High G String or Low G String

umagrama

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Hello people... this is my first post in this forum. I finally found this ukulele hideout place! Uhuwww

Anyway, my first question is: should I have a high g string or a low g string?

I started with the low g and was much happier with the sound of it. The string broke and i cant find ukulele strings no where here in Brazil. I got a high g string from a cavaquinho, which is very similar to a ukulele but it just doesnt sound the same (because it is not). Correct if I am wrong, but while in Hawaii the high g string was acceptable but the hawaiians didnt like it so much. It just doesnt flow as smooth though one can play with it.

Is there a way to adapt a guitar string into a low g string for the uke?

Thanks for the help in advance.

Peace.
 
Hello people... this is my first post in this forum. I finally found this ukulele hideout place! Uhuwww

Anyway, my first question is: should I have a high g string or a low g string?

I started with the low g and was much happier with the sound of it. The string broke and i cant find ukulele strings no where here in Brazil. I got a high g string from a cavaquinho, which is very similar to a ukulele but it just doesnt sound the same (because it is not). Correct if I am wrong, but while in Hawaii the high g string was acceptable but the hawaiians didnt like it so much. It just doesnt flow as smooth though one can play with it.

Is there a way to adapt a guitar string into a low g string for the uke?

Thanks for the help in advance.

Peace.

hi g or lo g its your choice. if your local guitar shop sells strings by the piece, try to find one that is a thicker gauge than your C string if you want to go all nylon.

if you have a wound c string, you can actually use that as your low g string and just get a #3 classical nylon string to replace the C.

or you can get a #4 classical string (nylon core - very important) and use that as your lo g.

there are a lot of ways. it doesnt necessarily have to be "ukulele" strings. what matters most is how it feels and sounds to you. so you may need to do some experimentation to find what works best.
 
High G.
Low G is castrated guitar.
hahaha

still a matter of opinion. what would you call a baritone ukulele which is normally tuned DGBE?

not implying anything, since i understood that it was just a joke. but to others that are still easily influenced the statement can look segregating and even elitist. and the one thing uke players as a group hate most is when guitarists scoff at our instruments and belittle it. calling it a castrated guitar is along those same lines. and thats the only reason im writing this. to avoid anyone interpreting that the wrong way.

hahaha and can you imaging if you were to say that to someone like the late great IZ, or herb ohta jr, or many others who use the low G tuning? nah, im sure they'd get a good laugh out of it too. hahaha
 
I really like the sound of the low G. I have a low G on my concert, tenor, and baritone ukes, (yes, I have my baritone tuned G,C,E,A.....I can't transpose). I kept a high G on my soprano for traditional Hawaiian music or funny, corny, old songs like "5 foot two", Ukulele Lady, or "Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian".
 
Thanks for all the input guys, specially NukeDoc´s message will help a lot finding a low g for my uke. I am going to try the low g on the uke and see what happens.
 
I had chickened out when I ordered my Pono tenor from MGM and went with high strings. But because I chickened out and changed my mind twice, MGM is leaving on the wound G and C strings, and giving me some free unwounds as a security blanket. He's determined that I should hear Low G. :D

I think that's great. All of the pleasure and none of the guilt, I say. But I can see how it's going to go. I'll like the extra omph, but won't like the feel of wound strings. We'll see which side wins. :)
 
Hight G all nylons are standart in this time.

Low G is something like a poor guitar..


But for Hight G is writen 95% of tabs ;]
 
There's a lot of famous uke players who would get a kick out of hearing the "Low G is just crap guitar" argument, being that they used it often enough themselves.

What's with all these rules anyway? "Must not use a pick, must be made of certain woods only, must only have these kind of tuners, only use these kind of strings." - That's not music is about really. Yes, music as we know it was born of very very strict rules, but music evolved through the bending and breaking of those rules.

Whether I go with wound or unwound, it's not going to be an arbitrary set of rules that decides for me. :)
 
What's with all these rules anyway? "Must not use a pick, must be made of certain woods only, must only have these kind of tuners, only use these kind of strings." - That's not music is about really. Yes, music as we know it was born of very very strict rules, but music evolved through the bending and breaking of those rules.

not really rules, more like preferences that most players tend to agree, thus when some one goes against those rules people go crazy. its kinda like using Aheads on drums (Aheads are metal sticks, absolute crap =p )
 
I like low G when I pick. I like high G when I strum. I guess the solution is to have a few ukes strung differntly so you can play it the way you like it.

There, now I've rationalized everyone's UAS.
 
I personally like the Low G for my ukes whether its a 4 string or 6-string. Actually, the 6 string I have was originally set up with a high G but since I, wanted it to have a low G, I had to removed the double octave on the A string to two high A's to relieve some tension off the bridge.
 
Newbie here...but I have had something of a journey with high/low G. I picked up the uke last year after 30 odd years of mediocre guitar playing and haven't looked back. Started with soprano, high G of course. Ordered a Pono tenor from MGM with low G. Discarded the low G for high G in a short time, as it didn't sound "ukish". Played it like that for 3-4 months. Put the low G back on and was mesmerised by the sound. Low G for me on the larger body uke and I ain't going back......for a while, anyway.
 
I suffer from a lack of commitment, so I keep my soprano and my tenor strung hi-g, and the concert I keep low-g. That seems to have silenced a few of the voices in my head for the time being. With one uke, grab a set of both and decide for yourself -- above all, have fun.
 
I suffer from a lack of commitment, so I keep my soprano and my tenor strung hi-g, and the concert I keep low-g. That seems to have silenced a few of the voices in my head for the time being. With one uke, grab a set of both and decide for yourself -- above all, have fun.

thats basicly what i do

also i find that playing things like blues or jazz sounds a whole lot cleaner when played on low g
you get more range to solo and the strum sounds bluesy as well
 
I love my low G, especially with Worths as these allow for an unwound low G. I think that saying it doesn't sound uke-ish is retahded because it DOES sound like a uke. It sounds like a uke tuned to low G though. It doesn't sound like a guitar because guitars have six strings and a uke can't play 6 notes at once. Low G tuning permits you to use slash chords better (like C/G) and provides fuller sounding chords. But if your idea of uke-ish is thin and tinny, then you def do NOT want the high G.

I play both, but one downside to high G is the doubling of notes in the same octave. Try playing a G chord one note at a time. You will hear the same note twice. If you have four strings why should you only have three notes? So I take special care when playing in high G to use voicings that play four notes instead of three. I made a video on the subject.
 
i just picked up a 6 string uke. The lowest note I can get right now is a Low A right now right since its strung with a high G? (open note low a string)

I guess then if I look the high G off and put a low g, the lowest note would be a low G (open note low g string). But would that put too much pressure on my bridge? to have the low a and low g?

Gratzi!
 
is it worth the "risk" to just go one note lower on a 6 stringer?

also, what if you want to go lower, like a low F, you cant do it on the uke, just buy a guitar? :D note even a 8 string uke goes lower than a low g, even if you were to pluck it individually. I play the sitar, does anyone know how low a guitar goes?
 
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i just picked up a 6 string uke. The lowest note I can get right now is a Low A right now right since its strung with a high G? (open note low a string)

I guess then if I look the high G off and put a low g, the lowest note would be a low G (open note low g string). But would that put too much pressure on my bridge? to have the low a and low g?

Gratzi!
Here's an excerpt from this thread. . . . Dino has done the same with his 6 String Tangi also.
Kekani said:
. . .Depending on who's playing, most Lili`u 6's have more balance, but still range towards the high side. I like how John Kitakis sets up his 6 - Low G, Octave C, E, double high A. On paper, this may sound twangy with the octave C and double high A, but the low G is the key. I did something a little different - Octave G, double high A (basically an 8 minus the extra strings on the 2nd and 3rd). Strung either way, they make for a very pick and strum easy instrument.
 
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