For musicians aiming to expand their tonal horizons or add a new dimension to their sound, a baritone guitar is a must-try. Baritones produce deep, rich tones that bridge the gap between standard and bass guitars. They’re ideal for singers with lower vocal ranges and fans of a detuned acoustic sound.
Similar to bass guitars, baritone guitars are strung with heavier-gauge strings. At Taylor, we string our acoustic baritone models with .016 – .070 strings instead of the usual .012 – .052.
Baritone guitars are built with a longer scale length than a standard guitar in order to accommodate lower tunings while maintaining the string tension a player would expect from any acoustic guitar. While scale lengths for baritone guitars from other brands may vary, ours are built to a 27” scale (most standard models in the Taylor line have a scale length of 25-½” or 24-⅞”).
The result is a larger guitar with a lower range that still feels as playable and comfortable as any other Taylor guitar. Taylor’s baritone guitars are tuned B-E-A-D-F#-B, a perfect fourth below standard tuning. The intervals between the strings remain the same, however, so any player should be able to pick up a baritone and be able to navigate the fretboard with ease as chord and scale shapes are largely the same.
In this video below, German guitarist Andreas Schulz demonstrates how the sonic flavors of a Taylor baritone, in this case an 8-string baritone, are well-suited for diverse playing styles.
Taylor has a history of making rich-voiced, easy-playing baritones tuned to a lower B and featuring a 27-inch scale length. Our baritone lineage includes diverse 6- and 8-string models, and a distinctive 9-string built for our 35th Anniversary in 2009.
The 50th Anniversary 316ce Baritone-6 LTD is a natural extension of that heritage. This limited-edition 6-string pairs solid sapele back and sides with a torrefied Sitka spruce top in a gloss-finished Grand Symphony body. The result is a satisfying blend of woody lows, clear highs and a robust midrange. Our special roasting recipe for the soundboard imparts an extra splash of played-in warmth from day one.
The video below offers a taste of how the deeper, detuned sound of the 50th Anniversary 316ce Baritone-6 LTD can work with a guitar in standard tuning, in this case our 50th Anniversary Builder’s Edition 812ce LTD.
To learn more about the unique sound baritone guitars offer or are curious to find out how they’d fit into your quiver, read our “Baritone Basics” article in Wood&Steel.
