Explore Shimmering Depths with This 8-string Baritone
An exciting alternate take on baritone acoustic-electric guitars, the Alvarez ABT60CE-8 retains a baritone’s hefty voice, but with two extra octave strings for a slight shimmer and added clarity. Pitch wise, the Alvarez ABT60CE-8 sits between a dreadnought guitar and an acoustic bass. It’s the perfect tool for adding girth to tracks or exploring writing in lower registers. The ABT60CE-8 features a baritone-style body topped with A+ Sitka spruce; the feel is similar to a jumbo acoustic with a tapered waist and mahogany back and sides for rich and clear focus. Sweetwater players love how the ABT60CE-8 captures certain aspects of a 12-string acoustic, but with an extremely playable feel that’s closer to a traditional 6-string. Player-friendly features include LR Baggs electronics for recording and gigs, chrome Alvarez tuning machines, a premium bone nut and saddle, spruce bracing, and a comfortable mahogany neck with a hybrid “V” to “C” shape for incredible playability up and down the neck.
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Why an 8-string baritone?
Breaking from tradition can be scary, so why should you consider a guitar like this? The ABT60CE-8 is a great way to energize creativity, break out of a musical rut, or explore exciting previously unknown sonic turf. For heavy strummers, the 8-string baritone offers a clearer voice than its 6-string counterpart when it comes to open chords. Two added octave strings pump up the midrange and treble content, thus eschewing the potential for muddiness that baritones sometimes have when strumming all the strings at once. In the studio, it’s a great primary guitar (or can be used to beef up your standard guitar with doubling and altered chord voicings). Try it out for adding haunting low end to burly country, acoustic jazz, metal, soundtracks, alternative, and anything else you can imagine. And because the fingerboard shapes and string intervals are the same as a standard 6-string guitar, the learning curve is minimal!
Curated tonewood selections
A baritone needs volume and depth to shine, and the ABT60CE-8 features exceptional tonewoods designed to give you all that and more. An A+ Sitka spruce top delivers visceral resonance and strong volume that’s heard and felt with each strum. The back and sides are crafted from mahogany and deliver strong sustain to complement the ABT60CE-8’s down-tuned voice. Inside, the ABT60CE-8’s sound chamber features additional sound bracing crafted from spruce precisely optimized to the 8-string design. With tonewoods like these, you’ll be ready to practice, perform, and play with confidence that your instrument is cheering you on, never holding you back.
Comfortable design from the neck down
A lower tuning shouldn’t equal a lower comfort level, and with the ABT60CE-8 it doesn’t! This baritone acoustic is comfortable from the neck down with design features, including a premium neck crafted from hardwood mahogany. Not only is mahogany a favored tonewood in the acoustic world, but this neck is also further enhanced with a hybrid soft “V” to “C” shape. Alvarez carefully developed this blended neck profile that gives you ideal anchor space in any position. Toward the headstock, the “V” shape yields a better grip for open and barre chords; further up, the “C” shape gives hands more room for expression and thinking outside the box.
Top-notch tones from LR Baggs
The ABT60CE-8 comes loaded with the LR Baggs StagePro Bronze preamp system and accompanying LR Baggs Element pickup. This package allows you to capture the very best acoustic tones your 8-string has to offer, translating them with clarity and accuracy across the musical space at hand. Equipped with a 3-band EQ and phase control, sculpting your ideal acoustic sound to your working space is a seamless process. An integrated tuner even helps you keep your intonation in check between songs! Sweetwater acoustic players have long trusted LR Baggs systems to deliver high-quality, unwavering performance — and the ABT60CE-8 gets that same VIP treatment!
Alvarez ABT60CE-8BK Artist 60 8-string Baritone Acoustic-electric Guitar Features:
- 8-string baritone acoustic-electric guitar with a jumbo-style body — tuned B to B for extra low-end power!
- Sits between a standard acoustic and an acoustic bass — great for exploring new ways to play acoustic guitar!
- 8-string design — 2 octave strings on the 3rd and 4th strings add a slight shimmering chorus effect
- Solid A+ Sitka spruce top with a gloss finish — sourced from North America and selected by hand to ensure quality
- Satin-finished African mahogany back and sides deliver bold, focused tone with strong dynamic response
- Forward-shifted spruce bracing with asymmetric tone bars heightens bass and treble clarity with a distinct voice
- Mahogany neck with hybrid soft “V” to “C” shape for maximum playability up and down the neck
- Smooth cutaway for extended upper-fret access
- 27.75-inch scale fingerboard made from Indian laurel with 21 frets
- Crafted dovetail neck joint enhances tone and vibrational transfer from strings to body
- LR Baggs StagePro Bronze preamp and Element pickup for rich amplified tone
- Electronics include an onboard tuner and 3-band EQ for wide tone-shaping capabilities
- Bone nut and saddle deliver exceptional resonance and sustain
- Mother-of-pearl headstock and fingerboard inlays
- Chrome Alvarez tuners for reliable tuning stability
