3 Best Baritone Acoustic Guitar Strings for You

If you’ve been playing guitar for more than a few months, I am sure you’ve discovered that strings have a huge impact on tone. When it comes to acoustic instruments, this impact is even more pronounced. String materials change the tonal quality of the instrument. The strings you choose can add brightness, add warmth, and effect finger and fret board noise. Moreover, old grimy strings can make a $1,000 guitar sound like a $100 starter instrument.

Acoustic baritone guitars are no exception to this rule - they impact the tone of your acoustic baritone guitar. Moreover, with baritone strings costing more than standard guitar strings, you will want to do your research and get this expensive and tone-impacting purchase right without testing every brand under the sun. To that end, we’ve put together a profile of the 3 best baritone acoustic guitar strings for you.

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The Top 3 Best Acoustic Baritone Strings

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3rd Place: Elixir Acoustic Baritone Guitar Nanoweb Strings, Bronze: $21.95

• Gauges: 16-70
• Tone: Less bright than would be expected for bronze guitar strings, Elixir’s acoustic baritone set offers a balanced tone that is less lively than our 2nd and 1st place options from Martin and D’Addario.
• Feel and Durability: Bronze strings will typically show signs of corrosion and discoloration earlier than phosphorous bronze strings. However, Elixir’s coating (which is the most pronounced of any of our top three options) may mitigate any durability concerns. The noticeable presence of string coating changes the feel of the string (and likely also contributes to the less lively tone), creating a silkier experience for your fret hand. Fans of Elixir strings may find the feel of this baritone string set familiar and prefer it to our first and second place options.

2nd Place: Martin MSP7700 Lifespan Phosphorous Bronze Baritone: $15.99 

• Gauges: 14-20-30-42-54-70
• Tone: Bright and earthy, Martin’s phosphorus bronze baritone string offering will enhance the tone of your acoustic baritone by adding color and pop.
  
• Feel and Durability: Martin’s “Lifespan” strings are “treated” (an industry euphemism for lightly coated) to enhance durability. The coating isn't noticeable while playing. On a note of personal preference, I find the gauge of this Martin set to be peculiar. I prefer the feel of the beefier high strings offered by the D’Addario (see our top pick). Tonally, I feel that larger high B and F# (when tuned to B standard) strings bring add a little girth and growl to the higher side of your baritone acoustic. Of course, this may be a matter of preference. If you prefer lighter strings under your fingers, this set from Martin may be perfect for you. 
  

Top Pick: D'Addario EXP23 Coated Acoustic Baritone ($18.99)  

• Gauges: 16-22-29-48-60-70
• Tone: The brightness typical of phosphorous bronze strings is slightly subdued by the string coating. The result is a tone that is bright and pops but doesn’t add too much tenor to your baritone acoustic. The tonal palette of these strings is well matched to most baritone guitars, which can suffer from a lack of brightness due to their lower register and extended scale-length. As alluded to above, the thicker gauge of this set’s high strings also enhances the brightness and clarity of your baritone’s lighter side.
  
• Feel and Durability: D’Addario’s light coating is barely noticeable while playing. This minimalist coating creates a best of both worlds situation for the player, adding durability and longevity to the string with minimal impact to feel and tone.

Conclusion

The D'Addario EXP23 Coated Acoustic Baritone string set is a great option at a decent price. The tonal flavor of these strings will brighten up your baritone, adding sparkle and natural-sounding tones to your instrument. While D’Addario’s is our top pick, you also can’t go wrong with a set of Martin MSP7700 Lifespan Phosphorous Bronze Baritone strings or a set of Elixir Acoustic Baritone Guitar Nanoweb Strings.  Fans of Elixir strings may prefer the feel of the Nanoweb set.  Fans of smaller gauge strings may want to check out the offering from Martin.

If you enjoyed this article, please share it with a friend or on social media. Of course, your thoughts and comments are always appreciated and you can share them below. Finally, if you are interested in electric baritone strings, check out our general Guide to Baritone Guitar Strings if you are new to baritone guitar, consider our Start Here Page or check out our reviews of electric and acoustic baritones.

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