13down
Well-known member
Picking notes is nicer in high d as well for me and I wouldn't be surprised if you come to that conclusion too.
The Good Ol’ Baritones
- Thread starter Down Up Dick
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Picking notes is nicer in high d as well for me and I wouldn't be surprised if you come to that conclusion too.
I believe it all comes down to personal preference, like size, wood types and string material. I like my baritones strung linear DGBE because I love the rich deep guitar like tone. Some like vanilla, some like chocolate and others strawberry
Osprey
Well-known member
I now have two Baritones both tuned linear DGBE and love the sound. I did take one of my Tenors and tune it with a high D. I used the GHS Bari-Tenor strings that Sarah Maisel and Craig Chee promote. I like that sound as well and use it from time to time. It’s especially nice on some Bluegrass songs.
I have fallen in love with tenor guitars. My first was a Blueridge, and I have since gotten (i) a Compass Rose steel string baritone (please don't tell Rick Turner that I think of it as a smaller scale tenor guitar); (ii) a Beau Hannam custom tenor guitar; (iii) a John Kinnard tenor guitar; and (iv) a Pono 8-string tenor guitar. I play and love them all. I really like the deeper voice of DGBE tuning and I enjoy the sound of steel strings. I still love and play my GCEA tenor ukuleles; I just find that I prefer different sounds on different days and/or for different types of music.
This is the Pono 8-string tenor guitar that I got (Mahalo nui loa, Andrew!). Check out the video. Without the two courses of bass strings (E and A) that an 8-string steel string guitar has, this instrument has something of a mandolin-ish sound to it.
https://www.theukulelesite.com/pono-mn-20-spruce-mahogany-nui-8-string-tenor-guitar-package.html
Hey Mark, that is an awesome sounding instrument. All I could think about as Kalei played it was the opening riff from Pink Floyd "Hey You". I love the sound but the double courses of steel strings kinda scared me off. How difficult is it to play compared to a 4 string tenor guitar. I am not a guitar player so the bigger tenor guitars are a bit of a stretch for me.
JackLuis
Well-known member
If you like the GHS strings try the Fremont Bari-Tenor Black lines, they are much nicer and easier on the fingers too.
Hey, Dave. I've had previous experience with 8 strings, as I have an 8-string tenor ukulele, so the strings didn't put me off, and the scale is, I think, a bit smaller than the scale of my Blueridge. It takes a little getting used to both the longer (than baritone) scale and the eight strings at the same time, and if I havn't played it for a while and then pick it up, I notice that the scale is bigger than a baritone's and that eight strings requires more precise fretting than four because there's less space between the courses of strings. But I adjust, and it is pretty easy to play otherwise.
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Scooter1552
Active member
Martin bari
I am fortunate to own a vintage Martin B51 and have come to appreciate its warm tone and easy playability. It’s strung with Aquila Reds in DGBE and I did have some difficulty at first switching from my tenors or concert ukes but the more I play it the more I love it. Variety is a good thing and keeps me interested in learning. A capo makes this a very versatile instrument ( think tenor with a really large sound chamber!).
I am fortunate to own a vintage Martin B51 and have come to appreciate its warm tone and easy playability. It’s strung with Aquila Reds in DGBE and I did have some difficulty at first switching from my tenors or concert ukes but the more I play it the more I love it. Variety is a good thing and keeps me interested in learning. A capo makes this a very versatile instrument ( think tenor with a really large sound chamber!).
hoosierhills
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baritone uke
Wanted a baritone just to have one. Started with a lanikai curly mango ( all laminate ) that came set up with linear c tuning aquillas. The sound was ok but didn`t differ much from my tenors and the stretch was more difficult. I then acquired a cordoba 24b with wound 3rd and 4th that was very guitar like. I changed the wound set for worth browns and am very happy with the sound while strumming but still very much a guitar tone. I put a set of living water reentrant g tuning on the lanikai and it came alive with very much of the uke sound. From this experience I would say each instrument has unique characteristics waiting to be discoverd and isn`t that part of the fun of UAS.
I’ll bet we see a rise in UU Baritone ukulele sales pretty soon.
But maybe the ones tuned to GCEA will be keepers—I dunno . . .ld:
Wanted a baritone just to have one. Started with a lanikai curly mango ( all laminate ) that came set up with linear c tuning aquillas. The sound was ok but didn`t differ much from my tenors and the stretch was more difficult. I then acquired a cordoba 24b with wound 3rd and 4th that was very guitar like. I changed the wound set for worth browns and am very happy with the sound while strumming but still very much a guitar tone. I put a set of living water reentrant g tuning on the lanikai and it came alive with very much of the uke sound. From this experience I would say each instrument has unique characteristics waiting to be discoverd and isn`t that part of the fun of UAS.
plunker
Well-known member
I’ll bet we see a rise in UU Baritone ukulele sales pretty soon.
But maybe the ones tuned to GCEA will be keepers—I dunno . . .
Mine is tuned standard. I just play it it like my low G tenor. Yes it is a 5th off, but I play by myself and it works.
plunker
Well-known member
I’ll bet we see a rise in UU Baritone ukulele sales pretty soon.
But maybe the ones tuned to GCEA will be keepers—I dunno . . .
My Baritone has the standard baritone tuning. It is 5th off from my low g tenor. I don't play with others so I just play it using the tenor fingering.
Tootler
Well-known member
It takes nothing more than some time and effort to learn the different names for familiar chord fingerings. I had to deal with that some years ago as a recorder player as you have to deal with basically the same thing with C and F recorders.
If you ever end up playing with others, you will need to adapt
