Alvarez ABT60CE-8SHB Artist 60 8-string Baritone Acoustic-electric Guitar - Shadowburst

Explore Shimmering Depths with This 8-string Baritone Acoustic-electric!

The ABT60CE-8 from Alvarez is an exciting alternate take on baritone acoustic-electric guitars! This 8-string creation has 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 powerful 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. 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.

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 more clear voice than its 6-string counterpart when it comes to open chords. Two added octave strings pump up the midrange and treble content, and thus even out the 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.

LR Baggs electronics

Onboard LR Baggs StagePro Element electronics ensure rich acoustic tone even when amplified. Alvarez has an excellent relationship with the LR Baggs team and chose Element electronics based on their reliability, ease of use, and, of course, tone. Unlike traditional acoustic pickups, the Element preamp delivers a more authentic acoustic tone by mirroring the soundboard’s actual movements and vibrations. Plus, it includes an onboard tuner and a 3-band EQ for endless tone-sculpting potential.

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 Element electronics for rich amplified tone
• Element system includes 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

Tech Specs

• String Type:Steel
• Number of Strings:8
• Body Shape:Baritone
• Left-/Right-handed:Right-handed
• Color:Shadowburst
• Finish:Gloss
• Top Wood:Solid Sitka Spruce
• Back & Sides Wood:African Mahogany
• Body Bracing:FST2 Forward Shifted, Asymmetric Tone Bars
• Binding:ABS
• Neck Wood:Mahogany
• Neck Shape:Soft V to C
• Radius:14.96"
• Fingerboard Material:Indian Laurel
• Fingerboard Inlay:Mother-of-pearl Design at 12th fret
• Number of Frets:21
• Scale Length:27.718"
• Tuning Machines:Alvarez
• Bridge Material:Indian Laurel
• Nut/Saddle Material:Bone/Bone
• Nut Width:1.75"
• Electronics:LR Baggs StagePro EQ with Element Pickup