Product: Baker Ed Roman
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
11/13/2006
at
12:54pm
by
david
Email: david<at>rynopro dot com
Features
:
10
Mahogany body, carved quilted maple top.
Gold Hardware.
24 fret, set Neck.
Tune-A-Matic Bridge
Grover 16 to 1 tuners
Ebony finger board
S.D. Black Back pickups.
One Volume, 2 tone with push pull pots for coil tapping.
Sound
:
8
The sound is very good, but not great; but I plan on fixing that. I like the Black Back pickups fine...I'm just not crazy about them. I just ordered an HFS/Vintage Bass tandem, which are much more to my tastes. Don't get me wrong, the Black Backs do sound very good. My Dean Hardtail has an Duncan 59/JB pairing in it, and the Black Back treble has more balls then the JB, but the bass is not as full and rich as the 59. BUT the coil tapping is dead on...way beyond the all-too-frequent "it just kinda??? sounds different" effect that coil tapping seems to offer up. (It does pick up a little noise though.) But what the hell, they're just pick ups...put what you want to into it. The wood combo, set neck, and overall build are all rock solid, so whatever pickups suit your ear, the Baker will give them the voice you're looking for.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
The finish is dazzling. The quilting is deep, well matched and subtle, and the gold hardware is very handsome. But the BEST feature on this guitar is without doubt the neck. To my way of thinking, the neck is what it's all about. It can empower you as a player, or it can just plain get in your way. For my hand and my tastes, this neck is an absolute joy to play. It's wide and thin (a good deal thinner than the PRS wide/thin) and very, very fast. I don't know what the dimensions are, but the only thing that I've found that's similar is the Ibanez Prestige. But it's more than an issue of thinness; the back of the Baker neck has a flat even surface which provides an unobtrusive platform for the thumb to work on. It's amazing the difference it makes. Everytime I play another guitar and come back to my Baker it's like getting out of a suit and tie and throwing on my favorite pair of jeans.
The only complaint I have on the ergonomics of the guitar is the placement of the pickup switch...it's way back by the bridge, which IMHO couldn't be in a more clumsy location. A lot of guitar makers put it there too and I can't figure out why (OK, you sure aren't going to knock it by accident way back there.) When I have the new pickups put in, I'm going to have them move the switch up front where the volume is and reconfigure the pots so that the volume is right behind it. I also replaced the bell knobs with speed knobs because the mechanics of the push/pull is a pain without them.
But that aside I'm still giving this category a 10 because the switch is easily fixed, but that neck is one of a kind.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
I've had the guitar for about a month and it feels like it will hold up.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
N/A
Overall Rating
:
10
I know there are quite a few negative reviews by people who are either a) disappointed that it's not a Gene Baker USA original, and/or b) hate Ed Roman. Well I don't know Ed Roman and I've never played an original Baker, but if they're the inspiration behind these Bakers, no wonder they go for over $3,000. I bought mine used, but even at $1200 new, this guitar just plays circles around everything within a thousand bucks of it. If someone were to offer me a straight swap for a PRS Custom or ab LP I'd turn them down before the deal was even finished getting out of their mouth. Don't be deterred by the haters, this is a magnificent guitar. If you can afford to drop three grand on an original Baker, good for you; but if you're mortal like the rest of us...no other guitar will put a smile on your face like this one.
