In a series of what I would call very fortunate events, I have come upon the granddaddy of all Baritones! The LSL Instruments Silverlake HH 22 Fret Offset Baritone is an absolutely understated monster of rock!
It was my good bud Adam Christianson of ARCHITECTS that turned me on to Baritones nearly a decade ago (My goodness I’m getting old!) and I have been a fan ever since. However only once I landed at LSL and Adam and us started working on his Bari models did I see what all the magic of an LSL Instruments guitar combined with a 27.5” scale length means for the playability and tone of such a machine. It’s downright glorious!
As you may know. We cut our own necks and bodies. Hand shape each one for superb feel, we spray our own nitro, wind our own pickups and keep the finishes thin so that the wood can resonate freely as the good Lord intended. But on top of that we do a proprietary neck fit that is downright dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. We pressure fit each neck to be super snug on all surfaces of the neck pocket so that it is stronger than a set neck joint which is held in place by glue. You can hold the guitar by the headstock and let it hang in mid air without neck screws. That’s how tight a fit we have going on here at LSL.
Now in the past 3 decades, I have been all about the tried and true “Superstrat” models out there. However Lance Lerman has made me a believer in the power and excellence of the tele body. Didn’t take long actually once I sat down with his “Sherry” HH Badbone 2. In my opinion all it needed was a set of contours and it was the pinnacle of guitardom. So I grabbed one with an alder body, roasted maple neck, a set of HH Bare Knuckle Aftermaths and a 27.5” scale neck.. I thought I’d peaked! Until this beast came a knocking!
LET’S TALK SPECS!
I would have to say that aside from the long scale neck my favorite spec on this boutique baritone would have to be the swamp ash body! All that grain is just wonderful and the punch that it delivers is out of this world. Super tight bottom end response, nice scooped mids and clear top end response all start here.. The added mass of the offset body really allows these tonal characteristics shine through and even with the added mass it’s still lightweight!
The second thing you will notice is that the build has a straight maple neck with Indian Rosewood fingerboard. My Badbone 2 and my Saticoy HSH both have Roasted Birdseye Maple 1 piece necks, which are phenomenal and smooth, but oh man did I miss the rosewood. So going back to basics and having a nice satin finish maple neck with heavy age and rosewood board made my day. In my opinion a rosewood fretboard is a must have for songwriter type guitar players. I’m no shredder. Although I do enjoy a good face melting from time to time. I believe it was Willie Nelson who said “There ain’t no money passed the 4th fret” and I would add to that “Rosewood is the bee’s knees!”. It’s softer, less peaky, rounds out and smooths out sharper overtones and in my case it helps hide my mistakes while playing that my maple necks are so harshly unforgiving on LOL!
The great thing about the heavy age neck is that it is basically raw wood in the worn parts. Making for the smoothest fastest uninhibited playing experience around. Not many players like a glossed neck these days because of the stickiness that comes while playing, especially with sweaty hands or humidity coming into play. The raw wood feel is so important to players these days that guys like Shawn Tubbs did his own relic on the back of his black SSS Saticoy when he got it to make it feel just right and I don’t blame him! I am so happy to see maple and rosewood making a comeback in the last year. You can expect to see more and more of them out there. I still love my roasted birdseye maple necks. But I have to admit this one feels like home.
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