Gruffbastard

The du Pré Guitars Gruffbastard Baritone sits between a guitar and a bass, and is tuned to A. The increased scale of the baritone conversion neck gives a higher tension and a truely massive almost piano-like clean tone that breaks up into an a dark, heavy and doomladen overdrive. Chords have never sounded bigger. All the design elements are tailored to this big sound and are of course top spec.

  • Gruffbastard body shot
  • Gruffbastard pickups
  • Gruffbastard Earvana nut
  • Gruffbastard Comfort contour neck joint
  • Gruffbastard fingerboard and body
  • Gruffbastard headstock
Gruffbastard

Specs

Body Two piece swamp ash with comfort heel contour
This improves the access to the higher frets by removing some of the bulk of the heel joint without compromising strength.
Finish Danish oil and beeswax.
Super smooth, warm and natural feeling wood. No stickiness. Any colour stain available
Neck Wenge
Super smooth and fast feeling neck. No sweaty stickiness. 24 frets give two full octaves per sting. Wenge is a very hard and stiff black wood with chocolate brown stripes which gives strong midrange tones and warm lows, pefect for baritone necks.
Fingerboard Ebony
Extremely hard wood that bring out the highs and provides a very smooth playing surface.
Frets 22 medium jumbo stainless steel frets
For easier bends and a modern feel. Stainless steel frets are much harder wearing that nickel, sound slightly bridghter, and stay nice and shiny!
Nut Earvana compensated nut
Improves the intonation at the nut end of the neck to make open chords much sweeter. A subtle upgrade that provides a dramatic benefit.
Tuners Gotoh 510 tuners
18/1 ratio chrome tuners. Probably the best tuners on the market, with modern curved shapes that echo the body shape.
Pickups Bare Knuckle Black Dog humbuckers matched pair
"Muscular growl and bite. Full bodied and strong with classic mid range detail. The Black Dog humbucker's open coils are scatterwound entirely by hand imparting a unique and versatile personality. Extra turns of wire together with an Alnico V magnet ensure just the right balance of power and clarity." This choice of pickups was personally recommended for this guitar by Tim Mills of Bare Knuckle pickups.
Controls 2 Volume and 2 Tone,3 position pickup selector
Logarhythmic pots are used to ensure the full range of the control is usable. RS Guitar Caps capacitor makes the tone controls very dynamic. The pickup and control cavities are properly earthed and heavily shielded with thick copper shielding tape to all but eliminate interference and hum.
Bridge TonePros tune-o-matic bridge in nickel
Top spec precision engineered bridge and tail piece that has retaining bolts that improve "coupling", eliminate rattles and improves tone and sustain. The string then pass down through the body and are secured in ferrules that are permanently fixed to the wood, maximising sustain and resonance.
Check out the build diary!
Want to change the specs? Make it your own. Almost anything is possible within the boundaries of good taste and your imagination.