# Wes Borland 4 string



## ohmanthisiscool (Aug 27, 2018)

So for years I've wanted to try something like the Wes Borland 4 string like he has in the nookie video. This one



So I made a mockup of a current Ibanez that would be similar:




I was going to attempt to take a Mikro Bass and convert it but that would just feel like a small bass and wouldn't have guitar pickups or anything. So I finally found a decent solution
This:




The Eastwood Warren Ellis Baritone Tenor. Which seems like a contradiction, but hey they've been selling out fast so the community must have a demand for it, and I mean I'm buying one so there is a market for them. I have a regular Ellis tenor and I love it. I use like modified "Chicago" tuning, which is basically the top 4 strings of a guitar but tuned up. Now the baritone is perfect scale length because I believe Wes's were 26.5" scale and this is 26", which isn't much off of a 25.5 guitar but its a genuine 4 string guitar. I wont have to modify anything, just set it up for the F#/f#/b/e tuning and I'm set. I had an idea for this kind of thing years ago that would be great for just ska and reggae rhythms. The top 4 strings of a guitar. The ultimate ska guitar I called it. Then a bottom 4 string version called the ultimate punk guitar. I was wondering if Yinz have done anything like this before or if you were looking to make/buy a "Wes Borland-style" 4 string guitar, give you some ideas. I'm evil I know hahaha


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## crankyrayhanky (Aug 27, 2018)

DISLIKE. Weird. 
Highly interested anyway. Subscribed! lol


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## ohmanthisiscool (Aug 27, 2018)

^ lol


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## nikt (Aug 27, 2018)

He used a lot a vintage Ibanez musician with removed center tuners, You can try that out


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## ohmanthisiscool (Aug 27, 2018)

^ I have done similar with an old AX7221 where I had 4 strings and spaced them out, and also with an Ibanez SRC6 Crossover, with the 4 middle strings, but I really want the thin neck of a 4 string.


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## bostjan (Aug 27, 2018)

nikt said:


> He used a lot a vintage Ibanez musician with removed center tuners, You can try that out



But the neck is longer and narrower. I don't think that it's simply that the center peg holes were filled in, so much as that a new neck was likely used.


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## nikt (Aug 27, 2018)

The one from the pic is a LACS, he now uses a Master Guitars Cremona custom model for the 4 string parts. But in early days Wes used a moded Musician with standard guitar scale.


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## A-Branger (Aug 28, 2018)

stupid guitar. Watched the nookie video 12038129 times, even recorded on a VHS so I could stop and see the frame and count the strings.... and also have massive arguments to my guitar player at the time because for me he was playing a bass (4 strings) and well the E range of the song you could say its bass territory..... So I have a massive confusion in my head, becasue it could sound like 2 basses, but then it did sounded like a guitar, but then it only had 4 strings...??? aahhgg

16 yr old me had no idea


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## Pikka Bird (Aug 28, 2018)

nikt said:


> The one from the pic is a LACS, he now uses a Master Guitars Cremona custom model for the 4 string parts. But in early days Wes used a moded Musician with standard guitar scale.


Yurp, this one.


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## bostjan (Aug 28, 2018)

Pikka Bird said:


> Yurp, this one.



Ahh, ok. But also eew.

Here are my thoughts:

For pickups, you could use rail or blade pickups, so you wouldn't see too many slugs. Or you could use a mandolin pickup. Then again, just use a bass pickup, since you're tuning down to F# anyway. You could also wind your own pickups. All you'd need are some magnets, some really thing magnet wire, wax, and some material to fabricate the bobbins and base.

As far as the tuners go, what Wes has done, to me, looks horrible. Maybe that's the look you want, but at that rate, IMO, you might as well fill all of the holes and drill new ones where they make the most sense. I guess if you are going to go with a six string neck, though, you might as well go with regular pickups and have the whole thing look like a sixth grade craft project.

If you want a narrower tenor-guitar-width neck, there doesn't seem to be a drop-in option. A five string banjo might work without the thumb string tuner, but the heel is going to be all kinds of wrong, so expect a ton of rework. But you'd already have to refill the neck pocket and shape it for a narrower neck, anyway.


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## HaMMerHeD (Aug 28, 2018)

My first build was turning a Mikro bass into a 6 string baritone. I patched the PJ cavities and routed for an EMG humbucker. It was fun to play, but the tight string spacing at the nut made it difficult. It would have been better as a 5 string.


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## Milchek (Aug 29, 2018)

I saw someone on the Axe forums (https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/does-the-axe-fx-iii-djent.141856/) post this:


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