Gretsch Releases Baritone Electromatic CVT

After the Electromatic CVT Double-Cut arrived last year—boosted by the Jack Antonoff Princess signature—its retro-meets-rock silhouette seemed to demand a baritone version. The short 24.6-inch scale on the standard model ran counter to the down-tuned look. Gretsch has now addressed that with the Electromatic CVT Baritone, a 27-inch scale instrument that stretches the same outline into lower registers.

Spec-wise, it’s not just a neck swap. The mahogany body stays, but the fingerboard is rosewood with Neo-Classical thumbnail inlays, and the Twin Six humbuckers are wired for coil-splitting via the push-pull pots. The wraparound bridge is replaced by an Adjusto-O-Matic and tailpiece. Build quality is high—no surprise there—and the guitar leans naturally into rock and higher-gain settings, though clean tones come across as dull, according to early test notes.

The catch is the finish. Bristol Fog, a translucent brown burst, is the only color. No Havana Burst, no Wychwood. For a guitar whose visual identity was a selling point, the single option feels like a missed step. Still, at a price that’s becoming the new median for accessible electrics, the CVT Baritone offers a viable entry into extended-scale playing without asking for a steep commitment.