NABD

[madbean]

New acoustic baritone day. I've wanted a bari acoustic for a long time and found a pretty good deal on this used Alvarez. It's got an LR Baggs pickup system in it, too.

Out of the box, the setup was okay but the strings were grody. I put on the new strings but then the setup went pretty out of whack (they are a heavier gauge it seems). So, I've been working on that for a couple of days. Filed the nut slots a bit, took out a lot of relief in a few passes over several hours. String action is sitting at 8/64th to 6/64th B to B which is still too high, so I think the saddle will need to be lowered. But, with each adjustment the playability and even tone is improving. Overall a decent deal for the money spent. And, it is very fun to play. Old familiars sound new and interesting when you are tuned down a 4th!

Long term I may end up finding a lighter gauge string for it. I could see over a few years the bridge possibly lifting due to the enormous string tension. Maybe a humidifier for it would help - I've never used or had one.

PS - scale length is a bit over 27" which is actually shorter than my bari electric. Not a hard adjustment to make with playing.

[cooder]

Beautiful and I bet she sounds huge. Excellent score!

[jimilee]

Nice. Alvarez always made great stuff.


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[dan.schumaker]

The few times I've played through a baritone acoustic at the music shops, I've fell in love with the sound.  Taylor used to make a baritone 8-string with octaves on the G & D string, and that thing was amazing to play through.  Awesome looking guitar, have fun with it!

[culturejam]

Nice!