Archtop Uke or Mandolele Wanted

stephen451

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Hello: If you have a Chennell, Eastman, or other quality archtop uke for sale, please contact me. Must be soprano or concert size. I plan to play the uke in mandolin (GDAE) tuning. I'd also be interested in a Griffin mandolele. I'm 71, dealing with arthritis, and can no longer play a double-course, steel-string mandolin. Thanks very much and happy playing!
 
Just an FYI-

Not sure of your budget, but these are likely to be expensive. You may want to expand your search to also include something like either the Ohana Vita uke, or the Romero XS.

Either of which you can easily string with the Aquila 30-U string set which is made specifically for GDAE mandolin fifths tuning.

The 30U set has wound strings for the G and D and Nylgut for the A and E. I have used them and they work, but you have to be careful in tuning up the E string to E5 in order to prevent it from snapping because it is so thin. I took my time over 1 week retuning it up until it would reach and settle to pitch, 2 semitones per day. Some folks have used 0.015" fluoro fishing leader for the E string with good success, but I've not tried it yet.

Both also are a shape similar to an A-style mandolin.

Ohana Vita Uke ~$229 USD

OhanaVitaSpruceRosewood_1.jpg


via http://cargo.ukerepublic.com/product/ohana-vitauke-ckp-70-w-uke-bag


Romero XS ~$209 USD

RomeroSprMhgyXS_1.jpg


via http://cargo.ukerepublic.com/produc...olid-spruce-top-mahogany-body-soprano-ukulele


Aquila 30U strings ~$5 USD per pack

2ac0e21e4ff6566a8ce676d12a15b08c_380x0.jpg


via https://www.stringsbymail.com/aquila-soprano-ukulele-new-nylgut-strings-fifths-tuning-30u-17199.html

Hope this helps! :)
 
I have a Chennell Baritone archtop. f hole Archtops don't have a lot of volume; especially in the smaller sized instruments. The Ohana and Romero sound great.
 
... ... The 30U set has wound strings for the G and D and Nylgut for the A and E. I have used them and they work, but you have to be careful in tuning up the E string to E5 in order to prevent it from snapping because it is so thin. I took my time over 1 week retuning it up... ...
This tuning will put stronger pulling on the bridge, right? If so, is it possible that (a) some bridges might fail and/or (b) the top wood might be pulled out of shape?
 
This tuning will put stronger pulling on the bridge, right? If so, is it possible that (a) some bridges might fail and/or (b) the top wood might be pulled out of shape?

Well, of course not all ukes are created equally so possibly yes.

I had the Aquila 30U strings installed on a cheap $30 Melokia soprano I got from Amazon (hard to find a budget soprano with 16 frets, which the Melokia has).

As one might imagine it needed extensive setup work, notwithstanding, the bridge was in fact both glued to the top, as well as screwed down with 2 screws, and I had the strings on for a few months, and during that time never saw any bellying/dishing from bridge rotation, nor lifting of the bridge.

I think the string tension would balance out, since strings 4 and 3, G and D respectively are wound and relatively low tension at soprano scale length, the A string (#2 string) was as one would expect, and the E string was higher tension of course but methinks it broke because it is supremely thin, and not necessarily from excessive tension.

My intent was to verify if I would like the sound up in that register if I was willing to butcher my hands with steel strings and invest in a mandolin (having become very fond of fifths tunings), and in the end, I decided that I could not really invest ~$250 USD for a decent starter mando at that time. Sure you can get cheaper mandos like a Rogue or Rondo for $49, but as the saying goes 'buy cheap, buy twice' and my intent is as a songwriting tool and do not want to start collecting mandolins as I climb up the ladder upgrading to better instruments...

Instead I now have about half my ukes in fifths tunings, tenors in re-entrant CGDA, baris in re-entrant GDAE, as well as a 22" scale steel string tenor guitar in re-entrant GDAE, and a 25" scale classical guitar that I've restrung and modified to be in CGDAE, like a 5-string octave mandolin...

I dunno what happened that caused me to digress...anyway...fifths tunings are lots of fun and can add another sound color to a ukulele strung/tuned this way...
 
I have a very beautiful blonde Chennell archtop tenor, with pickup, that I must sell to reduce the unintentional growth of my collection! Maple, spruce and rosewood, with Chennell hard case. Bought new from Toby Chennell in 2014, still in excellent condition. As tenors go, it is modest in depth and lenghth - see pic of it beside a Moore Bettah tenor (on right) for comparison.two ukes.jpg
 
Can't remember name right now. Someone is making an 8 string ukulele mandolin.....1 3/8" or 1 1/2" nut width, mandolin tuning. Could you play an 8 string mando with the uke dimensions? I know the mando's with 1 1/4" nut are more common. Bruce Wei in Vietnam will build you a mando with a wide fretboard of you like.
 
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Thanks WoyWoy, but I need a soprano or concert size. My hands can't handle a tenor. All best, Stephen
 
Can't remember name right now. Someone is making an 8 string ukulele mandolin.....1 3/8" or 1 1/2" nut width, mandolin tuning...

Maybe you are thinking of the Ozark Mandolele?

Been posted about here on UU before, but this one is a steel string instrument like a mandolin, but RETUNED for GCEA in unisons with a 1.5" nut IIRC.
 
Thanks, Phil, but unfortunately, I can't handle double-course strings even when they're nylon. All best, Stephen
 
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