Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Natural Review & Prices

Search

Browse >>

Had

Have

Want

Add to Compare

Be the first to rate it

FIND IT ON:

Set a price alert

• From Guild's 2021 Newark St. Collection series
• Made in China
• 8 strings
• 27"'' scale
• 16" Fretboard Radius
• Solid Sitka Spruce top
• Arched Rosewood back
• Rosewood sides
• Mahogany neck
• Pau Ferro fretboard
• Bridge pickup: Guild/Fishman GT-1 with Volume and Tone controls (Preamp/Active)
• Pau Ferro bridge
• Acoustic Guild Newark St. Collection Set neck
• 20 Medium frets
• Guild Vintage 18 Open Gear Nickel tuners
• Compare Specs >

Price Overview

Its average competitor's price is $650, which means that the Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Natural is within the average price asked for this kind of guitar. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 8 strings and Fixed bridge that are made in China.

• New from $689 >>
• New from $689 >>
• New from $689 >>

SET PRICE ALERT

Set a price alert for the Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Natural We'll send you an email if we find the price you want

Email

Price

From To

Also send me news, reviews, tips and exclusive offers and promotions from FindMyGuitar.

These are affiliate links. We may earn a fee if you purchase after clicking. These prices are prone to error. Make sure you're buying the right product after clicking on a link from our site. We are not liable if you buy the wrong product after following these links. As an Amazon Associate site we earn from qualifying purchases.

Videos

Guild BT-240E & BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Acoustics

NEW for 2021 - Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone

New Gear | Guild BT-258E Deluxe 8-String Baritone Is Good, Loud Fun | Acoustic Guitar Demo

Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone 8-string acoustic guitar demo | Guitar.com

Guild Baritone Acoustic BT-258E 8-String

Guild BT-240E Baritone Acoustic-Electric Guitar | Full Review and Demo

No Talking...Just Tones | Guild BT-240E

Experiments with the Guild Baritone 258e

GUILD BT-258E Deluxe 8-String Baritone

GUILD BT-258E Deluxe 8-string

More Videos

Your feedback

Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!

Explore All From Guild >

Is it Easy to Play?

The Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Natural meets 4 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's not bad for beginners, but it could be better. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players to get used to.

Hand Size Comfortability

After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Natural's construction favors people with relatively small hands.

Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.

Scale Length

Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.

Here's the Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Natural's 27" scale length compared to other common sizes:

This is a scale used for baritones and guitars with more than 6 strings. Since the scale is so long, the tension of the strings will be high. This means that bending will require a lot more strength than with a shorter scale. However, it also allows you to use really low tunings without causing fret buzz and without needing to increase your string gauge too much.

Neck Profile

The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.

The Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Natural's neck thickness is approximately 0.787'' (20mm) at the first fret, and 0.945'' (24mm) at the twelfth.

These measurements were taken either from the official Guild website, or, in case this information wasn't provided, by researching multiple online marketplaces and forums where owners of this model have posted their measurements.

It has a C type neck. C-shaped necks like this have been the most popular for the last years. The reason is that they feel good in most hands. It's generally a thin neck that doesn't get in your way when playing fast, but that also has enough mass to give your hands a comfortable grip for chords if they aren't too big.

Thin necks like this make it easier to move your hand across the neck and it helps when playing fast solos, especially if you like to leave your thumb free while playing high on the fretboard. However, thinner necks are also weaker and will need adjustment more often than a thicker neck.

Fretboard Radius

When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.

The Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Natural has a 16" fingerboard radius.

Here's an image comparing this fretboard radius to other popular choices:

This fretboard radius is really different than Stratocasters, but it's also a lot flatter than Les Paul fingerboards. It'll heavily favor soloing over playing chords. This doesn't mean you can't use it for chords, but it will be more comfortable to play chords without muting strings in a more curved fretboard. Bending and sliding without losing sustain will also be more likely in a flat fretboard like this one.

Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Natural has the same radius across the board.

Nut Width

The Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Natural has a nut width of 44.5mm (1.75''). This is considered a narrow width for a 8-string guitar. This means that this guitar will have a narrower string separation at the nut, which will affect your fretting hand.

If you are a player with big hands, you might find it difficult to play chords without muting strings. However, this is good for players who have smaller hands, as it will allow them to reach each string more easily at the nut.

Frets

It comes with nickel silver frets, so they won't last as long as stainless steel frets. If you use your instrument a lot, you might need to replace the frets after a few years. But this is unlikely as most people change instruments before this happens.

Fret Size

Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.

The Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Natural's frets are Medium size. With medium frets, you can feel the fretboard more than with jumbo frets, but it's still easier to press the strings cleanly than with small frets; notes might change their pitch just slightly if you press hard on the fret. Also, if you need to do some fret leveling after years of playing, you'll have some room to sand them down without having to replace them.

Playability Score

Tone Analysis

The type of wood and even the shape of the body will have a lot of influence in the final tone of an acoustic guitar. Here's we'll talk about what kind of tone you can expect from its specs.

Wood

Spruce Top: This wood has a light color with tight grain patterns. It's very stiff but relatively light. It's known for producing a well-rounded tone with a broad dynamic range.

Rosewood Back and Sides: Since the ban of Brazillian Rosewood, this has become a rare and expensive wood. It's not usually used for guitar bodies because of this, and also because it's heavy. Instead, it's used mainly for fretboards. Sometimes it's also used for necks because it's an extremely hard wood (even harder than maple). Its tonality tends to favor warm tones.

Mahogany Neck: This is the type of wood found in many top-of-the-line guitars, so that's a positive point for the build quality. This red-looking wood Mahogany is found in Africa and Central America and has great sustain and a warm tone due to its high density. The downside about this type of wood is that it's relatively heavy.

Pau Ferro Fretboard: It's a beautiful wood used mainly for fretboards. It has a high density and looks very similar to Rosewood with its straight grains and dark brown color. According to Fender, it has a warm tone with a fast attack.

Pickups

This guitar comes with pickups from one of the top brands: Fishman. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.

Sound Score

Build Quality Analysis

Country of Origin

Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.

The Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Natural is made in China. So you can expect lower build quality when compared to others made in Korea, Japan or the United States. Guitars made in this country are meant for mass production, which translates into less attention to detail and quality control. This doesn't mean the product is made poorly at all. Chinese products have a bad reputation since long ago, but they've definitely improved a lot the last few years.

Bridge

Pau Ferro: The advantage of fixed bridges is that they don't require any kind of set-up. This makes it extremely easy when changing strings because you don't need to adjust anything besides tuning the guitar. Also, the fact that the bridge is directly attached to the body will help to increase sustain. The disadvantage is the lack of versatility since you can't create the same vibrato effects as with tremolo bridges.

Nut Material

Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.

In this case, the Guild BT-258E Deluxe Baritone Natural has a Bone nut. This material is one of the highest quality you can get. It provides excellent sustain and tune stability if cut well. The only disadvantage is that it's an organic material, so it's not consistent. Two different bone nuts, even if made from the same bone, will probably sound slightly different. However, bear in mind that this is only relevant when playing open strings.

Build Quality Score

User Reviews

Help others by sharing your opinion about this guitar. Note: to avoid spam, your review will be submitted for approval before appearing here.