I bought a Vietnam-made 8 string Baritone uke that is solid spruce top & solid acacia sides & back. It came with Aquila strings tuned DdGgBBEE.
It is waay too bright which I think is due to the Aquila low d & low g being unwound "Lava" strings. It also is near zero on sustain & projection. In short, it sounds tinny. Total bummers. (I have another 8 string Bari... a Kala with a solid cedar top. It sounds great but the strings are of unknown make.)
I am hoping it's the strings that are making my Vietnam Bari sound so lousy. There are VERY few string sets made specifically for 8 string bari. So I want advice on putting together a string set on my own. The following paragraphs explain my ideas for doing this but I am not talented in this area so... I seek your comments -- Please!
First I plan to buy 2 sets D'Addario EJ87B Titanium strings which are made for a 4 string Baritone tuned DGBE...
... titanium .028, .033 •• silver plated copper .030W, .035W. These 2 sets will give me the following for the 8 string Bari...
DGBBEE
...so all I need is the octave higher d & g.
For the Bari g string I have 2 ideas...
... tenor E string tuned up one-&-a-half tones (3 frets)
or
... Bari E string tuned up 1 1/2 tones (3frets)
For the Bari d string I have 2 ideas...
...tenor C string tuned up 1 tone (2frets)
or
... Bari B string tuned up 1 1/2 tones (3 frets)
I am no expert on this kind of stuff so I would appreciate your advice very very much. My plan B is to get Ken Middleton to put together an 8 string Bari set for me but FIRST I want to make a serious effort at putting together a set on my own -- with your counsel to guide me, of course.
I anxiously await any comments that you folks care to offer.
It is waay too bright which I think is due to the Aquila low d & low g being unwound "Lava" strings. It also is near zero on sustain & projection. In short, it sounds tinny. Total bummers. (I have another 8 string Bari... a Kala with a solid cedar top. It sounds great but the strings are of unknown make.)
I am hoping it's the strings that are making my Vietnam Bari sound so lousy. There are VERY few string sets made specifically for 8 string bari. So I want advice on putting together a string set on my own. The following paragraphs explain my ideas for doing this but I am not talented in this area so... I seek your comments -- Please!
First I plan to buy 2 sets D'Addario EJ87B Titanium strings which are made for a 4 string Baritone tuned DGBE...
... titanium .028, .033 •• silver plated copper .030W, .035W. These 2 sets will give me the following for the 8 string Bari...
DGBBEE
...so all I need is the octave higher d & g.
For the Bari g string I have 2 ideas...
... tenor E string tuned up one-&-a-half tones (3 frets)
or
... Bari E string tuned up 1 1/2 tones (3frets)
For the Bari d string I have 2 ideas...
...tenor C string tuned up 1 tone (2frets)
or
... Bari B string tuned up 1 1/2 tones (3 frets)
I am no expert on this kind of stuff so I would appreciate your advice very very much. My plan B is to get Ken Middleton to put together an 8 string Bari set for me but FIRST I want to make a serious effort at putting together a set on my own -- with your counsel to guide me, of course.
I anxiously await any comments that you folks care to offer.