Low g - regrets?

Hi all. Last night I had a set of Worth clears (CF-LGEX) - low g - put onto my Kala tenor uke. I had been anticipating an improved and mellow sound, but my experience is that the low g is very dominant in all the strums/finger picking songs that I've been practicing. The low g seems to reverberate for a very long time and 'drown out[' the other strings. Perhaps the songs I'm playing are not written for low g. After30 minutes of practice I just couldn't bear it any longer and gave up. I'm now thinking of going back to a high G. Maybe its the way I'm strumming?
Has anyone else experienced this and are there any recommendations on what I should do?
cheers

I hated low G at first, until I discovered that there's a big difference between wound and non-wound strings. The ones you are using are not wound; in my experience these always sound "boomy" and dominant to me. I switched to wound strings (either a guitar D string, or a Fremont Soloist ukulele string) and like low G much better now.

Another thing - if you are strumming from chord charts that are aimed at reentrant tuning, you may want to experiment with using chord inversions. I've found that some inversions sound better than others when playing low G.

I have a recommendation on what to do...........buy a second tenor. Seriously, one high G and one low G. I did the very same thing you did, twice, the low droning sound drove me nuts. It was because my ears were conditioned to high G and all the songs I played were "high G type songs. I have had two tenors in low G for about 6-8 weeks and I now love them. I have a number of other ukes high G including a tenor.

Song selection can play a roll, so can technique. I have learned to just graze the low string so it is not so overpowering.

I have found a wound 3rd string with a wound 4th really helps to balance out the sound

Appears janejay beat to the post

Low G has its place and can be used in most situations. However, fingerpicking songs usually need some adjustments. I usually find unwound strings to be more thuddy than boomy but the balance of the string set is important. You'd probably be better off to go back to high G. For years I had one uke set up with Low G but mostly played high G ukes. Recently I've moved more like half and half but there are still plenty of times when I think low G is hard to adapt.

I agree, you have to make adjustments when first trying low G. On strums, I found it helpful to adjust the strum to lightly brush the low string but strike the other strings more firmly. With high G I strum straight across but with the low tuning, to me the low string sounds louder and overpowers the other three, so I strum it more lightly. If you stick with low G you'll naturally make adjustments.

All that said, I prefer high G. I usually have one uke tuned low G, and it gets played least. Everyone has their own preferences.

I had the same "booming" experience with some low G strings. The one I like now is called Fremont Soloist Squeakless Polished. It's a wound string but it's also squeakless (one complaint about wound strings is their squeakiness). Another option would be to get a Southcoast low G set. I haven't personally tried them yet (I have a set that I'm eventually going to use), but Southcoast strings have a reputation for being really well balanced.

Similar to what the others have said I find that low G sounds nice if you put more emphasis on the UP strum, hitting the A string firmly on the way up. I've noticed that's the way Corey Fujimoto (HMS etc) does it and it sounds lovely.

It's an "ear" thing. Low-G and its "boom" helps with rock or other such stuff when there are more potent instruments (guitars, drums, bass) surrounding it. Jamming with those other instruments in the mix can be tough sound-wise.

certain factors, certain songs does not sound good with a low g. the ukulele build was for a high G. some ukuleles sound terrible with a low g. try out the Fremont sololist low G string, its an awesome low G string. if it over powers other string now you must learn new playing technique not to over strum that low G. overall I love the low G sound but I have another ukulele with a high g ready to play.

I went through the same thing. I tried and tried to adapt to low g, but it just didn't sit with how I play - and hear, the ukulele.
It makes sense on paper - extra notes to use, more bottom end etc. But it's only a few extra notes, and the delicacy of that high, chimey uke sound is so beautiful... I'll get a bass player for bottom end.
I wonder how it works in banjo world.. do 5 string players toy with swapping out for a lower string, or do they just accept that unique "banjo-y" sound?
Anyway, that's me. There are plenty of people who make wonderful music with whatever configuration they prefer....
Give it a good chance and let us know how you go.

Strumdaddy said:

I went through the same thing. I tried and tried to adapt to low g, but it just didn't sit with how I play - and hear, the ukulele.
It makes sense on paper - extra notes to use, more bottom end etc. But it's only a few extra notes, and the delicacy of that high, chimey uke sound is so beautiful... I'll get a bass player for bottom end.
I wonder how it works in banjo world.. do 5 string players toy with swapping out for a lower string, or do they just accept that unique "banjo-y" sound?
Anyway, that's me. There are plenty of people who make wonderful music with whatever configuration they prefer....
Give it a good chance and let us know how you go.

Click to expand...

With tenor banjos the common tunings are CGDA and GDAE. The GDA combo are the same strings, and the sound differs by the low-C or the high-E. Those who want a higher pitched sound (for Irish Traditional Music and such) go GDAE (same tuning for mandolin). Those after a more robust sound (rock, most country, etc) go CGDA.

For folk who play a wide variety of stuff, having multiple instruments each with different tuning is common.

Great thread! I have one cheapo tenor uke tuned to low G (Worth), but I find one must play it totally differently than a soprano. It is no longer a strumming instrument but that is ok. It is meant for finger-picking. I like the idea of having a tenor with a high G and another tenor with a low G. Whoever said that here... that is very sound advice!

Petey

Thanks for your great responses so far! An additional couple of questions - (1). Can I simply put my old Aquila high G back on, or should I get a Worth high G to match the new C,E and A, and (2). can you actually buy single strings?

cheers

Banjo players don't change out strings. They change tunings to get the sound they wish to achieve. The joke that banjo players spend half their time tuning and half the time playing out of tune has a little more validity than one might think. on the Uke [SUB]conventional[/SUB] linear tuning you have lowG or lowC. Try playing out of the key of G when playing LowC tuning. When playing with LowG play out of the key of D. - good for Formby type tunes. (pardon here I don't play linear tunings on the ukulele that's what my banjo is for. I can't easily transpose while typing. I have to use my fingers) Each of the Linear tunings has another major and minor key they are well suited for. (Help me out here SteveZ. You should have a good grasp on this). My knowledge is banjo based here. Fiddlers and mandolinists don't much care for Key of C. Linear G is not so suited for the Key of C, (OMG don't play uke in the key of C? heresy!).

When you are playing in linear tuning you needs must approach the instrument differently. play a low melody or bass line. I could give better banjo analogies but what is the point of that here?

Take advantage of the Linear tuning strengths. Slides on the 3rd and 4th strings, will work. play around more with dim7 chords......sputter....sputter.

fisher00 said:

Thanks for your great responses so far! An additional couple of questions - (1). Can I simply put my old Aquila high G back on, or should I get a Worth high G to match the new C,E and A, and (2). can you actually buy single strings?

cheers

Click to expand...

#1 Of course you can. Why couldn't you put the Aquila string back on? What do you lose by doing so? I would do it just to see. You might learn something for yourself by doing so that would add to your experience as a ukulele player.

I have Worth clears low G on my Koaloha tenor and I love them. Low G takes some time to used to and is not the best for all songs. I tend not to go back and forth between my concert with high G and the tenor because each sound requires adjustments in chords that my little pea brain has enough trouble making for one tuning. For picking, some songs just work naturally with one tuning and not at all (at my skill level) with another tuning. You should have given the low G a week or two and I bet you would have liked it.

IamNoMan said:

Banjo players don't change out strings. They change tunings to get the sound they wish to achieve. The joke that banjo players spend half their time tuning and half the time playing out of tune has a little more validity than one might think. on the Uke [SUB]conventional[/SUB] linear tuning you have lowG or lowC. Try playing out of the key of G when playing LowC tuning. When playing with LowG play out of the key of D. - good for Formby type tunes. (pardon here I don't play linear tunings on the ukulele that's what my banjo is for. I can't easily transpose while typing. I have to use my fingers) Each of the Linear tunings has another major and minor key they are well suited for. (Help me out here SteveZ. You should have a good grasp on this). My knowledge is banjo based here. Fiddlers and mandolinists don't much care for Key of C. Linear G is not so suited for the Key of C, (OMG don't play uke in the key of C? heresy!).

When you are playing in linear tuning you needs must approach the instrument differently. play a low melody or bass line. I could give better banjo analogies but what is the point of that here?

Take advantage of the Linear tuning strengths. Slides on the 3rd and 4th strings, will work. play around more with dim7 chords......sputter....sputter.

Click to expand...

A lot depends on one's musical foundation. I came from 6-string guitars, to fifths tuned mandolins, to fifths tuned tenor guitar, to fifths tuned tenor banjo (notice a pattern here?) and started with ukuleles just as an experiment for comfortable travel instruments which could possibly be fifths tuned. The uke (fourth tuned instrument) to me was just a four string base which could be (and is) tunable to fifths. It was just a matter of getting the right string gauges.

Low-G lets me string ukuleles in fifths (GDAE) like mandolin and "Irish" tuning on tenor guitar/banjo (using the low-G, the C tuned to D, the uke E tossed out, the uke A moved over one slot, and 20-pound monofilament fishing line used for the E). It worked, but the high-E seemed a bit too high. CDGA came next as Aquila markets a CGDA set (31U) which works well from soprano through tenor.

I guess my point is, low-G adds another dimension. One should never be afraid to buck musical tradition, because if folk didn't buck tradition by experimenting with alternate tuning, or different shapes and scale lengths, we wouldn't have half the instruments we got now. Many ukulele purists see change from GCEA (high-G) as heresy, as if the ukulele has one and only one musical use. If that was the case, there would be only one scale length, one body style and one sound resonation pattern.

If one doesn't like low-G, that's fine. To each his/her own. It's all in fun, isn't it?

low g wasn't for me due to depressing tone compared to the re-entrant when I tested last year. This year I am going to try it again on my Risa stick(just waiting on the amp).

I did experience the booming from the metal wound string of last year's Oasis strings. I don't notice it as much with the risa stick's brown worths but acoustically that is a much quieter instrument(therefore I am reserving judgement). I began to learn to strum softer and noticed improved sound from the uke(my concert laminate) even after switching the strings back to re-entrant. So I would say work on your strumming dynamics if you want more performance from the strings.

IME not worth getting single strings since it is only 4-6 bucks for a whole fresh set.

Rllink said:

Why couldn't you put the Aquila string back on? What do you lose by doing so?

Click to expand...

Being a different brand to my new ones, I thought it might present a different note/tone.

ohmless said:

not worth getting single strings since it is only 4-6 bucks for a whole fresh set.

Click to expand...

Try $30.00 in South Australia!

Thanks again