“Baritone” is a word used to describe s with a longer-than-standard scale length – that is, the length of string between the nut and the tailpiece. Most often, “standard scale length” means 24.75 to 25.5 inches. Baritone s typically have a scale of 27 inches or higher, allowing them to be tuned much lower than standard s while retaining the bright sound and snappy feel of strings at full tension.
A ’s scale length directly affects how ‘tight’ it feels to play, along with the string thickness and tuning. While B standard is, well, the standard, a baritone’s long scale lets you experiment with any number of tunings, all much lower than a regular .
Keep ratcheting up the scale length, and you get things such as the Fender Bass VI. As its name suggests, this comes tuned an octave down from a standard six-string .
Best Baritone Guitars 2023: Our Pick Of The Best Long Scale Guitars
Baritones were first widely adopted in the 1950s and 60s. Their low tuning meant they could harmonically match a double bass, but their bright, ‘twangy’ character suited the sounds of country and surf. Alongside this, their ability to ring out low, foreboding melody lines with single-coil twang came in particularly handy for soundtracking Spaghetti Western films.
Baritones are still widely used for this textural approach, and their fantastic ability to take on the roles of a bass and a standard electric has seen them adopted by everyone from Phoebe Bridgers to Emma Ruth Rundle to Hozier. They’ve also found favour with metal ists, who were tuning standard-scale s to C, B or lower. A longer scale means tight, fast playing at high gain remains clear, without a loss of low-end punch.
Like any electric , a baritone’s core set of features will tell you if it’s the right instrument for you. Start from the sound you want from the and work backwards: if you’re looking to add clean, textural playing to a band’s sound, something with high-output active pickups might not be the best choice. Similarly, if you’re looking for a baritone to pump out bone-crushing downtuned riffs, something fitted with lipstick single-coil pickups could present issues.
Esp Ltd H3 1007 Baritone 7 String Electric Guitar See Thru Black Sunburst
There are, of course, no hard and fast rules, but considering the general target market of a is a good place to start.
With a 28-inch scale length, the Mondata Baritone VII retains the body outline and construction style found on Rivolta’s 25-inch-scaled Mondata VIII and XVIII. The chambered and double-bound offset mahogany body features a German carve and Firebird-style raised centre, with a set maple neck.
Electronics are a versatile affair, with a P-90 in the neck position and a humbucker in the bridge, alongside a coil-split switch – these pretty much cover all tonal bases. There’s also a phase switch to get more ‘nasal’ sounds, but with everything at full blast, there’s no shortage of low-end grunt, too.
Eastcoast T1 Baritone Electric Guitar In Black
Price: £1, 168/$1, 299 Build: Chambered double-bound mahogany body with German carve and raised centre block, set maple neck with C+ profile, 12” radius ebony fingerboard Hardware: Wilkinson vintage-style tuning machines, tune-o-matic bridge and stop tailpiece Electronics: Rivolta Novanta P-90 (neck) and Brevetto humbucking (bridge) pickups, three-way toggle pickup selector switch, master volume, master tone, coil split and phase switches Scale Length: 28” / 711mm
Launched as part of Squier’s Paranormal series, the Baritone Cabronita Telecaster takes the non-traditionality of the Cabronita Telecaster platform up a notch with a 27-inch scale and two Fender-designed soapbar P-90s. P-90s are famously versatile pickups; their punchy yet clear output suits beautiful cleans as much as all-out-fuzz.
Alongside these, there’s a string-through hardtail bridge, a slim-C neck and a cream pickguard that contrasts with a deep black finish. While it’s a Telecaster at heart, the extended scale along with the dual P-90s makes this an inspiring platform for long-time Fender fans and newcomers alike.
Baritone Guitars Buyers Guide
Price: £399/$399.99 Build: Poplar body with bolt-on fully maple neck, 22 frets and 9.5” radius Hardware: Chrome-finished Squier vintage-style tuning machines, six-saddle string-through hardtail Electronics: Two Fender-designed P-90 pickups, master volume, master tone, three-way switch Scale Length: 27” / 686mm
Available with either a maple or rosewood fretboard and a Strat or Telecaster headstock, this neck replaces the one on your Fender or Squier . The benefits of this are obvious: you keep the body, electronics and hardware you’re already familiar with, and your gets the appropriate scale length for baritone tunings. Thanks to the nature of bolt-on necks, the conversion is of course completely reversible.
The neck itself features medium jumbo frets, a comfortable 9.5-inch fingerboard radius and a C profile. It converts most 25.5-inch-scaled Fenders or Squiers into 27-inch-scaled s, with the fret spacing measured so that the bridge doesn’t need to be moved.
Baritone & Bass
Price: £299/$299 Build: Maple neck with either pau ferro or maple fretboard, 22 medium jumbo frets and 9.5” radius Hardware: None – tuning machines sold separately! Electronics: N/A Scale Length: 27” / 686mm
From its sleek, pointy looks, it’s no surprise that this is a baritone aimed at metal players. And it goes beyond aesthetics, too: the Ibanez RGIB21 is equipped with a set of EMG 60/81 active pickups and a hefty string-through bridge with side plates to help with stability. The ferrule for the lowest string is also oversized, so you can use a bass string as your lowest without any modification. Doing so would also be a stable affair as the scale length measures in at a hefty 28 inches.
Construction consists of a nyatoh body along with a three-piece maple and purpleheart neck, topped with a rosewood fretboard. Cementing its role as a metal axe, there’s are 24 frets if you’re so inclined to spend time playing in that area.
G4m 638 Baritone Electric Guitar, Tobacco Sunburst At Gear4music
Price: £729/$799.99 Build: Nyatoh body with bolt-on maple/purpleheart neck, rosewood fretboard, 24 jumbo frets Hardware: Gibraltar Standard II string-through bridge, Gotoh MG-T locking machine heads Electronics: EMG 60/81 active humbucker set, master volume control, three-way blade switch Scale Length: 28” / 711mm
Sticking to the metal wheelhouse, the ESP LTD Viper-400B is also loaded with EMG active humbuckers – this time a set of 85/81 – but has a top-loading tune-o-matic hardtail bridge, and a scale length of 27 inches.
The set mahogany neck, mahogany body and the slightly shorter scale add up to a darker sound, making the Viper-400B a great candidate for doom or sludge genres. There are still a full 24 frets for a wide range of lead playing, and thanks to the hefty output of the pickups, you’ve got plenty of tone-shaping options.
Danelectro Baritone 56 Bmf Black Metal Flake
Price: £799/$749 Build: Mahogany body with set thin U-shaped mahogany neck, pau ferro fretboard with 24 extra-jumbo frets and 14” radius Hardware: Matte-black-finished tune-o-matic tailpiece and grover tuners Electronics: EMG 85/81 active humbuckers, Scale Length: 27” / 686mm
Rabea Massaad’s progressive metal style blends accuracy, wide-reaching chord voicings, and explosive heaviness, so it’s no surprise that there’s a baritone version of his signature Chapman electric.
With a hefty 28-inch scale, blood red finish and a high-output humbucker in the bridge, there’s a lot of potential for drop A caveman riffs. But thanks to a more open-sounding mini rail in the neck and a coil-split switch, you’re never far from classic baritone clarity.
Collings 360 Baritone
Price: £649/$900 Build: Alder body with bolt-on roasted maple neck Hardware: Chapman String-through hardtail and locking 18:1 tuners Electronics: Chapman Henchman humbucker in the bridge and Mini-Rail single-coil style in the neck, three-way toggle, push-pull coil split for tone-pull Scale Length: 28” / 711mm
The Gretsch G5260T Electromatic Baritone comes in two flavours: with or without a Bigsby. Without it, you instead get a V-shaped stoptail bridge. Not everyone’s going to want the subtle wobble a Bigsby’s known for, but whether you go for it or not, this is a well-spec’d for the price.
It’s fitted with two Gretsch mini-humbuckers, which are routed to a simple control layout of a three-way toggle, master tone and master volume. The scale length is a whopping 29.75 inches – that means tension will be retained even with thinner strings or at Bass VI-esque tunings.
Artist Gm1bari Baritone Electric Guitar With Bullbuckersgm1bari
Price: £599/$599.99 Build: Mahogany body with bolt-on maple neck, laurel fretboard and 22 medium jumbo frets Hardware: Bigsby vibrato (G5260T) or V Stoptail, tune-o-matic bridge, die-cast Gretsch tuners Electronics: two Gretsch mini-humbuckers, master volume, master tone Scale Length: 29.75” / 756mm
Reverend describes the Descent RA Baritone’s scale length as “long enough to deliver thunderous lows, yet short enough to play like a normal ”. It measures 26.75 inches, rather than the more common 27 or 28 inches. So if you’ve found that baritone frets feel too far apart from one another, this could be the one for you.
Aside from the unique scale, the is loaded with Railhammer Chisel humbuckers, as well as locking tuners and a boneite nut. Its body is solid korina, with a roasted maple neck and pau ferro or roasted maple fretboard depending on your choice of finish.
The Baritone Guitar: The Tale Of The Unsung Guitar Hero
Reverend’s unique electronics – the famed passive bass contour knob and a treble bleed volume control – should make the lower tunings play nicer with the rest of your rig, too.
Price: £879/$1, 099 Build: Korina body with bolt-on roasted maple neck with maple or pau ferro fretboard depending
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