Baritone or low-tuned ?

[gitman]

It's done : I found a € 200,- JET350 Tele , basswood body/(roasted !) maple neck that will become my low-tuned Jazz-Tele. I've experimented with various gauges on my old Warmoth Tele and a set of 14-60's feels good when tuned down to C# - not flabby at all but still firm enough for a medium action, correct intonation and a strong signal for the pickups.
This is NOT meant for comping in a Bigband, it's strictly for fingerstyle chordal playing in small ensemble settings and for solo pieces. I also would leave it home when there's an upright bass playing.
I will look for a different neck pickup though, maybe a P-90 type of some sorts since I like a little more defined midrange that the existing pickup does not deliver. My EQ pedal can add some but I like it better when it's coming straight from the instrument.

[EllenGtrGrl]

Down to about Concert C tuning is doable on a regular 6-string guitar BUT, heavier strings are a must if you don't want them to be floppy feeling. Also, IMO a 25.5" is good idea for the added string tension (as a matter of fact quite a few 7 strings have 25.5" scales [I had a few of them]) - 24.75" scale guitars need seriously heavy strings, and intonation can be a problem. With that in mind, a Baritone or 7 string guitar may be the way to go (or if you really want to explore subsonic territories, a hybrid [part bass & part guitar - like Charlie Hunter plays] or 8-string guitar [there are a few jazz players who play 8-string guitars] may be worth exploring).

I had a couple of baritone guitars, years ago, but I didn't like the loss of the upper registers you get with baritones, so my low tuning guitar of choice is the 7-string (8-string guitars are also cool, but I can't get Ernie Ball Cobalts [which I use because of my nickel and chromium allergies] in 8-string sets). I don't have a 7-string at the present time, but I have constant low level GAS for getting another one. The thing is, the typical Superstrat 7-string gives me a case of the "mehs", and the majority of them have for me, overly thin necks (it's why my last 7-string [a PRS SE Seven], went bye-bye). Also, I've begun to realize that while I like solid body guitars, I prefer hollowbody (and to a lesser extent semi-hollow body guitars). Unless you go the custom route, non-solidbody 7-strings are very thin on the ground. Raines are the only regular makers of non-solidbody 7-strings. Otherwise you have to look on the used guitar market for Eastmans (I LOVE Eastman guitars, but their 7-strings [which seem to have been discontinued - they don't show them on their website anymore] are more than I can afford), Ibanez AF207 (rare, but from what I've read, very good guitars), Ibanez AFJ957 (the 7-string version of my AFJ95 - I don't like the shorter scale length for a 7-string), Gretsch George Van Epps (very rare), or the semi-hollow Schecter Jazz 7 (kind of rare - only made in the year 2000).

I wish I hadn't been so broke at the time - I might still have the Schecter Jazz 7 I was lucky enough to get my hands on.

[GuyBoden]

38inch and 36inch scale DeLap Baritone.

[Woodstove]

It's done : I found a € 200,- JET350 Tele , basswood body/(roasted !) maple neck that will become my low-tuned Jazz-Tele. I've experimented with various gauges on my old Warmoth Tele and a set of 14-60's feels good when tuned down to C# - not flabby at all but still firm enough for a medium action, correct intonation and a strong signal for the pickups.
This is NOT meant for comping in a Bigband, it's strictly for fingerstyle chordal playing in small ensemble settings and for solo pieces. I also would leave it home when there's an upright bass playing.
I will look for a different neck pickup though, maybe a P-90 type of some sorts since I like a little more defined midrange that the existing pickup does not deliver. My EQ pedal can add some but I like it better when it's coming straight from the instrument.

This, (and other posts in the thread) inspired me. I have a very nice partcaster thin line that I already added a Bigsby with Calaham upgrade (through the roller bar stringing and arm improvement) with a mastery bridge. Actually got it when I was in Nashville. Hasn't been getting much use so... I strung it with a set of newtone archtops I had around, 14-18-28-38-48-58 and tuned to C. I wasn't expecting much success but I was wrong! After the strings stretched it's intonating and holding tune well even using the Bigsby gently. Tension is very playable no flapping. The guitar has a Fraline minihumbucker neck PUP that sounds great with this. It has a fender "hot" noiseless single bridge PUP and the combo is also very good, less so the bridge alone. The nut seems to accommodate these strings well. I will try heavier bottom strings soon. I knew I was onto something good when fooling around with a song I wrote 35 years ago I heard a reharmonization that never occurred to me before. And leaning toward the locking tuner thread, I put Goto vintage style locking tuners in to stabilize the Bigsby.