Quote:
Originally Posted by mountainmaster
....It lacks a clarity in the high notes which is present in the regular X30. IMO an X30 baritone is tipping the tone balance too much towards the low end.
I would probably use a string gauge of 13-56 in combination with such a scale length (normally I use 12-53). And tuning down each string a whole step should keep the tension about the same.
|
It is hard to get high end clarity when for a baritone the highest string in that tuning is a regular B. Try taking the first string off your current X30 in E-e tuning and see how that sounds.... My experience with baritones is that they are not good strummers - they just get too muddy. But they excel at finger picking where you can annunciate a bit better, or use partial chord shapes and arpeggios.
When I first got my X30 and heard the low end power, I immediately thought it might make a good pseudo-baritone. I've done that before with other regular scale guitars. I typically use an EJ-18 "heavy gauge" set (59-14) and tune it C-c. Sometimes the 6th string needs a slightly heavier string, say a 62 single. C tuning keeps the tension nominally equal to lights at E-e, and the guitar can certainly handle it. I would have tried it by now if not for the shoulder injury.
I played the X30 for the first time since January on Sunday afternoon, and it still has the factory strings from December (with very little play time on them). I really should have quit playing at about 30 minutes but was in the groove and went for 60. I sure paid the price for the rest of the day and at PT the next morning.