Baritone Guitars

A baritone guitar is an electric guitar with a longer scale length, most often 686 mm (27″), built for low tunings. The longer neck keeps heavier strings taut even when you tune a fourth or even a fifth lower, so notes stay firm and clearly defined. Metal and djent guitarists reach for one, but so do post-rock, ambient, surf and film music players who want a deep sound sitting between guitar and bass. Here you will find 6-, 7- and 8-string baritone guitars from ESP LTD, Jackson, Schecter, Fender, Squier, Gretsch, Reverend, Ibanez, PRS, Epiphone, HILS and PSD.

What scale length does a baritone guitar have?

Standard electric guitars have a scale length of between 628 and 648 mm. The baritone models in our range most often have 686 mm, for example the ESP LTD SN-1 Baritone HT, Fender 75th Anniversary Player II Baritone Telecaster or Squier Classic Vibe Baritone Custom Telecaster. The Ibanez RGIB21 (712 mm), Gretsch Electromatic Jet Baritone (756 mm) and Jackson Pro Plus Series Signature Sleep Token IV Monarkh (762 mm) have an even longer scale. Semi-baritone guitars with 673 mm (26.5″), such as the Schecter Kenny Hickey C-1 EX S or Jackson X Series Soloist SLA6 DX Baritone, are a compromise for anyone who wants to tune lower while keeping a feel close to that of a standard guitar. If you want a long scale only on the bass strings, have a look at multiscale guitars with fanned frets.

Six, seven or eight strings?

Most baritone guitars in our range have 6 strings and the whole instrument is tuned lower, so you play chords with the same shapes as on a standard guitar; they just sound deeper. Six-string examples include the Fender 75th Anniversary Player II Baritone Telecaster, Fender Player Fusion Jaguar Baritone, Squier Paranormal Baritone Jazzmaster, Gretsch Electromatic Jet Baritone and Reverend Descent. The seven-string baritones ESP LTD SN-1007 Baritone HT, M-1007 Baritone, EC-1007B Evertune and ESP E-II M-II 7B Baritone Evertune add an extra bass string for metal and djent. The ESP LTD Stephen Carpenter SC-608 Baritone has eight strings. For more models with seven strings, browse our 7-string guitars.

What matters when choosing a baritone guitar?

• Pickups: 19 models have active pickups, such as Fishman Fluence or EMG. The rest have passive humbuckers or single-coils, like the Fender Telecasters.
• Evertune bridge: it holds tuning even with heavy strings and a hard picking attack. It is fitted to the ESP LTD EC-1007B Evertune, Arrow-1007B Evertune, M-1007 Baritone and Alex Wade AW-XJ7 Baritone, ESP E-II M-II 7B Baritone Evertune, Ibanez RGD61ALET and Jackson Pro Plus Series Signature Sleep Token IV Monarkh.
• Headless: the HILS HN3 NEXT Baritone stays compact even with a 698 mm scale because it has no headstock. More guitars without a headstock are in our headless guitars.
• Sets: the PSD SPS-100B and JM-100B also come in Basic, Standard and Premium sets with accessories.