Baritone Guitar, Baritone Guitar

The Danelectro Company was the first to introduce the baritone guitar in the late 1950s. Shortly after, Fender released the Bass VI which can be described as either a baritone guitar, or a bass guitar. The baritone guitar was not originally popular with players or listeners. However, the instrument began to appear in surf music, as well as background music for many movie soundtracks, especially spaghetti westerns. In more recent history, the baritone guitar has found use within rock and metal. Baritone guitars also have the capacity to be used as a bass guitar if strung correctly.

The scale lengths of various baritone designs range from 27" to 30.5", and the string gauges range from the normal .012 - .054" set to sets as thick as .017 - .095". Shorter-scale baritone guitars are more like long-scale guitars, having more midrange volume, whereas the longer scale lengths and heavier string sets give more bass to the instrument's timbre.

Source: Wikipedia > Baritone Guitar