Baritone guitars: Difference between revisions

Holdsworth plans to record an album of multi-tracked, orchestrated guitars using several custom 6-string '''baritone''' and tenor guitars he developed with luthier Bill DeLap. Unlike most '''baritone''' guitars, which utilize heavier-than-normal strings, Holdsworth’s instruments have regular-gauge strings but extended scale lengths. The '''baritone''' guitars come in three sizes - the largest has a 38" scale.

It was great to see the photos and mention of my work in the recent Allan Holdsworth article (Feb.’93), but some clarifications are in order. The guitar on page 65 is actually a Steinberger with a spruce wood top I made as an experiment. After noticing how different in sound two apparently identical stock plastic tops were, we decided to try a few different woods for the top. Allan’s regular 25½" scale DeLap hollowbody can be seen in the ads for his new instruction and performance video from REH. The two '''baritone''' guitars pictured on page 68 are a blonde 38.2" scale hollowbody and grey 36" scale solidbody. The last few years have produced a dozen prototype instruments ranging from a 19"-scale soprano guitar to the 38" '''baritone''', all of them headless designs featuring Steinberger tremolo bridges. Allan knows the qualities he wants to hear and feel in an instrument, so it can be demanding but rewarding to work with him. He is a constant experimenter, a true innovator with music and the tools he uses to create it.