Baker B1 Chambered

This guitar features: a quarter-sawn mahogany neck with flame maple headstock overlay; a dizzying flame maple top, dished-out and finished in a faded ice-t burst; a rippled-mahogany back that dances around a bit; two Seth Lover humbuckers with coil splits and a varitone circuit; two volumes and one tone; Tone Pros bridge/tailpiece; and schaller straplocks and tuners.

I went for the hand-select option on the wood and was blown away by the quality (in terms of weight, resonance, and beauty) of the woods these guys have in stock -- I honestly had a quite a difficult time chosing the pieces and had to keep myself otherwise occupied in order to avoid unnecessary changes. I don't know where Gene finds this stuff, but he'd best keep it a secret!

This guitar sounds better acoustically and plugged in than any other I have had or heard. The Seth Lovers are fat and creamy, growl when needed, and split well (the bridge can even get into tele territory).
Even though no guitar can NAIL it all, this one is close enough for me (and, yes, it can do metal too!).

The only area in need of improvement is the varitone circuit. It does it's job, but the darker positions sound a little too muffled. Gil and Gene tell me this is because of the choke in the circuit and are currently searching for "the one" -- pretty darn cool if you ask me.

The rating in this category doesn't include the varitone situation, since we're still looking for a way to improve it.

Phenominal, as it should be on this calibre of instrument.
Though this guitar doesn't play itself, the action can't lay on the frets without buzzing, and I have yet to hear it sing in its case; it does play effortlessly with the 10s it came with. I'm thinking of strapping it with 11s, but...

I must say Justin is a fret dressing genius.

Is this a joke?
I don't use a backup with it. Even though I'm not too bright, I have yet to break a string on it.

The coolest bunch of guys you'd ever want to deal with -- down-to-earth, painfully funny, supergeniuses.
I'm not sure if it's a lifetime warranty or not, but... still searching for a better varitone choke AFTER the purchase...
I'm not worried about it.

I've been playing for about 13 years, during most of which I suffered under the impression, "more gear = better player." I've gone through various strats, a tele, a '64 es 330, MusicMan EVH's & a Silhouette, a pointy-headstock ESP (the metal years...yeah, Mr. Scary and Queensryche!), various Marshalls, Fenders (bf&sf), a Top Hat CR, racks, pedals, bored yet? My current setup is Baker-zvex wah probe-ts9-echo machine-Top Hat; or Baker-wah probe-POD-board, depending on how lazy I am that day.

made in 2001 in california by gene baker... a small shop ... handmade.. 22 frets, beautiful quilted maple top ... chambered mahogony body.. medium to jumbo frets .. 2 dimarzio virtual PAFs, Buzz Feinten tuning system... stop tailpiece.. i think it's a 25" scale length.. they have recently introduced a push/pull coil splitter on this model...

i've been playing straight ahead jazz ... mosly bop and blue-note kind of stuff ... but i'm looking to modernize my style.. i grew up with zeppelin and pink floyd...(i'm 33) i'm using it through either a polytone... or a music man... i think i'm going to get a warmer amp... i was using a es-175 with 13s through these... it came with .10s (i think) i want to see how it works with round wound .11 or .12 ... the sound is kind of like a les paul... you can get some really nice jazz chords out of it ... it's similar in sound to a les paul, mc carty, or a 335.. it sounds great without an amp... i think it has a great sound overall.. when i put some fat strings on it, i expect it to get even better... the buzz feinten tuning system is really great... you probably don't know what you're missing ... but it's in tune everywhere... if you get a chance, check one out... i shopped around quite a bit before i purchased this guitar .. and i think it's fabulous... i also looked at 335 dot reissues, prs mc cartys, hamer artist customs and while those are all cool, i really dig this

set up is great... but i have to do it again when i change strings.. electronics are clean ... the top is GORGEOUS!! the inlays are abalone.. and they are a really different.. little blocks on the top part of the fretboard... i think it's a rosewood fretboard... but it's dark and the wood seems hard ... so it could be ebony... anyhow.. the nut, finish, hardware, inlays, binding ... everything is perfect

this guitar is solid... it's not like a strat... i wouldn't beat on it.. i think it's reasonably solid... but would be careful with it ... it's so pretty i'm afraid to scratch it up

gene baker replied to my emails immediately (within a couple hours) two times... he seems way cool, and very helpful... this cat loves building guitars... and you can tell he's proud of his work...

i've been playing for about 20 years... i've had les pauls, strats, an es-175 an an epiphone sheraton 2(modified) and this one is the best built of them all... i would buy one again... i also loved the hollowbody model (made of korina wood) like i said before, i compared it to 335s, hamer artist customs, prs, all kinds of stuff.... and i bought this... you should try one... it's got a great vibe