28.6 inches of scale and a neck that survived the humidity test
A long-scale baritone lives and dies by neck stability — string tension at 28.6" is unforgiving, and a neck that moves takes the intonation with it. Halloway’s answer is a roasted-maple neck with two carbon rods, and it held: 0.004" of relief change across four weeks between 30 and 70% RH. The saddles are where this guitar gives ground.
1 · Build & materials
Chambered ash body, roasted-maple bolt-on neck with twin carbon-fibre rods either side of the truss, ebony board on a 12–16" compound radius. The neck pocket is tight enough that the bolts are doing alignment, not clamping — you can feel it when you loosen them. Fretwork is clean: stainless, level, ends dressed. The only sloppy joint is the control-cavity cover, which sits a hair proud.
2 · On the bench
Strung with 14–68 flatwounds, tuned to B standard, and left in a humidity cabinet stepped from 30 to 70% RH over four weeks. Relief measured with a feeler gauge at the 8th fret, capo at 1, held down at the body join. Intonation checked at the 12th fret harmonic vs. fretted each week.
| Week | RH | Relief @ 8th | 12th-fret drift | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 30% | 0.010" | — | Factory setup, baseline |
| 1 | 45% | 0.011" | +1 cent | Settling, no truss touch |
| 2 | 60% | 0.013" | +2 cents | Relief up, still playable |
| 3 | 70% | 0.014" | +3 cents | Peak swelling |
| 4 | 50% | 0.011" | +1 cent | Returns near baseline |
The neck moved a thousandth of an inch a week and came back. At 28.6", that is the whole ballgame.
3 · In the room
Recorded clean and through a low-gain valve amp, one mic, no post EQ. The low B is tight rather than woolly — the chambering keeps the body from booming, and the wide-range humbuckers stay articulate down there where a lot of baritone pickups turn to mud. Neck pickup rolled back is the money sound: thick, clear, no flub.
4 · Against the alternatives
Against the two other long-scale baritones in the database, the Type 9 is the most stable neck and the least exciting bridge. One rival gives you locking saddles and a wobblier neck; the other is rock-solid but two pounds heavier. If you gig in changing rooms, stability wins — you can upgrade a saddle in ten minutes, you can’t upgrade a neck.
5 · Verdict
A serious working baritone: a neck engineered for the tension it carries, honest measurements to back it up, and clean fretwork. Swap the stock saddle screws for a set that won’t back out under vibration and it’s a keeper. The price is fair for a small-shop build that measured this well.
