I have really tried hard to like high G....

wayfarer75 said:
I have it both ways...But there certainly are those who are monogamous, unlike me.
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DownUpDave said:
"Now last week I liked" .........that is exactly it, and the danger
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We *are* still talking ukes here right? ;)

For my part, I have both linear and reentrant but seem to go on kicks where I'll play all one or the other. It's been almost all linear since I got the Ono bari.
 
I agree with Hodge.

I have certain Ukes that I haven't changed from linear to re entrant since I have received them. I am so pleased with the tone of them with either stringing format that I just want to leave them as is.

I have High G, I reach for ... for certain songs ... and Low G for others ...
 
I prefer reentrant high G because that's the classic uke sound. I don't usually go the other way... not that there's anything wrong with that (Seinfeld reference)
 
If you prefer low G, get a fresh set of strings and set up your soprano in Bb tuning with low F! I love it. For some reason it just "feels good" to me!

But, I've discovered that if a set of strings has alrady been tuned in C tuning and they have settled in, if I back them off to Bb tuning they don't hold tuning and never settle in! Hence the suggestion to start with a fresh set. I've got Reds on my soprano now.
 
Thank you for this thread DownUpDave, I like re-entrant tuning whether it is gCEA on soprano,concert or tenor, or dGBE on the baritone.
I have tried Aquila and Fremont black and Aquila red. D'Addario J6503 at /036" is a nice 3rd string to be tried. Martin modified trued nylon are nice ukulele strings. I have used Savarez and LaBella from my classical guitar days on my ukes. Also anyone remember the Senorita brand ukulele strings or am I dating myself. For those looking to experiment have we all tried .023" or .024" fishing line. Now that's what we all need .......500 yard spool of Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon Fishing Line or perhaps their Berkley Trilene XT, you Gotta have the New all weather formula. giggle. I still like a ukulele to sound like a ukulele, my re-entrant baritone is a completely different tone than the top four strings DGBE on my guitar.
 
When I got my first ukulele, a laminate tenor, I quickly put on a low G. I figured I was a linear kind of guy. I now have four tenors and I have two each linear and reentrant. I choose one or the other depending on the song or the mood I am in. Right now I am preferring my solid acacia Kala tenor with high G. Although I am looking at my solid acacia Córdoba tenor with low G and I am thinking I want to give it some attention.
 
I still vastly prefer high-g, and to me re-entrant tuning is still part of what makes a ukulele a ukulele, but I don't feel very dogmatic about that. :) It's pretty academic anyway, and what matters is what people enjoy and what gets them to play.

I'm currently in the "traditional sound" phase where I strongly favor concert and sopranos with high-g, and the percussive sound like in Shigeto Takahashi's performance. I actually don't have a soprano with quite that sound (and wonder where to get one). The two I have are both koa and have a "bigger", fuller sound: a KoAloha LN pineapple, and a Black Bear soprano. Open for suggestions, btw. :D

Anyway, the way we go back and forth between sizes and tunings is really a good argument for having as many ukes as some of us do! (Or maybe it's the other way around: we would not waver as much if we had fewer!)
 
I admit it, I went to the dark side a few years ago. I can't sing to save my life so I only play fingerstyle instrumental pieces. As a result, a lot of the arrangements I have are for low g. So every uke I get, I start out with low g. And then I swear I am going to switch one over to high g. It usually lasts an afternoon before I go back to low g. The funny thing is that I used to be opposite and could never get used to low g. Now I'm firmly in the other camp. But I say whatever floats your boat, go for it. The only thing I really don't like is when I see people insisting their way is the only way or the correct way, nah. I would never say low g is the right way, just the right tuning for me.
 
It's a bit like "Horses For Courses" I suppose. Some tunes work better in Low G, some ukes sound better in Low G. On the other hand, some ukes work better in high g and deliver that certain sound you are after. Sometimes a Tenor gives the sound you're after or maybe the Concert, Soprano or Baritone. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful variety to choose from. I love them all.
 
Camsuke said:
It's a bit like "Horses For Courses" I suppose. Some tunes work better in Low G, some ukes sound better in Low G. On the other hand, some ukes work better in high g and deliver that certain sound you are after. Sometimes a Tenor gives the sound you're after or maybe the Concert, Soprano or Baritone. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful variety to choose from. I love them all.
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Well said Campbell. This thread was not intended as "one is better than the other". Just my own personal perferance for the "darkside" as wickedwahine11 put it. I know from past experience I could flip flop at anytime in the future.

@Rllink.......come over and play. What your mother forgot to tell you was we got cookies and chocolate milk over here on the dark side

@Alytw....I am definitly a closet guitarist
 
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DownUpDave said:
@Rllink.......come over and play. What your mother forgot to tell you was we got cookies and chocolate milk over here on the dark side
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Hahaha, you know that probably won't happen.:) Thanks for the invite though. I'm more of a rum and Coke kind of guy anyway. I've always thought that if everyone was the same it would be a boring world, so I'm glad that all of you low G folks are having fun with it.
 
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I have been a guitarist for many years, singer/ songwriter and instrumentalist, and got hooked on tenor Ukulele a year and a half ago. I love it. I play fingerstyle. I've been very lucky to be able to buy some very nice ukes ( well, with Hodge's help ) and have strung them all in low G because they sound more like guitar. Or lute. Recently I was blessed to be able to purchase a Pegasus tenor and Bob sent it to me strung in reentrant. It captivated me from the start and continues to do so. I love Hawaii, and this ukulele in reentrant Feels like Hawaii to me. It's like the spirit of Hawaii manifesting through plucked strings. This is the first time I had felt that, but then again I may have not given other ukuleles a chance because I was kind of stuck in Low G, C tuning ( or B flat).
 
Dave has been trying to get me to go LOW G for quite some time, and I have resisted. Two recent Ukes that have joined my stable are a Mya-Moe and a Tiny Tenor that both came with LOW G. I have not changed them out yet and am enjoying them ( A LITTLE - that's all I will admit to at this point ) after fighting the feeling all this time. The stem of the strings on the head stock were cut off, so when I take them off, I won't be able to get them on again, and I'm scared I am going to wish that I wouldn't take them off, so I am waiting.

If I am beginning, ever so slightly, to see the benefits of LOW G, then there is hope for world peace, economic stabilization, and a world where everyone CAN get along.

This is a good thread for my 800th posting.
 
The limited range, duplication of notes, and mandatory chord inversions all turned me off reentrant G4 immediately. I don't find Low G to be any less 'ukulele' or Hawaiian sounding (if I'm playing Hawaiian music).

It's funny to hear claims that 100% of the 'ukulele sound' we all supposedly aspire to, comes from just 1 out of the 4 strings, and seemingly has nothing whatsoever to do with the instrument's size, construction, scale length, etc. :confused:
 
I think I like the sound of the low-G ukes a lot more but some things do seem to work better on a high-G. In particular, if you have high-G tab you've got to use a high-G uke or come up with a low-G tab which sometimes is harder to play and doesn't sound as good (a tab in the campanella style sometimes relies on the high G string.)
 
I am at the opposite end I guess. I strung my concert with low g (wound aquila) and I've REALLY tried to make it work. Forced myself to play on it even if all it does is boom and boom again...that uke hasnt been played a lot recently and I am considering changing back to reentrant.
It might be the strings or it might be that I dont have experience from the guitar world, but it just doesn't sing to me, at all :-(...
 
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