Baritone 6 or 8 string
 

I have the baritone bug bad and am eyeing two Taylors Ltds. The 6 string is on clearance. Both play exceptionally well.

My only concerns about the 8 string is using a capo. I also play fingerstyle and would rather my thumb land on the regular string not the octaves. I hope that makes sense.

What do you think, folks?

Easy enough. I have several octave paired instruments (mandola, octave mando and mandocello). I string them with the "normal" string first, meaning if I strum down across the strings I contact the regular string in a pair first, then the octave higher string second. This is opposite the way most 12 string guitars are strung. I also finger pick these instruments and they sound pretty good.

The 8-string bari is a novelty instrument. Get the six, then string it thus:

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=496448

I was enamored of the Taylor baritones for a couple of years before I finally found one that wasn't an eight string. Just a personal quirk, but when I want the twelve string sound, I just play a twelve string. I found the two octave strings to be a distraction more than a benefit. Their six string baritone is basically an 816 with a longer neck on it, so a very nice guitar.

I actually bought a 416-LTD baritone in 2012, and sold it a couple of years ago. My left hand got weaker for a while due to a medical condition, and it just wasn't getting played. The heavy 70-16 strings and 27" scale length just wasn't working for me anymore. I tried everything -- EJ-18 heavy gauge strings tuned to C-c, some hybrid sets, etc. BTW, the new owner uses the EJ-18's (59-14) tuned C-c and just loves it.

But the baritone bug never quite went away. About three months ago I took advantage of the killer deals on the Alvarez ABT-610 that MF was running. I've been pretty happy with that one, and not just "for the price". Somehow the longer 27.8" scale has worked better for my hand. Yes, it's a little harder to play than a 25.5" scale with medium strings, but I often sit with it for 45-60 minutes at a time. No, it isn't quite in the same league with a Taylor baritone, but for under $400 with a JC-1 hard case added it sure gets me most of the way there. Mine could use a little set-up work, but is playable right now.

Hope this helps.......

Thank you everyone for your comments.

Did you have to change the saddle/nut to accomplish the octave strings second in the pairs?

This will not work for the Baritone 8 due to the shape of both the bridge and nut and due to the fact that the lower strings are so much bigger.

I currently have my Baritone 8 strung as a Baritone 6. However, the spacing of the middle two strings can feel a little off because of the gap left by the missing octave. However, I'm not terribly particular and can adjust to it pretty well. Some players more sensitive may have more difficulty making the adjustment. Next time I string it up though, I'm going 8 string mode. I miss those two octaves. \

I bought the 8 string Taylor ltd. 326e.

Yum! Yum!

No, for a few reasons. These are all by the same builder who uses a zero fret, so the nut is just to guide the strings to the tuner posts and consequently nut slots are pretty big. They are all archtops with floating bridges and the slot is not as critical as on a saddle on a fixed bridge. Two of these instruments were built to use unison vs octave pairs - so I was going to a smaller string each time I added the octave. One was custom built this way to begin with.

A fourth instrument that went through this treatment was an Eastman MDC805 mandocello. I ran octave pairs on it no problem without any nut or saddle changes, again because it was originally made for all normal gage strings. Last year I converted it to a 6 string archtop guitar with new bridge and saddle. Just a few hour's work to make the new nut and fit the new bridge. It really isn't that hard to replace the nut and saddle on your baritone to switch the octave strings around.

Great guitar! I love mine.