Howie Escape Series Baritone #EB.4.95.23 - Violet

Note: This guitar has a very small dent in the finish at the top of the peg head. This is shown in the last 2 pictures. This is why the guitar has been discounted.

Be sure to check out the video for a more detailed description and to hear this guitar in action!

This 2023 Escape Series Baritone guitar is made from hard maple, cherry, West African ebony, and curly maple. As with all our Escape Series guitars, it has our U.S. patented Nautilus Shell chambering giving it the unique Howie resonance and tone. It has a 24-fret Ebony fingerboard with a scale length of 29in. The board has a compound radius of 19.4in at the tail down to 12in at the nut.

The shape of this guitar’s hard maple neck is what we call the Howie Medium Line. At the nut the depth is 0.9inches and at the 12th fret it is 0.96in. It was modeled to be as shallow as possible while still maintaining the strength needed for a baritone guitar. It’s not super thin like a 1960s Gibson ES330, and it’s not super “baseball bat” thick like a 1950s Les Paul. It’s right in the sweet spot in the middle. The width at the nut is 1.68inches. At the tail it is 2.2inches.

I chose a unique combination for the pickups on this guitar. The neck pickup is Seymour Duncan’s Jazz humbucker. It has an alnico 5 bar magnet and a special coil wind giving it an articulate, glassy treble response that balances very well with its full, but tight low end. The midrange is scooped which gives it a buttery smooth tonal character. The bridge pickup is Seymour Duncan’s 78 model humbucker. This pickup was created when Seymour Duncan experimented with Eddie Van Halen in 1978 to make a pickup that brings out artificial harmonics and is also wound very hot. The result is a very clear and crisp tone with biting leads. Add to this that I added switches that will coil cut each humbucker for a sweet single coil sound.

The hollow/chambered body design of this guitar makes it incredibly light for a baritone weighing in at just 6.8lbs. Compare this to a typical Les Paul weighing in at 9 to 12 pounds.

The finish on this guitar was done with a catalyzed urethane that is normally used on automobiles. This high-end urethane dries very fast and hard allowing fewer coats and a thinner finish.

The rest of the nitty gritty details are all listed below….

Series: Escape Baritone

Serial # EB.4.95.23

Birthday: 4.30.23

Main Body Wood: Cherry

Top Body Wood: Curly Maple

Neck Wood: Hard Maple

Peghead Veneer: Curly Maple

Fretboard: Ebony

TR Cover: Curly Maple

Weight: 6.8lbs, 3.08kg

Carve Type: 0.5in Fibonacci

Scale Length: 29in, 73.66cm

Nut Width: 1.68in, 4.27cm

Tail Width: 2.20in, 5.59cm

Neck Depth @ Nut: 0.9in, 22.86mm

Neck Depth @ 12th: 0.96in, 24.38mm

Fretboard Radius: 19.42in to 12in, 49.33cm to 30.48cm

Fret wire: 0.09in, Stainless Steel

Neck Angle: 3.16deg

Torsion Angle: 0deg

Neck Carve: Howie Medium Line

Peghead Angle: 8.5deg

Pickups: Seymour Duncan (78 bridge, Jazz neck)

Tuning Machines: Hipshot Locking Gold

Nut: Bleached Bone

Truss Rod: Custom

Bridge: Kluson ABR Wired

Tail Piece: Gotoh Stop

Strap Pins: Gold

Strings: S.I.T. Power Wound Baritone

Inlays: White Mother of Pearl, Abalone

Pup Rings: White Offset

Side Dots: Abalone

Knobs: White Speed

Finish: DC 2000 Catalyzed Urethane