We here at LSL Instruments are thrilled to release our newest offering! The Bari Bone!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e43g9r/play/p05cgjs6/p05dh1p4
The build itself was not on our horizon initially, however a conversation with our good friend Adam Christianson (https://www.instagram.com/adamarchitects/) of the U.K. based Metalcore band Architects (https://www.instagram.com/architects/) changed everything!
Adam was in need of another Baritone for touring to use on their songs that require F# tuning such as Gravedigger, Match Made In Heaven and Gone With The Wind, etc…
He already owns a pretty killer Mayones Baritone however swapping tuning that low on a constant basis is less than ideal, so the need for another arose. We decided to step up to the challenge and build this beast! After extensive talks about what his experiences had been so far with other Bari’s, we went spec by spec and hammered out the details.
We had roughly 8 weeks before the band left on their European leg of their current touring schedule, so time was of the essence. Lance and I sat down day after day nailing down the programming and deciding what would be most ideal from a production standpoint, yet most comfortable from a players standpoint. The Bari-Bone is loaded with comfort cuts, ranging from forearm and tummy to a specially carved hand contour and curved neck plate angles for better access to the highest registry. We began with each cut at a minimal carve, then went in by hand to achieve optimal results and take it in little by little for that fit that was “Just Right”.
We went with and Alder body which was intended to give the build a balanced tone that would have great mid presence without too much boom on the bottom end and not too much snap on the top end. Adam is used to a dual humbucker setup so that was an easy call, and he has no need for a tone knob so all we had to consider was his custom switch and volume placement. I’ve known Adam for years now and that meant that I already knew that the Hipshot hard tail was an absolute necessity. We went with black hardware to improve it’s metal factor by 50% \m/! However in preparing the build for QC we saw that a mix of black and chrome hardware was actually a classy touch that everyone including Adam approved of.
For the neck he chose Roasted Flame Maple. This is a must for the touring musician that has dates all over the globe. The minimal moisture content is key to a stable neck in nearly any environment. Fore more insight on our experience with roasted maple please see our previous blog post on this specific topic.
I myself am somewhat of a metal head when it comes to choice of music and this influences my choices in woods when specking a custom build. In this case both Adam and I had agreed that there was no other way to go on this build than with an Ebony fretboard! It has such a tight and percussive response to it. It was the only logical solution to a build built for the blistering shred and brutal breakdowns of ARCHITECTS!
As for neck shapes, we went with something we don’t do often. We are known world wide for being an elite vintage guitar builder, so we are mainly running C’s and soft V’s in either a slim, medium, or fat shape. Shred guitarists around the globe have become more accustomed to slimmer and flatter neck shapes, so we broke the mold for him. All of our necks are hand shaped so we have the ability to “feel” out a great shape along the way. A Slim “D” was the goal and we decided that it was necessary to remove a bit more shoulder than usual to thin it out and give that slim feel all the way up. We will most likely run a second identical build soon with more of a compound shape that gets fatter as you go up the neck just to test those waters. We topped off the neck with a satin finish and stainless steel frets. Stainless steel is a must for the traveling musician due to its resilience and resistance to dings and dents. The last thing you want is to have to refret a build mid tour!
In the end, we got the build out the door with one day left to spare before ARCHITECTS hit the road again, and we are very much looking forward to seeing Bari on the road making killer music for ARCHITECTS amazing fan base!
Stay tuned for our exclusive interview with Adam Christianson in the coming weeks once he’s got some stories from the road under his and Bari’s belt!
Bari’s Specs:
27.5″ Baritone
Modified Bad Bone 2 Body
Alder Body
Black Satin Nitro Cellulose Finish
Roasted Flame Maple Neck
Ebony Fretboard
6105 Stainless Steel Frets
Thin “D” Shape Neck With Shaved Shoulders
Custom Hand Wound Chrome Covered Humbuckers
Hipshot Hard Tail Bridge
3 Way Blade Switch
1 Volume, No Tone
Hand Carved Neck
Hand Carved Custom Body Contours
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