As you probably know, Jerry Jones baritone guitars are no longer in production, and this is a pity.
TYS has teamed up with Kevin Smith from ToneSmith Guitars to develop a successor to Jerry Jones baritone guitars both in terms of construction and tone.
We have now received the first prototype. And the result is great!
Compared to the original Jerry Jones baritone guitars the action, resonance and neck carve were tweaked in a way that allows for faster playing with more control and an acoustic resonance that is voiced more richly than the original Jerry Jones.
Along with the better construction Kevin also made 3 fundamental design changes to the guitar:
1. Instead of a 3 and 3 'bottle cap' headstock he went for a 6-in-line arrangement to make for quicker tuning tweaks;
2. Instead of a control cavity on the back of the Baritone, he housed all the electronics under the pick-guard which makes it easier for a much quicker repair (and also looks much sleeker)
3. Kevin made the body a string-through instead of a stop tailpiece on the top of the guitar.
Finally in addition to the construction elements Kevin used a Curtis Novak lipstick pickup designed for this Baritone. He made the bridge pickup's impedance higher than the neck pickup while sacrificing little to no tonality in the blend position. By having a hotter bridge pickup that still has a wonderfully rich tone, the player can get a little more aggressive at the same volume and tone pot settings and then toggle to the neck pickup only for a sweeter, mellow tone. This versatility enhances considerably the playability and soundrange of the guitar.
The production of the first batch of 10 guitars will start soon.
The specifications for the guitar are:
*Aspen frame/masonite body/vinyl sides
*Maple neck
*Rosewood fingerboard
*Medium jumbo nickel frets
*Pearl dot inlay
*Curtis Novak lipstick pickups
*Chrome hardtail bridge
*String-through body
*Bone nut
*Kluson Deluxe tuners
*Colors: Electric Blue, Jetsons Red, Black, Neptune Green
Retail price is expected to be $1,895 USD
