Tune Low G to High G?

padlin

Well-known member
Joined
May 8, 2015
Messages
119
Reaction score
1
Location
Western Ma.
Some of the songs I've been learning mention to "return to low G", which to this point for me means put down the Pono and pick up the Fluke, both tenors. I play about 1/2 and 1/2, high and low g.

Heading out of town for a few months and only taking one uke. I tried retuning the Pono's high G to a low g (Aquila Reds) but it ends up like a loose rubber band.

On the Fluke I have a Thomastik-Infeld CF27 flat wound for the low g. Can I crank this one up to high G? I don't have a spare string and don't want to break it. I have no idea how tough wound strings are.
 
I don't think I would go more than two or three semi tones upward with any string if you want it to be able to return to its original tuning.
 
No, do not attempt to raise the pitch by an octave. You are likely to break the string or damage your instrument in the process.
 
Yes. The frequency of string is proportional to a square root of string tension. So an octave = twice higher pitch frequency requires 4 times as much tension, other things remaining constant. So it is rather an approximation.

Wound G string probably will break earlier than plain plastic string. Anyways the ukulele can get damaged by such foolishness too ;)
 
Last edited:
This scenario is a perfect example of why you should have a couple spare sets of strings. Keeping a low G and high G at home gives you options. If you break a string you can use one of the individual strings from the package to replace the broken string. You can switch out just the G string with a high G or low G as your heart desires.
 
You would *probably* snap the string before damaging the uke, but yeah, it just ain't gonna work. I snapped about three guitar strings in a row years back before I realized I was trying to tune an octave too high. #foreheadslap. Since then I've always changed one string at a time. :p
 
Could one use a 2nd C string instead of the G, going up or down from there to the G of choice?
 
Could one use a 2nd C string instead of the G, going up or down from there to the G of choice?

You "could" use a florocabon C string which usually measures about .030" and use it in the G position for low G. The trouble is the tension will be very loose and floppy, most floro low G strings are around .035". You cannot tune this up to high G, too thick, too much tension.

Buy one Fremont squeakless wound low G string. Bring the uke stung with a high G set and you can swap the G strings back a forth with some care.
 
Probably the easiest way would indeed be having a spare low-g string at hand and swap the g-strings as needed. Other than that: take two ukes.
And consider switching to concert size for travel ;)
 
Where in the song does it say "return to low G" and what song are you referring too?
 
Not Return to low G, Tune to low G. My bad.

In The Hawaiian Ukulele Songbook it says "Tune 4th string to low G" at the beginning of a song, making it sound like, at least to me, you can go from one to the other without swapping ukes or strings
 
Last edited:
Not Return to low G, Tune to low G. My bad.

In The Hawaiian Ukulele Songbook it says "Tune 4th string to low G" at the beginning of a song, making it sound like, at least to me, you can go from one to the other without swapping ukes or strings

Thanks for clarifying, I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes. Doesn't sound like there's an easy answer beyond taking two ukes. Maybe a double uke bag like this?
https://www.theukulelesite.com/ukecrazy-deluxe-double-gig-bag-tenor.html
 
making it sound like, at least to me, you can go from one to the other without swapping ukes or strings
That's definitely impossible - as you can easily try: attach your tuner to the uke, start tuning down any string and see how far you come without losing playability and the least bit of halfway decent sound...
 
That's definitely impossible - as you can easily try: attach your tuner to the uke, start tuning down any string and see how far you come without losing playability and the least bit of halfway decent sound...

I've tuned down from GCEA to DGBE in the past to test whether the uke will sound OK in the lower tuning. The result was playable but the tension was too low for long term use and once I was satisfied the lower tuning would work, I changed the strings for a more suitable set.

You can get away with tuning down but a third is probably about the limit amd even then you need to start with a high tension set. You also need to give the strings time to settle properly just as you would with new strings. Tuning down a an octave is not really viable. I've occasionaly not tuned new strings up enough and it was because they were so floppy that I realised that I needed to tune up further.
 
A young chap in our 'Beginners Workshop' some years back,
fancied trying Low G on his concert scale; we sorted some
strings out for him and at the next meeting asked how he
was finding the change. He said the 'extra tension' was hard
to handle. I pointed out that a Low G should be LESS tension.
Yes, he had fitted a Low G string, but then tuned up to 'normal'
re-entrant G pitch! His neck was visibly bowing under the strain!
I quickly retuned his instrument to what it ought to have been.
After all that drama, he did not like Low G and reverted (with a
string change) to 'normal' re-entrant tuning!
 
Top Bottom