Capone's Ernie Ball JP Baritone GuitarPhoto: Patrick Capone
Most people.. well.. besides guitarists.. don't know that there are actually many different types of guitars.. 6 string, 7 string, 8 string, 12 string, and many many more. Add to the fact that guitarists will change the tunings, drop tunings, open tunings, and it becomes easy to see why the guitar is such a versatile instrument perfect for rock and roll. So.. The guitar you see in the photo is a very cool guitar that I just picked up for a new original music project that I am working on. This is called a "Baritone". This means, the neck is actually much longer, almost like a bass guitar, and the tuning is much much lower.
Normally, a guitar is tuned to E standard. This baritone guitar has a 29 inch long neck and is actually tuned to G# standard. It sounds heavy, dark, menacing, and very very cool.
This particular guitar is part of a private stock release from Ernie Ball, made many years ago, designed by John Petrucci from Dream Theater. I guess he needed a baritone for a song they use to play, so this was created.. and is truly one of the nicest baritone guitars you could ever hear or play. It is magical.
You can hear me play it when my new music project performs are material for the first time Friday August 5th at the Rock The Fox Music Fest at Carpeter Park in Carpentersville Illinois. It is an absolutely free music festival, so come on out and support all of the great local acts.