It is Day 14 with the Baker B3 and I have to say it is a mind blowing experience to be with such a guitar. People may say that it’s a honeymoon period but as each day goes by, you just start to fall in love with the guitar more and more. So much so that playing my other guitars just makes it such a bad experience. I tend to find fault now in my other guitars subconsciously.
Everything about the Baker B3 Fire Model just feels right. Underwhelming at first and not exactly the best looking guitar, it rewards you each day with more tone and character that makes you forget about those screaming maple tops. Slowly, those KSP tops start to look abrasive and NAKAKAUMAY. Then you start to understand why the classic Bursts are never loud in appearance. The B3 never distracts your playing with laborious inlays and densely eye popping flame. Its all done right with a touch of class and playability in mind. It remains easy on the eyes and the only time you notice the flame is from a non-player angle. If you still prioritize body style, looks and adornment, its time to grow up. Because more often than not, the best sounding guitars look ordinary and simple. If you believe that wood is wood and that companies like Gibson, Fender and PRS use the best wood, then you are in for a surprise. The wood used on the B3 sings so well that only a chance occurrence Gibson, Fender or PRS guitar may rival it.
Everything is just perfect as you grow into the guitar. All of the physical aspects feel as if the builder knew what to do with it regardless of specifications or features. No such thing as customization here because you don’t need it. You easily forget what type of guitar you are playing. Even though at the back of your mind, you know that this should be a Les Paul type guitar, it makes you forget what it is because you can coax so many sounds out of the pickups. No personal favorite Paper in Oil Angela Caps or Scalarizers here. It does fine without them. Straight out of the box, it is a tone machine with the best ever character I have experienced in an electric guitar. Two loyal Fender friends of mine who have tried the guitar, just don’t care anymore whether they are playing a Fender style guitar because the coil tap is just so sweet and defined. On clean, I can get an amplified acoustic tone with the volume backed down. On diverse amps from a Vox AC 30 to a high gain Bogner Uberschall, the guitar just never sounds the same but rather morphs into something new depending on the amp. Again, I reiterate even though it does not look like a pointy death and thrash metal guitar, it will put such guitars into place. I can demonstrate this on the VHT, Diezel and Bogner. Moreover because of such a strong body resonance and string vibration, distortion on high gain amps is possible on minimal settings of 7-9 o clock without any overdrive and boost pedals. On super extreme gain settings and with the Lollars on Full, I can get a certain fuzz feel and timbre which is simply amazing given that there is no fuzz pedal used. Such sonic versatility and physical perfection makes the guitar blend into the player and as a result, the player is now consumed by his playing. It never fails to excite each and every time it is picked up.
This guitar has restored my faith in US luthiers. My humble advice to those who can save or are willing to save, is to forget all else and get one Baker. At this point in time, at least from the perspective of Destroy All Guitars, Baker, JG and the new Terry Mcinturff Carolina solid bodies are top of the heap among solid body electric guitars. And I tend to believe it. Truly, this is crème de la crème. I believe that less than 1% of the world’s electric guitars will ever achieve this perfect blend of physical playability and killer sound. I am that impressed and that biased that I rather own 2 or 3 Bakers and be happy the rest of my life without ever feeling the need to madly visit Perfect Pitch during their Handog sales and ever to be intimidated by the selection of guitars in Tom Lee Hong Kong Main Branch near the Tsim Sha Tsui station in Kowloon.
Will our local luthiers ever reach this quality? My honest answer is maybe in the next 20 years. After all, Gene started making guitars in 1990 and the B3 was launched in 2006. If you look at his work history and exposure to some of the best luthiers and artist in the industry, then you start to realize that you are paying for his experience and it shows. Surely, physical beauty is something that he can easily do as demonstrated by his first series of Baker B1 guitars. However, the B3s just seem more organic and never forced. The B3s make the player shine and not vice versa.
As of today, I look forward to dispose my guitars and to save up for another Baker. Considering that he only makes about 30 guitars a year by himself and let us assume that he only has another 20 years of work in him, that is just 600 more guitars for a lucky 600 guitarists in the whole wide world.
By the way, I am sure you have a question on if such a guitar so great exists, how come so and so does not use the guitar? Let me quote Cliff: “Many famous players own Bakers but many cannot be photographed with them or seen on stage with them...” Joe Satriani and Steve Vai are super close friends of Cliff. I quote Joe Satriani “"Cliff is my tone guru. He knows amps and guitars better than anyone, and I trust his recommendations when it comes to equipment. I've known Cliff since '85 and he's always been on the new frontier with both music and gear. He signed me to Relativity back in '86 and since then has continued to help me develop as a solo artist. Now with DestroyAllGuitars on the web we all have a place to go when we need Cliff's advice!" and a quote from Steve Vai “"I was discovered by Frank Zappa but Cliff Cultreri gave me my chance in the music business and if it was not for his instincts, support and encouragement, it's unlikely I would have had a successful music career. When you hear about music business folk lore you hear the fairy tale stories of the one guy that made a difference but was more or less an unsung hero. Cliff was my guardian angel. After countless refusals from virtually every label, Cliff was the only one to take the chance and release my music, giving me a deal that is to this day unequivocally unprecedented in the music business." So to naysayers, read between the lines.
Cliff brings to the table 30 years of music industry experience, during which he was responsible for producing and executive producing primarily guitar-driven music. Cliff was responsible for signing and executive producing such artists as Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Alan Holdsworth, Peter Frampton, Warren Haynes and GOV'T Mule, Steve Howe, John McLaughlin, Scott Henderson, Slash's Snakepit, Opeth, Megadeath, C.O.C., Exodus, Anthrax, Slayer, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Our Lady Peace, and too many more to mention. During that time, projects involving Cliff had received 18 Grammy Nominations and 27 Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum awards. Cliff was also privileged to work alongside of some of the greatest producers in rock history such as Glyn Johns (The Who, Rolling Stones), Andy Johns (Led Zeppelin), Jim Gaines (Stevie Ray Vaughan), Butch Vig (Nirvana), Bob Rock (Metallica), etc... He has been recording guitar driven rock records since 1975 and has thus gathered a wealth of knowledge in that arena. It is this knowledge that he brings to the table to share with all who work with him at DestroyAllGuitars.
Because of his credentials and the Baker Fire#55, I can now safely order guitars WITHOUT ever trying them in person.
Guitars just got exciting again!!!
Is it worth the expense?
I can personally say yes because it ends the stress of having to keep up with joneses because Gene ensures that his guitars are up to date and yet classic in appeal i.e. Buzz Feiten, Skyway tremolo options, Tone Pros. It ends having to go to Perfect Pitch Handog Sale and be disappointed by the current offerings i.e. Baker Guitars are handmade by Gene one at a time with a high resale value. It ends having to keep on worrying what parts to upgrade i.e. Gene alters each hardware and electronic configuration for each guitar depending on the sound of the wood, for example he uses wolfetones, to lollars to dimarzios depending on what best fits the individual guitar. It ends having to rummage thru tons and tons of classified ads, waste time and deal with character types who want to sell their offerings as the greatest thing on earth i.e. Gene scraps 65% of the premium wood he uses just to find a guitar with character. It ends having to set-up expensive guitars from the store i.e. Gene personally set ups each guitar before its shipped and his set-up is amazing. It ends having to struggle with guitars i.e. the guitar does 50% of the work and it takes out 50% off from needing to generate the tone from your hands and makes you more concentrate on note selection and expression. It ends customization because you forget about features e.g. Gene has this uncanny ability to combine certain features together that actually work so well and naturally together – if you look at the joint of #55 with a 59 neck profile who would have thought of such and yet I have stopped desiring for a neck thru. Finally, it ends having to use bad sounding guitars. E.g. Gene’s wood is just amazing in response and character. Least I forget, it ends GAS for a few days…
If I sound biased -- I am just passionate because it’s really an amazing guitar that I want everybody to wake up from all the commercialism and just buy one for themselves at some point in their life. This guitar has restored my faith in so called high end luthiers who really want to produce good sounding guitars that Fender, Gibson and PRS forgot about because they were all too busy coming out with gazillion models with gazillion endorsements, gazillion colors and gazillion flames. In their pursuit of profits, it has taught a generation of guitarists to play with their eyes as opposed to playing what sounds good. In comparison to these Brands, Gene Baker offers a refreshing perspective and concentrates on delivering on the most elusive trait of all -- good sound.
-- alex
