What Is a Baritone Guitar?

"Baritone guitar" is an emerging term that is being used to describe a broad range of new guitar designs (usually steel string acoustic) that have a lower frequency range than normal guitars. There are no particular specifications though on how much lower this frequency range is. Nor is there complete consensus regarding what technical changes in design suffice to produce the deeper sounds. I use the word "deep" in the name for my Deep Baritone model as an indication that it is designed to have a clear, powerful and rich tone in a lower frequency range than some other baritone guitar designs. A normal guitar's standard tuning (from lowest string to highest) is EADGBE. Some baritone guitar designs are sufficient to produce clear tones that are lower by the interval of a fifth, and are tuned ADGCEA. Others which are closer to normal guitars in their design are best tuned higher, perhaps one or two whole steps below a normal guitar. Besides having a relatively large resonating chamber, baritone guitars produce their deeper tone by being larger in some other dimensions as well. On a normal guitar the strings are typically 24.9" to 25.7" long, and the 6 strings range in diameter from .012" to .054". The string lengths of various baritone designs range from 27" to 30", and the string gauges range from the normal .012-.054" set to sets as thick as .017-.080". Another means of achieving lower frequencies is slackening of the strings, though too much of this can reduce playability and produce a less desirable tone. Back to the Mustapick Baritone Guitar Page