So many non-Fender/Gibson companies have ugly, lame, or boring headstocks. I’m always impressed when a company like this manages to pull off a decent looking headstock design.
If you want something to criticize, just look at Baum's 1940s neck heel. Why do all these companies still do that shitty joint at the body where the point hits your palm and stops you from comfortably getting to the top frets? Makes no sense, unless you're Fender and people want that (and they offer various models with a better heel, like the Jeff Beck).
To me 'A' had a little more top end sparkle. But nothing a turn of the tone knob wouldnt equalise. Its great to have competitive choices at lower and lower prices. If I had to gripe, the way the Baum (and Valiant) pickguard chops across the lower horn looks odd to me. Different just for the sake of being different, rather than better. But it wont alter how it plays or sounds, so its secondary and trivial.
Why not be upset that the gold foil pickups are just for looks? They just sound like a strat pickup. It’s just cosmetic. Personally that’s what would turn me off, because you can get a good S type guitar from a million companies. Why would I choose a Baum? It’s like, “Oh they have different pickups cool… wait they don’t! They just look different. Oh! Never mind! I’ll pick something with actual real points of difference or improvement.” That would upset me personally. And if anyone would know it should be you Mr. Thomann tech, there’s a lot you can do to a strat to up the cost at the register that doesn’t really change the sound of a strat. Custom Shops are always like that. They’re great but do they really sound that much better? I would argue sound is the thing that changes the least as you cruise up Fender’s price points.
I'm sorry, but that headstock is not for me (it's worse on their other models tho). For me an aesthetically unpleasing Headstock is a dealbreaker. So sadly I wouldn't consider buying a Baum guitar no matter how well made they may otherwise be.
This is vintage engineered to modern "off the rack" perfection... I understand your grumpiness, I think Baum has kind of pre-tweaked and pre-modded this tastefully, and the A/B comparison is too close to call. I like the balance between old and new, and the tele neck wiring for the 3rd position. Personally, I wish the volume knob would be a bit out of the way of the picking path, like on Friedman Vintage S, and an HSS option. I wonder if Baum will tackle the Charvel superstrat type with humbucker pickups.
I can't get over how the headstock looks like a nose of a gnome. Also i don't understand why companies also copy the pot placement on the strat, it's just bad
I dont try to guess, I will just say I liked them both the same, great sounds. But I have to agree position 4 has a bit extra spark in your guitar, but both are great anyways.
Hi Kris, thanks for the video. The tone of the neck pickup sounds really good on the Baum. For the rest, I prefer yours... It's quite a competitive price for the offer. Brand new guitar, super-stable tremolo, very good pickups and settings and seemingly a top-notch neck. Although it is not a deal-breaker, I'm no fan of the inlays and the heastock shape. Tastes & colours... Cheers René
Thanks a lot, if only that was true though. 😆 This headstock is a strong design statement that clearly doesn’t work for everyone. Which is a good sign in my opinion, we have way too many careful and not very exciting headstock designs around. I personally find it really cool.
Hi Kris, is your "Frankenstrat" a modded Fender Stratocaster Hendrix Model? And what mods did you do on IT? I am curious to hear from you,Cheers Volker
I have mine ordered, and I can't wait until August when it's due. I have the wingman so I know I'm getting a great guitar. Everyone should definitely try them out
I prefer headless guitars ) But that's just me. Sound is great 👍🏻 Ergonomic - questionable. And no extra frets, and hard access to hi frets. 🤷 ) And that volume knob way too close )
Great great review! If you HAD to choose between this Baum Celestor or the Baum Wingman (yes yes yes I know it's not fair because they're so different, but still), you could only have ONE, which one would you choose and why?
If I want to play something Strat-like, I'd rather just play a Strat. I want to contribute to that legacy, to be the next player to make my mark, be it Jimi, Gilmour, Knopfler, Edge, etc. But if I want something different, then I want it to be in all ways different. Put all these tweaks and polish and bells, whistles, variations, on something fresh-- not just another Strat-style. That neck and those pickups are cool.
Nice guitar. The middle position is annoying because I personally love the middle only pickup. You can achieve the neck + bridge combo easily with a push/pull pot wired to turn the neck “on” with the selector switch in any position.
The horns look a bit like those of the good ol' ibanez Roadstar model - their "strat" in the era RIIIIGHT before they released a bunch of superstrat shapes of which the RG (Roadstar Guitar), S(abre) and R(adius) lives on today (RG and S being... most of what they've made for 30 years, "R" as the shape of Joe Satriani signatures)
Even through my phone and RU-vid compression I liked the guitar A way more: the fourth position on a B is kinda shallow and on the neck it just honks. Have you compared your guitar to a silver sky, by the way?
Your strat has cleaner highs however, the Baum sounds creamier so it's a matter of taste. I wonder what it would be like to compare the Celestor to a Fender that costs the same.
Hey, you can just change pickups connection on 3rd position of your Strat ) Just little bit of soldering, and you get your dream Strat. So small action left to make it done 👍🏻
@@MRxr400 Haha, right? That’s why it upset me a little. 😂 The clarity is awesome with my strat in the 4th position but the punch of the Baum neck pu alone is crazy. Really impressive.
My Wingman arrived today. And I know how you feel. After it settled in how much I love it (the neck, the setup, the rolling, the design, the tone). Within the first hour, I knew it was the best electric guitar I have. And my next train of thought was that I much prefer it, in most ways, to my Jazzmaster. Which got me thinking, maybe I should think about getting a Celestor. And sell my Jazzmaster, and sell my Strat. I mainly use my Strat only on neck pickup, and sometimes middle, rarely in-between and almost never bridge (prefer Mustang or Jazzmaster/Wingman for bridge). On your demos I'm sold on the Baum having more of that hot ripping neck pickup tone, with glassy harmonics, that I look for from a Strat-style guitar. Interesting, watching on you also prefer the Baum neck pickup tone. Only thing is, while this looks great, I don't think they got the design quite so perfectly right as they did with the Wingman. Not sure I'm completely 100% in love yet with the way the pickguard looks, or the points and angled edging at the back, or the gold-foil style pickups. Those features worked better on the Explorer/Firebird/Jazzmaster hybrid style of the Wingman. But still, looks much better than a PRS Silver Sky - it's just such an iconic design that any deviation tends to feel a bit wrong, at least initially. Also, got my Wingman in Black Friday for about £1000, and now the Celestor is pushing £1300. That stings, but makes me sense the way the prices on these guitars are going ... toward what their worth - easily as much as good USA Fenders. I only have one criticism on the Wingman too, it's the switch too - not stiff, it's a little loose / wobbles very slightly - feels more Epiphone than Gibson. Similar with the tuning, was immediately impressed with how having been shipped from cold Denmark via Belgium to hot Spain, the tuning held solid the first hour, and the Bigsby doesn't deform it at all.
thanks for this comment it helped me a lot. I don’t own a Baum yet but I saw someone on reddit say the string tension on his model (wingman) felt very snappy and tight. More so even than a telecaster and bending wasn’t easy. Can i ask if you find that too?
@@Han________ I didn't find that noticeable. Issues with bending are something I notice with floating trem guitars, like Stratocaster. Apart from the Baum, Telecaster and Les Paul Special are the other two guitars I play most. I'm very comfortable and familiar with the Tele, so that and the Wingman feel normal to me. Maybe the Les Paul is quicker/easier to get around fast/with less effort (I guess because of scale length, wider fretboard), and I love it's sound. But actually the finish quality of the neck on the Baum especially, but also the Vintera Telecaster, is better than the Gibson. The neck is better on the Wingman than the Vintera Tele too. Tuning stability, with bends, is better on the Tele, and Wingman (even with trem), too than the Gibson. I like the Bigsby so much on the Baum, that I tend to be drawn to using that more, and bending a bit less. I love my J Mascis Jazzmaster too, and the neck is great, but the fretboard isn't as smooth as the Baum (JMJM is Indian Laurel, I think).