Bajo-Jets need love too

matsickma

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If I'm reading this info correctly you may be able to set the DeArmond Bajo Jet and it's 30" scale neck to function like a Fender VI bass if the Fender strings are not so fat that they can't connect to the tuners.
M
 

NEONMOONY

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The article makes the point that they are not interchangeable terms. The Fender VI is a bass. Jack Bruce used one in Strange Brew, as a bass, not to augment the bass or guitar. Whether or not you COULD take a bajo, or any other baritone guitar, and start modifying it to take bass strings is another matter entirely from the original comments about what was used by the Beatles. The Fender Bass VI has been used on a boatload of your favorite recordings.
 

matsickma

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Yes. It was good you cleared up my misinformation on the Beatles and 6-string bass. I had only heard of the Fender 6-string bass within the last 2 years. Sure would like to play one and see how it handles and sounds.
M
 

SFIV1967

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...I read somewhere that the singer from the "Lovin Spoonful" (forget his name) asked Guild to make him a baritone guitar. After thinking about it for a while he decided the guitar should be in the shape of a Thunderbird...I believe the Guild Nashville Custom Shop built the guitar and I thought it was Emerald Green like the color if the one shown. It was my understanding the Dearmond Bajo Jet was based on that guitar. Can anyone confirm my "recollection"? M
I have no idea if the Guild custom shop was involved in that but why not, all possible.
My understanding is that the DeArmond Bajo Jet idea came from the early 80ies Veillette Citron Shark Baritone guitar which was developed on John Sebastian's (Lovin' Spoonful) request.
He talked about this here: http://www.vintageguitar.com/3611/john-sebastian/
And also here Joe Veillette talks about it: http://www.veilletteguitars.com/about.shtml


Here are the original specs of the Bajo Jet: (Link no longer active)
https://support.fender.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/115008202083/1999_DeArmond_Specs.pdf

The price list from 1999 showing the offered colors is here: (Link no longer active)
https://support.fender.com/hc/en-us...5008103066/DeArmond_Price_List__June_1999.pdf

I checked the 1998 and 1999 catalogs but the model wasn't shown there.

Ralf
 
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Walter Broes

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Compared to six-string basses, baritone guitars are a relatively recent development.

Danelectro came out with what they called a "bass guitar" in 1956, it had a scale somewhere around 30" and was tuned like a guitar, but an octave lower. There was no clear intended use for these things, and Danelectro marketed it as "the guitar for the bass player" and "the instrument for the player that doubles on both instruments". They don't carry a band like a good Fender (4 string, long scale) bass does, and the instrument didn't really get used as a bass much if any.

but it became a studio tool in Nashville and Hollywood to the extent that it became a standard tool in the arsenal of studio players in both places. You see it listed as "bass guitar" in studio session logs, and on the odd record that lists the band lineup. Back in the days when electric bass still got referred to as "Fender Bass" quite a bit, and "bass" usually still meant upright bass.

In Nashville, guys like Harold Bradley made a career out of playing six string bass. Listen for a well defined plectrum "click" on classic country records from 56 on, well into the early 70's. That's what's called "Tic Tac bass". There usually is an acoustic upright bass on those records, holding down the low end, and a Danelectro doubling the bass part with a pick and not much low end dialed in, it was all about the midrange and giving the (unmiked, in those days) bass drum hit more definition, and giving the bass part some midrange kick.

Quite a few Nashville country records have the Danelectro "bass guitar" playing low twangy leads too. Listen to George Jones' original version of "the race is on" for a nice solo on a Danelectro six-string bass, or Marty Robbins' "Don't worry about me" for a Danelectro six string bass FUZZ (!) solo.

If you want to hear a very up-front example of one used in the rhythm section as "tic tac bass", give Elvis Presley's "Little Sister" a spin through headphones or on a good stereo. You'll clearly hear an upright bass holding down the real low end, and someone clicking away on a Danelectro with a pick on top of that. It's a great sound.

In hollywood studios, you hear Danelectros on a lot of different things, from Mancini film scores ("shot in the dark"!) to Ritchie Valens' hits where session player Rene Hall was playing his Danelectro. (very up front, raw, and loud in the mix on Valens' version of "Bony Moronie")

Fender's Bass VI was nothing but Leo Fender's trying to get in on Danelectro's market, which is kind of funny in itself because the market for those things was extremely small to begin with. But then Leo's taste in music was Country and Western Swing, so he probably heard a LOT of Danelectro six-string bass on the radio. In different interviews with Harold Bradley, he talks about Fender actually having used one of his Danos in the development of their own Bass VI. The inspiration was obvious, same scale length, six strings, same tuning, and before the Dano, there was no such instrument.

As they'd always done with their instruments, Fender actively promoted their guitars in country circles and put a lot of them in players' hands.
Here's Phil Baugh picking a bass VI next to Glen Campbell on a brand new jaguar on TV show in 1965 :


Glen Campbell has a famous six string bass solo of his own of course, on "Wichita Lineman". He can be seen in different clips playing (and/or miming) it on a Fender Bass VI, but on the original studio session, he supposedly used a Danelectro owned by Carol Kaye.

Baritone guitar, originally, was mostly a case of people putting lighter string sets on their Danelectros or Fender bass VI's, and that started happening somewhere in the 80's I think. but a 30" scale, while it offers great feel and tension for a low tuned guitar, is a bit of a stretch if you want to play fast and virtuoso, so it didn't take long for builders to start making dedicated baritone guitars with different scales in between 26" and 30", designed specifically to be tuned to low A, B, or C.

I love six string bass and baritone guitar, and currently own a Jerry Jones replica of a Danelectro longhorn six string bass, tuned E-E, a Squier "Jazzmaster Baritone" I keep in low A, (30" scale too), and a telecaster with a 28' scale converstion neck I keep in B. The 30" scale instruments by Danelectro, Fender, DeArmond, Gretsch, or whoever, can be used as a six string bass or a baritone, all you need is a different string set, a setup, and perhaps some nut work. Different string sets are available from D'Addario, Ernie Ball, Labella, Pyramid and others.

Loooow-tuned guitar is fun!
 

NEONMOONY

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I have a baritone National Tricone. Great for some low end slide stuff. Some times the lower strings mixed with the tricone have a sound similar to the sound of strings on a piano.
 

sailingshoes72

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Walter, thanks for the rundown on the development and history of the "six string bass guitar" and the "baritone guitar". Very informative! I love the look of those old Danelectro Longhorn six string basses. And it confirms something that I suspected... that I've been listening to these instruments on record for many years, but I wasn't really aware of it.
 
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adorshki

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Although we think of Paul as a bass player he plays a lot of lead guitar. I can now often recognize his style.
Year's ago I thought it was George but that was when little detail was available on their recordings.
The White Album shows off Paul's lead guitar acumen on songs like Birthday. Earlier songs like Paperback Writer also comes to mind.
M
Yep. Imagine my surprise, think it must have been during junior college days, when my best buddy first informed me Paul played the solo on "Taxman",
 

adorshki

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Walter, thanks for the rundown on the development and history of the "six string bass guitar" and the "baritone guitar". Very informative!

Yeah second that!
Also thanks to Ralf, our own in-house detective, for the clarification of the history of the Bajo-Jet and the apparently "non-direct" J. Sebastian connection.
 

matsickma

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Walter...agree with everything the guys have said about your write-up. I am always amazed by your knowledge! Be it details about guitars or amp and musicians and their playing style. You have a lot of info to share with us. I see how you know the vast contribution's the country and rockibilly pickers added to guitar playing.
Great stuff!
M
 

Walter Broes

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Thanks guys, I just love all that stuff. Matsickma, those Gretsch Baritones/six string basses....try before you buy. They're made of some kind of mystery wood that seems to have lead or concrete sandwiched into it (judging by weight), and humbuckers are not the greatest choice for an instrument tuned that low - you need all the cut and definition you can get in those tunings...ànd those little Korean (Chinese?) Gretsch humbuckers aren't very inspiring to begin with, low tuned or not.
 

matsickma

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Thanks for the tip. As much as I find them to be cool I used to have one of the SG double neck Epiphone's and never got comfortable with such a big instrument. If I played in a band and needed it for playing a song live that is one thing but for my basement playing I won't buy one.
I often think about getting one of the newer Line6 guitars that have all the different tunings and guitar setups. Someday...
 
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