MatthewVanitas
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2010
- Messages
- 46
- Reaction score
- 0
A couple years ago, I was mucking around down in Colombia, and for US$75 picked up a cheap model of a local string instrument, the "bandola llanera".
Mine played okay (despite sharp frets and meh build), good sound, and pretty quickly I started trying it in both open tunings and uke-based tunings.
Normally it's tuned ADae
But if you play around with it (and especially if you fiddle with string gauges) you can get a uke-like tuning, and with a low A that's below the D of a baritone (am I right?) you can get a sub-baritone uke! I didn't post it earlier since they just weren't easy to find online, but I see that these days you can get them as low as $150 on eBay from Venezuela; I haven't gotten one and judged the quality, but at that price even if it needs some settup that's not bad. And what with the absolute economic chaos in Venezuela, you can google up some serious local luthiers and probably get a great price on a custom-made one.
Just wanted to alert folks to a possible cool option that can take uke-style tuning but at a pitch around or maybe even below baritone, and is definitely visually distinctive.
Mine played okay (despite sharp frets and meh build), good sound, and pretty quickly I started trying it in both open tunings and uke-based tunings.
Normally it's tuned ADae
But if you play around with it (and especially if you fiddle with string gauges) you can get a uke-like tuning, and with a low A that's below the D of a baritone (am I right?) you can get a sub-baritone uke! I didn't post it earlier since they just weren't easy to find online, but I see that these days you can get them as low as $150 on eBay from Venezuela; I haven't gotten one and judged the quality, but at that price even if it needs some settup that's not bad. And what with the absolute economic chaos in Venezuela, you can google up some serious local luthiers and probably get a great price on a custom-made one.
Just wanted to alert folks to a possible cool option that can take uke-style tuning but at a pitch around or maybe even below baritone, and is definitely visually distinctive.