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Electrical :: Baritone
The Electrical Baritone is a 32 inch scale instrument capable of being played like a bass or guitar and being tuned as low as E or as high as A, it has an almost piano like tone. This instrument was designed by and created for Tim Midgett. It feature the single coils or humbuckers, Alder body, Schaller bridge, Gotoh tuners, stainless steel frets and ALCOA T6061 aluminum neck. Available in a variety of custom body shapes.

Number of reviews: 1
Score: 10



Recent Reviews
Score: 10 12/14/2006 at 12:30 PM
by toomanyhelicopters
[ ] [ Perma Link ]

 
Durability:  
Tone:  
Playability:  
Craftsmanship:  
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Purchased New:   yes
Date Acquired:   N/A
Price:   N/A
Name:   toomanyhelicopters
Email:   [ e-mail ]
 
  Style of Music: 90's-Chicago-style Indie Rock

Comments: My baritone is not so much like the one pictured here, as that one is Tim Midgett's second Electrical baritone, which I believe has become Electrical's standard baritone. Mine was tailor-made to include all of the features/components that I wanted, with some brilliant engineering on the part of Kevin Burkett. In a nutshell, I told him what I wanted and he made it happen, exactly as I hoped it would be.

30" scale baritone

Solid aluminum neck (normal Electrical neck-through construction), aluminum fretboard, aluminum nut

Wood body from a Gibson G3/Ripper/Grabber

Tuned A-to-A, like a normal guitar but 7 frets lower

8 strings - 6 strings as normal, but the two thinnest strings are doubled as on a 12-string guitar

NOS Ibanez Gibraltar bridge; Washburn Wonderbar vibrato/fine-tuning; custom made aluminum stop tailpiece/ string passthrough to Wonderbar

One Electrical 1000 pickup (4-conductor) and two Teisco gold foil pickups. I wired the electronics myself, with a pickup selector that selects between the Electrical pickup alone, just the two gold foils, or all 3. Each pickup has its own volume knob. There's a push-pull pot for the Electrical pickup that selects single coil vs humbucker, and a phase reverse switch for one of the two gold foils.

The way I've had it set up for the past year or so is with the 6 normal strings ending at the stop tailpiece, and only the doubles running through to the Wonderbar. That way, when I use the vibrato bar, it only detunes one string from each pair, while the other string in each pair stays tuned normal. Anywhere from 0 to 6 of the strings can be routed to the Wonderbar, with anywhere from 2 to all 8 of the strings ending at the stop tailpiece.

The neck dimensions were derived by averaging the thickness of the TB-1000S I owned before I had this made (sold that thing right after I received the Electrical) and my favorite guitar, a Lado Falcon. The neck width was determined by thinking about what spacing seemed reasonable for the number of strings, using a classical acoustic guitar as a reference for "this wide is still easily playable". The end result is a baritone on which I can easily play anything from single notes to open chords to barre chords on any fret. The spacing is perfect, and the action is low and easy.

I love the sound of it, and I haven't come across any other instrument that can produce the same kinda sounds I can get out of it, on the low end, or the high end.

I was fortunate enough to buy this instrument back when Electrical Guitar Co was a little less known than it is now, so Kevin had more time to mess around with crazy ideas like this. As far as I know, he can still make pretty much anything you can think up, if you're willing to give him enough time and money to do it.

Considering how abnormal the design of this instrument is, I think it's a great statement about the quality of his work and designs that he could bring such crazy ideas together into such a top-notch instrument.

Usually when people pick it up and play it, they comment on how it's so heavy. I think it's something like 12 lbs. I don't recall exactly. I can usually play it for about 3 hours before I start to feel the weight.

There are a couple mp3's by the band I play this baritone in, here:
www.myspace.com/thechromerobes

I would buy another Electrical baritone from him anytime, or a bass or guitar for that matter.

I had the good fortune to play an Electrical 500 and a TB500 up against each other a couple months back, and I can say without question that if they both cost the same amount (be it $500 or $5000) I'd take the Electrical in a heartbeat. Aside from being better quality (cracked TB500 body, anyone?) and better looking, the most important aspect is the sound, and the Electrical took that title hands-down, for me.

Cheers to Kevin. Keep up the great work, and don't give a second thought to the naysayers.
 
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