Baritone guitar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baritone guitar is an emerging term that is being used to describe a broad range of new electric and acoustic guitar designs that have a lower frequency range than normal guitars. There are no particular specifications though on how much lower this frequency range is, or what technical details of design, such as string length and gauge or body size, are best to produce the desired frequency range.
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. The term is also used, at least in Europe, to describe guitars that are tuned a whole octave lower than the standard guitar, retaining the EADGBE tuning, in contrast to the BEADGC tuning of a modern six string bass guitar. The Fender VI and the longer scale Danelectro guitars are examples.
Using a regular guitar to tune lower requires loosening the strings, which can cause them to rattle against the frets and also to produce a less powerful tone that is often less defined in pitch. So besides having a relatively large resonating chamber (in the case of acoustic instruments), baritone guitars produce their deeper tone by being larger in some other dimensions as well, allowing the strings to be tuned lower while remaining closer to or at normal tension (in the same way a bass guitar compensates its lower tuning by having longer and thicker strings than a standard guitar). On a normal acoustic 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".
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Baritone guitars at Hago.com
- Baritone guitars by Goodall Guitars
- Baritone guitars by Santa Cruz Guitars
- Baritone guitars by luthier Linda Manzer
- Baritone guitars by luthier Brian Galloup
- Baritone guitars by luthier David Berkowitz
- Baritone guitars by luthier Matthew Mustapick
- Baritone guitars by luthier Joe Veillette
