Hmm.Double hmm.This is the first baritone I've ever picked up, discounting the sorta-baritone Squier BassVI I owned and gigged occasionally (sold it).I am increasingly impressed with Guild acoustic guitars. I have been playing an A-150 Savoy for about a year, and am completely happy with that guitar (dedicated jazz box), so I'm perhaps a bit pre-biased toward this BT-258E.Fit and Finish. Acceptable for the price range. The only finish blem I've found is on the corner back purfling at the upper waist, about 2½ inches of rough unfinished purfling right on the corner, whether a holiday or subsequent scraping-off I don't know. Not a show-stopper for me. The other issue as-received are several finish cracks radiating outward from the battery compartment route which line up with the screws, longest is 1inch. I suspect pilot holes were not drilled. Again not a show-stopper for me, because I can repair with some thin cyano.Playability. Action is necessarily high on the lower string side, and lower on the higher string side; a good balance. Not a guitar for the meek or beginning player - this requires a bit of developed left hand strength to play cleanly for any length of time. You will get a workout, kind of like a 12 string. Intonation is not perfect, but I haven't fully evaluated how much and where yet. I've just heard a few notes noticably off. I'll tweak that later as best I can.Frets. There are a few high spots here and there at various places. I haven't fully evaluated them yet,… read more but will be spending an afternoon with a Fret Kisser and some dressing files to finish a proper setup.Tone. This guitar has a serious voice, much louder than I anticipated. Really stands out in the mix when fully strummed. The thing I've noticed is that the low 6th and 5th (B and E) strings tend to muddy fully-strummed chords if I just flail them. A more articulated strum akin to a fast arpeggio sounds better; that and playing walking bass lines to accompany 4/3/2/1 chords. Lot of possibilities here. It presents a more subdued jazz-worthy tone when finger picked; in fact I immediately noted a nice tone for jazz work.All this after a solid week of playing during vacation.Overall I think this guitar presents some great alternative sonic potential at a reasonable price. I had been looking at this guitar for 2 years, reading reviews, watching videos etc. I finally decided to pull the trigger to beat the likely tariff price jump. Good musical decision. A keeper which will get played regularly.

Musical Background:
Pickin since 1978

Musical Style:
All and any which pay the bills and get me invited back read less