Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
Get in touch with Reini Adelbert - he imports Lakewood and plays a baritone one himself. A nice guitar - I spent a half hour with it.
http://reiniadelbert.co.za
Good call!
The Lakewoods are pretty good bang per buck. [Edit]I was thinking of another brand. Not that Lakewoods aren't fine instruments, but the pricing is not what one would call "budget". The "natural series" baritone has an RSP of $2600.[/edit]
Generally baritones are not a mass market product so the budget makers tend to steer away from them. I've seen a few around, but they've usually been custom builds or higher-end makes such as Taylor or Larrivee. So you're probably not going to pick one up for two or three grand.
Local makers Ian Corr (wild coast) and Mervyn Davies (north west) both have made baritones.
Some players find the extra long scale a bit much to handle. I've seen both Martin Carthy and Martin Simpson playing conventional scale length guitars with the 6th tuned down to C (in Carthy's case the first was tuned down to A) do you can take some liberties with tuning a regular guitar, but I would guess that in these two cases they had their guitars set up for that tuning. You'll probably want to go 13s or heavier to get a decent tone.
I like electric baritones since I watched the Robert Plant and The Band of Joy DVD. Buddy Miller plays a baritone Danelectro on several tracks, and those low notes really do something to my innards.
