# Baritone Conversion



## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

Bought a couple of project guitars today... One is a solid mahogany strat style body with a quilted maple veneer. Edges of the veneer are jagged and uneven, and it was stained as a rainbow so just gonna shave the top off. Veneer is as thick as a business card. 

Control cavity in the back, routed for SSH and standard Strat trem. 

Thinking eBay China baritone neck. Finding that a lot of their descriptions are inaccurate and confusing... Was looking originally for a mahogany neck, lots listed, most are definitely maple not mahogany. 

Since I can't reposition the bridge, what measurements / specs am I looking for to make this a baritone and to verify that the necks that say baritone, are. 

Also... Any advice? Or places that sell cheap unfinished necks? I know Warmoth sells conversion necks but the entire budget would be blown on just the neck... Pricey stuff.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Doing a quick search, I see that what gets called "baritone" can have a scale length anywhere from 26.5" to 30.5". Where a 26.5" scale could conceivably allow for such a neck to be fitted to a Strat body and simply move the saddles back a bit (some of that scale length will be taken up by the neck moving the frets and nut a bit in the opposite direction), longer scale length might require a rethink. If the neck is 21-fret, it would fit in the neck pocket, but might make the frets too close to the bridge for the scale, and require moving the bridge back. That's fine on a completely solid body, but not on a Strat body routed for a vibrato arm bridge. Ideally, a 22, or even 24-fret neck would move the nut backwards in a helpful direction that would not require relocating the bridge, only the saddles.

All of that said, the starting point for retrofitting a neck on to a pre-existing and pre-routed body is to find out what the scale length is. Given that I've never engaged in such a conversion, take my comments as merely a guess.


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

I dont think you are going to be able to get away from repositioning the bridge.... unless you get a custom made conversion neck/ one from warmoth.
The china stuff is a total crap shoot, you never know what you are going to get.

A hardtail bridge would be a lot easier to deal with.

Can you add another veneer/wood top to it?

That would hide a lot of sins.

I think the best plan would be to buy the neck then position the bridge relative to the neck.

Nathan


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## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

Well, from my understanding, since the neck would be longer... for example instead of 25.5" scale going to hopefully a 27" scale... and the distance from the nut to the 12th must equal the 12th to the saddles... having the fretboard positioned further back and a few more frets added would avoid the need to move the bridge (beyond intonation needing redone). I think that's why the baritone necks I've seen all had 24 frets versus 21/22 frets.






Rather long video for basically just swapping the neck, however, no shifting of the bridge was done. 

Warmoth has a good image describing that.... bridge and heel position remain the same, but longer necks.










Theirs goes to 28.625" scale... maybe a bit longer than what I'm after.

Sadly, basic neck from there for Baritone conversion is $285USD plus ship and import fees. I'd know better than eBay stuff but... $85CAD off eBay free shipping.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Although baritone necks can be anywhere from 26.5 to 30.5", what some luthier or manufacturer decides to make for their own instruments can be different from what a supplier makes available to those wanting to build their own instrument.

That said, your observation about many of these necks being 24-fret, as a means of making such necks usable on conventional bodies has a lot of sense to it. As well, I suspect that since baritones are tuned lower, having a few extra frets lets players get some of the higher notes they're used to on normal guitars.


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## alwaysflat (Feb 14, 2016)

I think you could perhaps do a 27" scale, but would likely imply having 22 fret neck to maintain the pocket to bridge dimension and saddle adjustment range. I'd pondered a baritone neck build by adding a fret below a standard 25.5 scale thus to save building a custom mitre gauge. 
CNC users probably are more flexible.. So for me , with a existing mitre gauge, I'd take the 1st fret distance for 25.5 scale 1.431205 x 1.059463094 = new first fret size of 1.5165... old 11th fret distance becomes 12th and new scale length is , tada ... 27.016 ... thereabouts. Though that would solve only the neck portion for a builder. At this scale, the 22nd fret falls at 19.435" from the nut. adding 7 5/8 or whatever a strat pocket to trem string holes is should likely drop you into an adjustable saddle range area. 
Caveat emptor ... do not trust my math, trust your own as I have not built this. 

From what I can tell a 28" ballpark scale, and 24 frets and appear to also overhang the neck pocket to maintain that magic pocket to bridge dimension, whatever it is.


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## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

27" would be what I'm after, but not finding.

As said, there are a lot of eBay China necks listed as mahogany and baritone, but when I email them up of course the story changes. I guess someone who knows barely any English just adding keywords at random. 

I have the tools to make a neck, but never tried it yet. Maybe I should give it a shot and do a mahogany neck with a 1/2 strip of maple down the centre. Then I guess comes the question, where do I find a baritone truss rod.


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## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

This one, seller assures is a 30" baritone... Though no idea if when attached if my bridge will be in the correct spot... But baritone and mahogany... Maybe worth a risk... Add fret dots and replace the frets. I had one from China and frets were awful... Not surewhat made from but tarnishes super quick. 









New guitar Neck 22fret 30inch baritone Style Firebird Head Dot Inlay Rosewood | eBay


Not inlay, 42mm nut and 56mm heel.



www.ebay.com


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## alwaysflat (Feb 14, 2016)

THRobinson said:


> This one, seller assures is a 30" baritone... Though no idea if when attached if my bridge will be in the correct spot... But baritone and mahogany... Maybe worth a risk... Add fret dots and replace the frets. I had one from China and frets were awful... Not surewhat made from but tarnishes super quick.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think that 30" scale 22 fret would place a bridge deeper (say near an inch ) than you have. Nut to 22 is 21.58" for 
30" scale. Custom truss rods probably not an issue if you do a 1-way rod.


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## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

Yup... Just heard from the seller, not a conversion. Will need to move the bridge, which isn't happening.... Strat style and already routed. Ah well, I have wood for a few bodies, one day I'll build it from scratch and get a maple neck for it. Mostly for my nephew, he's wanted a baritone for a while. For what Warmoth charges for a neck, I can just buy a baritone used.


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## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

Well... for anyone wondering... wow... eBay China is a headache in itself. Almost none of the ads listed as mahogany baritone were mahaogany or baritone. Some that were 27" or 30" baritone seem like they might be, though hard to say if the scale is 30" or the neck overall is 30". 

In any case... for this guitar I'll just grab a mahogany 25.5" scale, mod the headstock and replace the frets.

I have a Les Paul type body from long ago,bolt on neck, and the curved top isn't carved, it's a thin plywood like material like on cheap acoustics, and shaped to be curved with small wooden spacers underneath to hold in place. Grabbed it from someone who stripped the bass neck off it... I guess the original owner had it as a bass guitar. After I stripped off the tremclad finish I saw that the original stud holes were filled with epoxy and threaded steel rods (likely bolts with the heads off). Plan is to rip the top off, get the bolts out if possible... and I think maybe a 1/4" new solid top, binding, leave it flat and make a baritone for the nephew. Bridge will be back enough that even if the bolts are half there still they'll be outta the way.


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