Product: Apollo Amplifiers BT-6 Baritone
Price Paid: $575.00 (Canadian)
Submitted
02/06/2006
at
01:11pm
by
Brody
Features
:
9
This is a hand made instrument built by John Kingma in Canada, It was built in 2005. The body is made from Hackberry and is finished with Danish Oil. The neck is Maple with a Rosewood fretboard. It has a scale length of 29.75 inches and 22 medium frets. The tuners look like Gotoh, but they aren't marked. It has two fantastic humbucker pickups that were hand made as well (Mike Turk Pickups). The body shape is similar to a Les Paul and it is wired up like a Les Paul. The bridge and tailpiece are also like a Les Paul.
Sound
:
9
The sound is fantastic, which is probably more to do with the pickups than anything. It is tuned B to B and the strings are guaged 13 to 68. This Baritone has great tone. It really sounds great. I play through a 50W Traynor amp and occasionally use an old Roland Chorus pedal and I love how this baby sounds through that setup.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
The finish is incredible. The wood grain just jumps out at you. I have never seen anything like it before. It is set up pretty well, but the action is a bit high for me. I tuned it down, A to A and it is just about perfect. Overall, its a bit on the heavy side, but I mostly play sitting down so its not a problem.
Reliability/Durability
:
8
So far so good. Seems very well built. I have no worries about its durability.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Not applicable... yet. Hopefully will never have to contact the builder.
Overall Rating
:
8
Overall very happy with this Baritone Guitar. If it were lost or stolen I would cry.
Product: Apollo Amplifiers BT-6 Baritone
Price Paid: US $500.00 used
Submitted
11/25/2005
at
04:56am
by
Tim
Features
:
9
Firstly, this isn't the old long gone Apollo Guitar Company that most might be familiar with. This is a hand made guitar from Canada.
It was made in 2004. The body is solid Hackberry wood, which I have never heard of before, but WOW, does the grain ever jump out at you. The colour is a bit hard to decribe... sort of a brown that has been lightened up a bit somehow. It looks great.
The body style is sort of a cross between a Les Paul and a Telecaster and really looks sweet.
The neck is a 28.5 inch scale maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard and 22 frets. The tuners are not the best but they will do for now. Someday I will upgrade them.
It has 2 humbuckers made by Mike Turk Pickups in Bracebridge, Ontario. They are a couple of the best sounding pickups I have ever heard.
Its wired like a Les Paul... 2 volume, 2 tone and a 3 way toggle.
Sound
:
10
Beautiful tone... Great lows... no more down tuning with this baby. Its tuned A to A - string guages 13 to 72.
I play it through an Electro-Harmonix English Muff'n Overdrive into a small Roland amp. It has a really big sound.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
7
The only complaint in this area is that the action is a bit high for me. I have tried adjusting the truss rod but still can't get it to where I want it. I may have to shim the neck a bit... which I really don't want to do.
The finish is great.
Reliability/Durability
:
9
No complaints here. But I have only had it a short while. Its a bit heavier than I normally like, but thats okay... it probably helps increase the sustain.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
don't know... never had a problem... never had to contact the manufacturer
Overall Rating
:
8
I have been playing for over 20 years, but until I got this guitar I didn't know much about Baritones. Now, its all I play.
My other guitars are a 65 Fender Mustang and a 90's Danelectro DC 12 string. They are both great guitars and I love playing them, but they don't have the tone that this guitar has.
If this one got stolen I'd probably get this guy to build me another one. Its hand built which I really like... its got soul... but its not perfect.
