If you only know Orangewood for its keenly priced rubber-bridged Juniper acoustic that no one could get enough of, then the brand’s first electric guitar is going to blow your mind.
Yes, it could have come out with a Strat-style guitar and priced it under $1,000, testing the waters with a bankable hit. But no, the company has teamed up with Connecticut-based luthier Josh Forest of TreeTone Guitars to offer a baritone offset guitar inspired by Forest’s own Del Sol.
Offered in Pitch Black and Sandstone finishes, the latter akin to Shoreline Gold and complemented by a white pickguard, with a tortoiseshell ‘guard on the former, the Del Sol Baritone is a real looker.
Forest’s golden era inspirations are in full effect. This looks like a guitar that could have been designed in 1961. The Del Sol has a chambered mahogany body with a single f-hole. The volume and tone controls for its P-90 pickup pairing sit on a metal plate, a la vintage Fender, brushed aluminium a la contemporary Fender.
The bolt-on roasted maple neck gives it that baked in nicotine club stalwart vibe (a reference that will soon mean little in the post smoking ban era), the block inlays on a rosewood fingerboard a touch of class.
For $695, you’re getting a lot of guitar. Going electric is not for the faint-hearted, as the recent release of the Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown reminded us.
But Eddie Park, co-founder of Orangewood, believes Forest was the ideal collaborator.
He knew Forest would give them something different. With a phase switch for the P-90 pairing promising “a biting, vintage-style quack”, allied to that semi-hollow build, players have certainly got that.
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“We’ve been fans of Josh’s work for years,” says Park. “His unique vision and attention to detail made him the ideal partner as we entered the world of electrics. After years of conversations, prototypes, and a shared obsession with character and tone, the Del Sol Baritone is finally here.”
Park says the Del Sol is a “turning point” in Orangewood’s history, calling it “a fresh, distinctive kind of guitar that feels like the perfect introduction for those that only know us for our acoustics”.
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The 27.5” baritone electric ships in B standard (with a set of Ernie Ball Baritone Slinky electric guitar strings), and sounds like it could be a hard-working instrument, ideal for low-end punk riffs, deep but splashy surf rock and all kinds of indie and alt-rock adventures.
If you were a fan of their rubber-bridge aesthetic, then you may well like this one. It feels very aware. And at that price (which includes a deluxe gig bag) we could see them doing well. C’mon, this even has locking Grover Roto-Grip tuners, TOM-style bridge and tailpiece. That’s pretty neat.
For more details, head over to Orangewood.
