Alvarez Artist Series ABT60ce Baritone - Shadowburst

Artist ABT60ce Baritone Shadowburst | Alvarez | Musicmaker Dublin

Some acoustic guitars are made for bright, jangly chords and delicate little melodies. The Alvarez Artist Series ABT60ce Baritone has other ideas. With its commanding low-end voice, gorgeous Shadowburst finish and extended 27.7-inch scale length, this is an acoustic that ventures into wonderfully deep musical territory. Think rich, rumbling bass notes, dark harmonic textures and chords that seem to hang in the air for days. It's a proper treat for players who fancy exploring what happens below the usual six-string register.

The magic starts with the solid A+ Sitka spruce top, paired with mahogany back and sides. Spruce provides the clarity, responsiveness and headroom needed to keep those lower notes articulate, while mahogany contributes warmth and a pleasingly woody midrange. That's particularly important on a baritone guitar, where extra depth can quickly turn into muddiness if the instrument isn't properly balanced. The ABT60ce keeps things wonderfully musical, delivering a big, resonant voice with enough definition to let individual notes shine through.

And then there's the scale length. At 27.7 inches, the ABT60ce is considerably longer than a standard acoustic guitar, allowing it to handle heavier strings and lower tunings with confidence. Typically tuned B to B, a perfect fourth below standard guitar tuning, it opens up a whole new world of sounds without asking you to learn a completely different instrument. Your familiar chord shapes and fingerings still work; everything just sounds deeper, moodier and rather magnificent.

That makes this Alvarez an absolute playground for songwriters. Familiar progressions suddenly take on a cinematic quality, fingerpicked patterns gain a rich, almost piano-like depth, and even the simplest open chords can sound enormous. It's equally at home adding low-register textures to a recording or providing a distinctive accompaniment for a singer. If you've ever found yourself tuning a regular acoustic down until the strings start behaving like washing lines, a proper baritone guitar is a much more satisfying solution.

Alvarez's FST2 forward-shifted scalloped bracing helps the soundboard respond freely, giving the ABT60ce impressive projection and dynamic range. The larger body adds further depth and authority, while the cutaway makes reaching the upper frets considerably easier. Despite its impressive dimensions, the neck retains a familiar acoustic feel, so the transition from a standard guitar is surprisingly natural.

For live performance, the onboard LR Baggs StagePro EQ and Element pickup system gives you a practical way to bring that beautiful low-end voice to the stage. The preamp provides useful tone-shaping controls and an integrated tuner, while the Element undersaddle pickup captures the guitar's acoustic character with plenty of detail. A particularly welcome addition when your instrument is producing frequencies that can make a sound engineer sit up and pay attention.

Visually, the ABT60ce is a stunner. Its rich Shadowburst finish highlights the spruce grain beautifully, while the contrasting appointments and classic Alvarez styling give it an understated, vintage-inspired elegance. It's a guitar that looks every bit as distinctive as it sounds.

The Alvarez ABT60ce Baritone is a fantastic choice for adventurous acoustic players, singer-songwriters, recording musicians and anyone with a weakness for big, resonant guitar tones. It's familiar enough to feel immediately welcoming, but different enough to send your songwriting in entirely new directions. Fair warning: once you've heard your favourite chord progression in baritone tuning, the regular version might start sounding a little underdressed.

Features

• Extended Baritone Range: Tuned B to B for deep, resonant tones while retaining familiar six-string chord shapes and fingerings.

• Solid A+ Sitka Spruce Top: Responsive soundboard with excellent clarity, dynamic range and projection.

• African Mahogany Back and Sides: Adds warmth and woody midrange character to the guitar's powerful acoustic voice.

• FST2 Bracing: Forward-shifted bracing with asymmetric tone bars balances soundboard movement and structural control.

• Advanced Tonal Response: Alvarez's tonewood preparation process promotes stability and a lively acoustic response.

• 27.7-Inch Scale Length: Provides the string tension needed for confident low-register playing.

• Cutaway Body: Improved upper-fret access for melodic exploration and extended chord voicings.

• LR Baggs StagePro Bronze Electronics: Natural amplified sound with onboard volume, bass, treble and phase controls.

• Integrated Tuner: Convenient backlit tuner for quick adjustments during rehearsals and performances.

• Bi-Level Indian Laurel Bridge: Designed to optimise string break angle and energy transfer to the soundboard.

• Real Bone Nut and Saddle: Supports clear articulation, sustain and consistent string response.

• Shadowburst Finish: Rich vintage-inspired gloss top complemented by natural semi-gloss mahogany back and sides.

Specifications

• Brand: Alvarez

• Model: ABT60ce Shadowburst

• Series: Artist Series

• Instrument Type: Baritone Electro-Acoustic Guitar

• Number of Strings: 6

• Body Shape: Baritone with Cutaway

• Top: Solid A+ Sitka Spruce

• Back and Sides: African Mahogany

• Bracing: FST2 Forward-Shifted

• Neck: African Mahogany

• Neck Joint: Dovetail

• Neck Meets Body: 14th Fret

• Fingerboard: Indian Laurel

• Bridge: Bi-Level Indian Laurel

• Headstock Fascia: Indian Laurel

• Scale Length: 704mm (27 23/32")

• Nut Width: 44.45mm (1 3/4")

• Number of Frets: 20

• Nut and Saddle: Bone

• Bridge Pins: PPS Synthetic Bone

• Fingerboard Inlays: Mother of Pearl and Acrylic

• Tuners: Chrome Closed-Gear

• Pickup: LR Baggs Element Undersaddle

• Preamp: LR Baggs StagePro Bronze

• Preamp Controls: Volume, Bass, Treble, Phase and Backlit Tuner

• Strings: D'Addario EXP23

• Standard Tuning: B–E–A–D–F#–B

• Top Finish: Shadowburst Gloss

• Back and Sides Finish: Natural Semi-Gloss

• Overall Length: 1085mm

• Body Width: 420mm

• Body Depth at Heel: 102mm

• Body Depth at Base: 122mm

• Orientation: Right-Handed