Scale Lengths and Tuning - Baritone vs 8 String

[Voda La Void]

Watched a Youtube video by a fella "The Bunn" on Baritone scale lengths and tuning.  He said that to tune down a a full octave lower than standard would really require a 30" scale length.  That shorter scale lengths won't cut it.  

But then...for instance, Tosin Abasi's 8-string signature line, Ibanez TAM100, is only a 27" scale length.  Yet, Tosin tunes his low string to E, not sure if it's drop E or standard full octave low.  But still...that's awfully low even if just drop E (F# low scale) and only on a 27" scale.

And I have to admit, I never see anyone talk about tuning a Baritone further than B or drop A, almost always 25.5 to 27" scale lengths.  But 8-string guitar...suddenly we don't have the same limits?  I'm confused...


Is there something different about a Baritone that I'm not getting?  Or is this all simply subjective difference of opinion?

[craigb]

My baritone (a Schecter Scorpion) was 26.5" but I kept it at BEADGB (or was it G#?  LOL).  It didn't seem bad at all, but most of the downtuned shorter scales I've tried tended to feel a bit floppy...

[Bapu]

My ***** is floppy

[John Bradley]

A common enough problem for Men of a Certain Age.

[Christian Jones]

 

On 7/23/2020 at 1:59 PM, Voda La Void said:

Is there something different about a Baritone that I'm not getting?

String guage. String guage and scale length go hand in hand especially the lower you tune. I play a Warmoth baritone strat which has a 28 5/8 scale length. I tune to Bb standard (technically A# but whatever) using D'Addario EXL157 14-68 guage and I've got perfect tension at that tuning, it feels like a regular strat tension because the scale length, string guage and tuning are all balanced out right. String brand also matters even at the same guage. Tosin definitely has a very heavy guage going which is why he's able to make that happen, probably a custom gauge. The longer the scale length the more snap and definition the strings will have. You can actually take a Les Paul with its 24 3/4 (or 24 5/8 of you're down for that argument) scale length and tune that thing down to C with the right string gauge; a lot of death metal guys would do that. You can get good feeling tension there but the tone will be really dark w/  not a whole lot of definition because of the short scale length. You need the right balance of scale length and string guage for a given tuning if you still want to have some twang and spank left at those low tunings. That's why a 34" (and especially a 35" scale like I play) bass guitar has that twang in the strings when plucked w/ a pick; scale length and heavy guage. 

Edited July 26, 2020 by Christian Jones
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