as a fretless guitar (with normal guitar
scale) I used "baritone strings" of .012 - .068 and tuned like you
said, B E A D F# B. I will try that with the fretted baritone neck as
well, but I doubt it will sound better than the present .010 - .046
tuned at normal guitar tuning. This sound is just sick... it sings
with perfect intonation all over the neck and the chords come out so
crisp and smooth with a perfect balance of frequencies. There's a
favorable pickup combination too on the baritone neck Telecaster, a
Seymor Duncan Little '59 P-90 in bridge position and a Lundgren
Vintage (reversed for less noise) in neck position.

>
> how are you tuning your fretless harp strings?

I tune it according to "the standard" recommended by
inventor/developer/maestro Tim Donahue but seven half steps lower.
Harp strings are (from low to high) D E F# G A B C# (.026 and .024)
while guitar strings are A D G C E A (.013 - .056). First I tried the
flat wounds I have been using on my other main fretless for years but
yesterday I changed to semi-flat (half rounds) to get a brighter
sound. With the EMG pickup the guitar didn't sound brighter at all
with those strings but in fact with a little less sustain and not the
same cool brrrrwwwwwrrrw fretless attack as it had with the flat
wounds (strings against that awesome ebony fingerboard). So I will
probably go back to flat wounds next time I change. Anyway, no matter
what register you tune the whole shebang to, the most important aspect
is the relation between the guitar and the harp - and I like Tim's
recommended standard. Today I also mounted a "fret" to the harp that
makes it possible to rais any string a half-step by pressing the harp
string against the fret with a finger on the left hand while plucking
as usual with the right hand. This means you can't tap on the fretless
with the left hand, but you can compose in a way that allows moving
over the left hand for fretting a harp string now and then. For
recording this harp fret is extremely useful since it gives the harp a
full chromatic scale.

Greetings from Sweden

Per Boysen
www.perboysen.com
http://www.youtube.com/perboysen