'96 baritone PS oddball on Reverb

Well gosh.

I have a terminal case of baritone infatuation, with an ongoing mission to try all the market has to offer in the way of baris in the sweet spot (for me) for scale length, which is 27.5" (marginal) to 28.75" (maybe). Much shorter is too flappy, longer is too much like playing a bass - to my stubby digits. And they also have to be not specifically designed and marketed for metal mayhem.

So. You know. Old man roots baris. There are surprisingly fewer of them out there than one might think, given how many old guitarists there are, which makes it at least possible to be something of a completist. It's equally surprising how many fail the entrance exam by being too short (Reverend, the cheap and cheerful Squire Telebaris) or too long (all the Danos and my usual ride, Gretsch).

The fabulous SE 277 just squeaks into the class at 27.7. Well, OK, I adjusted the minimum height to ride this ride downward to accommodate it. But I love it. One of the top in the class, despite being toward the middle, price-wise. A very impressive instrument, with a grand piano presence that slays me every time. Got me a hanker for the soapbar version of a couple years ago, too, and watch Reverb - but they're either too drab in appearance or too expensive.

So this Private Stocker tantalizes from a socio-economic dimension which barely intersects mine, and will doubtless stalk my dreams. It's longer, at 28", my favorite length for a bari. While charcoal quilt wouldn't be my choice if in some dream world I was ordering one from scratch, the look certainly ain't bad. I'm pretty sure it plays wonderfully. And if the pickups didn't satisfy (in this dream), I'd want to put a pair of TCIs in it.

And if I were socio-economically qualified to own it, I could surely afford to have Barit One's name excised from the fretboard. He wasn't the worst despotic maniac ever to rule an eastern European oligarchy (that would be his nefarious grandson, Barit the Turd - as he was known by those who would risk disembowelment by uttering the pun in public) - but ol' One was bad enough. Sold all his country's old-growth forests to luthiers to make flamboyant and often garish musical instruments, some dyed with the blood of virgins.

So I'd get that name right off there, toot sweet.

Unpleasant political associations aside, that's a dreamworthy instrument. Maybe it was all worth it.
 
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I have a terminal case of baritone infatuation, with an ongoing mission to try all the market has to offer in the way of baris in the sweet spot (for me) for scale length, which is 27.5" (marginal) to 28.75" (maybe). And they also have to be not specifically designed and marketed for metal mayhem.
This! Exactly this for me as well. Especially the part about NOT FOR METAL
 
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