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| Old Guitar makeover? - Baritone Uke - Ukulele - ezFolk Forums | |||||||||||||||
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saveanescapist Approved 
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I recently stumbled across a small guitar that my freind was trying to get rid of for free. I'll take anything for free, so I grabbed it up and brought it home. It has no strings, needs new tuners, a new nut, the neck is cracked, so on and so forth. I figgured that if I eveer got some spare change I could fix it up no problem. It's a cheapo 'student' guitar, 3/4 scale, I believe, with some nice edges; spruce top, mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard. I'm not sure what the back and sides are made out of; possibly mahogany, but I'm no woodsman. It's been collecting dust for awhile - but then the other day I took a few measurments: and I realized that it was the exact dimentions of a baritone ukulele! So what I want is some advice: firstly, do any of you think it will even sound alright, or be worth the $20-40 investment I'll make fixing it up? I'm more comfotable with my Concert uke, so I'm not to sure about what makes a good baritone, and if this little guitar is even worth it. Secondly, is there anything I should keep in mind when doing this? any specific modifications I should make to the instrument? recomendations on strings? new tuners other then the economy geared ones? advice on gluing the neck, which is cracked where it meets the body? anything will help!
____________________ This little ukulele tells the truth. |
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Will Approved 
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saveanescapist wrote: I recently stumbled across a small guitar that my freind was trying to get rid of for free. I'll take anything for free, so I grabbed it up and brought it home. It has no strings, needs new tuners, a new nut, the neck is cracked, so on and so forth. I figgured that if I eveer got some spare change I could fix it up no problem. Before you consider converting your instrument, you should assess whether the guitar is structurally sound enough to modify it. How bad is the crack where the neck meets the body? How much separation is there? Measure the distance from the nut to the bridge saddle. A baritone ukulele has a scale length of about 19 inches. If it's close to 19" it's probably a 1/2 size guitar. If it's closer to 23," then it's more of a 3/4 size guitar. There are some complicating factors for the conversion: 1. The guitar neck is too wide for 4 strings, and the nut is already pre-cut for 6 strings, so it's not just a simple matter of installing 4 baritone uke strings, if the scale length is close to 19." You won't have matching bass strings for the lowest two string slots. If the scale length is closer to 23" inches, you will need to use classical guitar (nylon) strings because baritone strings will break trying to tune up to such as long scale. 2. This doesn't apply if the guitar had nylon strings originally: If the guitar was made for steel strings, nylon strings may not sound good on the instrument. In any case, if you re-string it as a baritone uke, you'll be trying to play 4 strings on a wide neck made for 6 strings. Some nylon guitar strings may not have a grommet at the end like on steel strings; they're made the be threaded through the bridge of a classical guitar; on a steel string guitar, grommet-end strings are held in with bridge pins. It might be more cost-effective to buy a low-priced, but good-sounding solid spruce top baritone uke; the Amigo AMB-7 can't be beat for "best bang for the buck" (yes, I own one). It sells at some places for under $45. Here's a dealer that still sells it for about $42: http://www.harmonyonline.com/amigo-baritone-ukulele-p-8258.html  Here's what this baritone uke sounds like (with replacement Aquila Nylgut strings): Aura Lee (Love Me Tender) http://ezfolk.com/audio/play.php?mode=song_hifi&band_id=297&song_id=1034 Last edited on Wed Apr 23rd, 2008 04:34 pm by Will ____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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RSteve Approved
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saveanescapist wrote: It's a cheapo 'student' guitar, 3/4 scale, I believe, with some nice edges; spruce top, mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard. I'm not sure what the back and sides are made out of; possibly mahogany, but I'm no woodsman. I'm more comfortable with my Concert uke, so I'm not to sure about what makes a good baritone, and if this little guitar is even worth it. If you get a playable and fun instrument, it's certainly worth it. Secondly, is there anything I should keep in mind when doing this? any specific modifications I should make to the instrument? recomendations on strings? new tuners other then the economy geared ones? advice on gluing the neck, which is cracked where it meets the body? Trace the string spacing on an existing baritone nut, so you can get an idea of how to cut the nut. In lieu of that look at a Graph Tech classical guitar nut, which can be trimmed to handle four string spacing. Use Ebay to find a used set of tuners. Aquilas in concert tuning for the baritone would be a nice transition. Instead of the current bridge saddle, replace the bridge with a top-tie through; not a pin bridge. You'll have too many holes. The holes under the existing bridge should be filled with epoxy.
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Will Approved
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RSteve wrote: Trace the string spacing on an existing baritone nut, so you can get an idea of how to cut the nut. In lieu of that look at a Graph Tech classical guitar nut, which can be trimmed to handle four string spacing. Use Ebay to find a used set of tuners. Aquilas in concert tuning for the baritone would be a nice transition. Instead of the current bridge saddle, replace the bridge with a top-tie through; not a pin bridge. You'll have too many holes. The holes under the existing bridge should be filled with epoxy. In my humble opinion, replacing a bridge on a guitar is no easy undertaking. I've done basic set up work on all of my guitars, but I will not tackle replacing a bridge. That takes some special tools and expertise that I don't have. Even after spending money to replace the bridge with a classical style one, and the nut was re-cut for 4 string slots, the 6-string guitar neck is still too wide for playing as a 4 string instrument. This is a project that involves more work and expense than the final product will be worth. It costs only $45 to buy a brand new solid-spruce top Amigo AMB-7 baritone uke.
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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Will Approved
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saveanescapist: If you have your heart set on converting this guitar to a baritone uke, you can try it out to see what it sounds like, and how it plays, while minimizing your expenses - forget about replacing the nut, bridge, or the existing tuners. Just buy a set of ball-end classical guitar strings (I don't know of any baritone uke strings that will work with a pin bridge), and string up the 4 highest strings (DGBE) in either the middle 4 nut slots (slots 2, 3, 4, and 5, for the sake of symmetrical appearance), or put them in their usual slots (you'll have to live with the look of missing bass strings). Just keep all 6 bridge pins in place, including the 2 that no longer hold strings (you may need to glue them in), so that you don't have to look at holes in the bridge. You may find the 6-string guitar neck too wide to deal with while playing 4 strings, or you may eventually adjust to it. Dean Markley ball-end classical guitar strings @$3.99 http://www.stringsandbeyond.com/deanmarbalen.html Last edited on Fri Apr 25th, 2008 10:19 pm by Will ____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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molinee Approved
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Just my 0.02 of course but I would say rather than spend $40-60 on this old dog that is the same size as a bari...... Why not just buy a new bari? Too much work to bring the guitar up to speed with no guarantee that you will be happy when you are done. Good luck with your decision.
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RSteve Approved
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Will wrote: ... Just buy a set of ball-end classical guitar strings (I don't know of any baritone uke strings that will work with a pin bridge), and string up the 4 highest strings (DGBE) in either the middle 4 nut slots (slots 2, 3, 4, and 5, for the sake of symmetrical appearance), or put them in their usual slots (you'll have to live with the look of missing bass strings). Just keep all 6 bridge pins in place, including the 2 that no longer hold strings (you may need to glue them in), so that you don't have to look at holes in the bridge. You may find the 6-string guitar neck too wide to deal with while playing 4 strings, or you may eventually adjust to it. Will, I really don't think that strings gauged for a 25.6" scale will be acceptable on a 19" scale instrument. Remember this is a 3/4 scale guitar; usually 19.2" scale. As such, the width at the nut will be very close to that of a baritone uke. If you use the existing pin bridge and use the four center pins, the string spacing will be very similar to that of a tenor guitar or tenor banjo. You certainly can use regular baritone uke strings. You'll have to spend a buck or two at a craft shop for a packet of small beads with center holes for stringing. They should be the same size as the ball ends on ball end strings. Just slip the string through, tightly tie, and proceed as though you have ball end strings. If you don't want to spend much for a nut, pick up a scrap of maple at the lumber yard. Cut to approximate size, sand, and cut the string slots.
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RSteve Approved
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Incidently, I would only do this conversion if the guitar were a worthy instrument and I was changing the nut and bridge. I'd make a 6-string baritone DGgBEe or some variation. added: this photo is a 6 string tenor. .........................................  Last edited on Thu May 15th, 2008 04:46 am by RSteve |
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Will Approved
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saveanescapist has not yet told us what the actual scale of his guitar is. I have a 23" scale, 36" long travel guitar with regular light gauge guitar strings and it holds EADGBE tuning well. I think a guitar with a 19" scale is far smaller than a 3/4 size guitar - it's more like a 1/2 size guitar. I agree with you that if the scale of the instrument in question were closer to 19," that tuning won't work with normal classical guitar strings, but would work with baritone uke strings. (I actually do own a 19" scale mini-guitar, which I tune to ADGCEA.) The thread-through beads are a great idea for making guitar string grommets for pin-style bridges. Last edited on Thu May 15th, 2008 02:41 pm by Will ____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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RSteve Approved
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Will wrote: saveanescapist has not yet told us what the actual scale of his guitar is. I have a 23" scale, 36" long travel guitar with regular light gauge guitar strings and it holds EADGBE tuning well. I think a guitar with a 19" scale is far smaller than a 3/4 size guitar - it's more like a 1/2 size guitar. I agree with you that if the scale of the instrument in question were closer to 19," that tuning won't work with normal classical guitar strings, but would work with baritone uke strings. (I actually do own a 19" scale mini-guitar, which I tune to ADGCEA.) The thread-through beads are a great idea for making guitar string grommets for pin-style bridges. I, perhaps, assumed incorrectly that his instrument is 19" scale. If, indeed, the guitar is 23" scale, then it's the exact scale of most tenor guitars. It's recommended by Soares Tenor Guitars that for a 23" scale, strings 2 thru 5 of a 650 mm scale set be used for DGBE. For a 23" scale I would use a set of La Bella Classical Guitar Fractional Guitar strings for 3/4 Size 22.5", 575mm.
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| ezFolk Forums > Ukulele > Baritone Uke > Old Guitar makeover? | |
