[Earl49]

I ordered one of these, and it came last Friday. So far I am pleasantly surprised and duly impressed. In fact, I plan to order the JC-1 hard case for it too while the coupon code still works.

I formerly owned a 2012 Taylor six string baritone 416-LTD in solid ovangkol b/s, GS body size, and 27" scale length. That was sold after about 2½ years due to some hand issues. It was nice, but I simply could not play it for very long, and decided to move it along. But for $300 delivered during that SDOTD sale, there was not much to lose getting an ABT60 -- I could always just give it to a baritone-curious friend if it didn't work out for me.

I happen to be really enjoying it, although I need to limit play time to about 30 minutes or so to avoid fatiguing my left hand. If anything, I like the sound even better than the Taylor too, but "tonal memory" is a fickle thing. It seems brighter and bolder, but that could be strings or just the true jumbo body size. Maybe the guy who bought the Taylor from me will stop by again and we can face off. Probably shouldn't for his sake. At the moment mine is tuned Bb to Bb (one half step down from "normal") for slightly looser tension and I'm liking the playing feel. I may capo at the first fret to both shorten the scale length and get back to B-b pitches. A-a was too loose and the strings got too floppy and buzzy. Once these EXP strings are used up, I will experiment with others too. The EXP's are quite bright in tone -- not a bad thing for a baritone -- but feel abrasive under my fingers, and SQUEAK like crazy.

I just now ordered the JC-1 hard case to go with it, $76 delivered with the "holiday" coupon. So for a total for $375 I get the ABT-60 with sunburst & electronics (yet to be tested) and a matching Alvarez hard case.