Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

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Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by OffYourFace » Sun Feb 11, 2024 1:00 pm

I know indie rock rules here in OSG but I’ve been digging Mk.gee’s playing. Maybe others on here appreciate it too?

So he uses an AV65 Jaguar setup like a baritone. I think it’s tuned Bb-Bb but not sure. I also think he uses flatwounds. It’s a cool sound but then it occurred to me… how is he using big strings like that on a short scale???

I think I figured it out. D’Addario makes a 7-string set of their Chromes set. So if you omit the high E, you’ve got yourself a baritone set. I wonder if any other companies make a similar set?

Then, how is he getting great intonation? He plays with a capo a lot and plays in the middle of the neck. I think he’s got a mustang style bridge on there too. Whatever he’s doing is working. There’s a lot of effects (chorus/flange, reverb). but it’s in tune. Even live.

Anyway, I think he’s pretty damn good and I like the use of his old 90s Tascam 4-track as his ‘amp’.

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by GreenKnee » Sun Feb 11, 2024 1:09 pm

Yeah I heard his stuff last week and I'm keeping an eye out for the new album.
I actually did what you describe with the 7 string Chromes set for a Jaguar Baritone - but mine was the actual MIJ Jaguar Baritone :D I swapped the plain 1st string (2nd string of the 7 string set) with a flatwound string to have all 6 strings wound. It was a beast!

With Mk.gee I assumed he was using some pitch shifting from a modeller of some sort. These younguns do what they want, tradition be damned!

The strings don't look too thick:
Image

Edit: just saw the album dropped Friday, that's going to be played in my office tomorrow.

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by OffYourFace » Sun Feb 11, 2024 1:39 pm

No pitch shifter. Yeah the pics are deceiving but there’s other videos where they look bigger. A .065 isn’t going to look huge tho.

There’s a great rig rundown type video during a tour with Dijon and you can hear the guitar perfectly. Let me see if I can find it. Yes. He’s the last one but it’s all worth watching. His pedal board is simple. No pitch shifter.

YT

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by countertext » Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:22 pm

I’m digging his shit. There’s a part of my listening history that I didn’t share much with my many bandmates over the years, mid- to late-‘80s pop, that I hear in Mk.Gee. Late Police and early Sting. Peter Gabriel. Stuff like that.

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by OffYourFace » Mon Feb 12, 2024 2:00 am

countertext wrote:
Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:22 pm
I’m digging his shit. There’s a part of my listening history that I didn’t share much with my many bandmates over the years, mid- to late-‘80s pop, that I hear in Mk.Gee. Late Police and early Sting. Peter Gabriel. Stuff like that.
Yup and some Prince, some Lindsey Buckingham, etc. I want to try this baritone setup on my Jaguar and see how it goes. I never got on with the Bass VI. These days I really prefer the 24" scale....

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by countertext » Mon Feb 12, 2024 8:08 am

I can hear some Prince in there, now that you’ve mentioned it.

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by Jaguar018 » Wed Feb 14, 2024 6:41 am

Watched the YT link and that guy (that I am too lazy to look up) with the guitar plugged into the Eurorack... and that shit just makes me some variety of jealous. >:(

Jealous of his ability to figure all that out, jealous the fact that he has the TIME to figure it all out, and that he has the personal drive and a group of people around him that can help turn his eurorack guitar noise into a viable musical product/project.

I could go out today and drop some $$$ to get some basic setup like that, but I'd still be stuck alone in my basement with no real direction. :'(

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by OffYourFace » Wed Feb 14, 2024 8:33 am

Jaguar018 wrote: ….
It’s not as difficult as you think but it’ll take more than a week to learn. But there’s lots of stuff to learn and discover. You just need to approach it openly. Most of that little rig is just effects and samplers/loopers. The difference is that it’s extremely tweak-able .

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by BlixaFan » Sun Apr 07, 2024 6:47 pm

i completely randomly stumbled across his stuff, and his work with Dijon today, and my mind is blown.

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by OffYourFace » Fri Apr 12, 2024 12:06 am

BlixaFan wrote:
Sun Apr 07, 2024 6:47 pm
i completely randomly stumbled across his stuff, and his work with Dijon today, and my mind is blown.
:-* :-*

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by andy_tchp » Fri Apr 12, 2024 5:16 am

Yeah, this guy is amazing.

It sounds so familiar yet completely unlike anything else. I can't really describe it any other way.
"I don't know why we asked him to join the band 'cause the rest of us don't like country music all that much; we just like Graham Lee."
David McComb, 1987.

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by javier-san » Fri Apr 12, 2024 8:42 am

Just stumbled onto this and was introduced to a new artist. Really digging it! Ty y'all

Also, using a jaguar for a baritone is wild (to me).

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by OffYourFace » Fri Apr 12, 2024 11:09 am

javier-san wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2024 8:42 am

Also, using a jaguar for a baritone is wild (to me).
Yeah the intonation is probably not the greatest but he makes it work. I can hear that he's out of tune sometimes but it's mainly when he hits hard. He's def using the D'Addario ECG24-7 7-String Chromes set.
andy_tchp wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2024 5:16 am

It sounds so familiar yet completely unlike anything else. I can't really describe it any other way.


The younger fans go nuts for him. It's a lot like how a lot of us offset fans would get super deep into MBV or SY with the gear. Even that YT guy Rhett Shull did a video on him... which kind of bummed me out tbh haha.

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by BlixaFan » Sat Apr 13, 2024 8:28 am

OffYourFace wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2024 11:09 am
javier-san wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2024 8:42 am

Also, using a jaguar for a baritone is wild (to me).
Yeah the intonation is probably not the greatest but he makes it work. I can hear that he's out of tune sometimes but it's mainly when he hits hard. He's def using the D'Addario ECG24-7 7-String Chromes set.
andy_tchp wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2024 5:16 am

It sounds so familiar yet completely unlike anything else. I can't really describe it any other way.


The younger fans go nuts for him. It's a lot like how a lot of us offset fans would get super deep into MBV or SY with the gear. Even that YT guy Rhett Shull did a video on him... which kind of bummed me out tbh haha.
lol why did Rhett Shull bum you out? i saw that video the other day. he seems to genuinely find Mk.gee unique and fresh?

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Re: Mk.gee and making a short scale baritone

Post by OffYourFace » Sat Apr 13, 2024 3:36 pm

BlixaFan wrote:
Sat Apr 13, 2024 8:28 am

lol why did Rhett Shull bum you out? i saw that video the other day. he seems to genuinely find Mk.gee unique and fresh?
I have nothing against him. It's just weird how influencers like him who have no real accomplishments under their belt have a large following and dish out advice. He's a commercial for gear.

I just worry for Mk.gee cuz so much hype at such speed can be detrimental. But I do think he'll be fine.

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