Cordoba Mini with high G

Thymej

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Hello

Not sure of this is the right forum to post this in:

I’m new here, and new to uku playing too, less than a year of playing. I was introduced to uku playing because my kids started playing a $30 uku we had for years. Because of the kids new found interest I purchased them a new uku for Christmas (a Cordoba 15CM concert size). I did not want to get anything more than $99 not knowing if the kids would keep playing. Now I play and practice more than they do.

I’m learning and practicing finger-style and some chord melodies.

I want to get something better then what I currently have (the kids Cordoba 15CM concert size). I was looking at other Cordoba’s or Kala’s with a solid wood top (tenor size minimum). Since I like the classical guitar sound, a Bari size with a gCEA tuning peaked my interest since I saw one at HMS a Cordoba 22B. All the music I already have and have been practicing is in gCEA tuning (The lower case g being a high G).

Then I saw the new Cordoba Mini (Guitarlele) demoed, it is turned at ADGCEa. So I thought if I could change the G with a high G the first four strings would be like a Bari turned to gCEA.

I called Cordoba and they said I could use a string size of 0.027in, which would be the high G string from an Aquila 23U set (a Bari gCEA set).

My question is what are the thoughts from the more experienced players here about the tuning options I thought of here for the Cordoba Mini?

Option 1
(Change only the 4th string to 1 octave higher):
ADgCEa
To play a B just below middle C I could use:
the 5th D string at the 9th fret
the 6th A string at the 14th fret (not likely)

Option 2
(add the high G at 4, slide strings 4 & 5 up and drop the 6th):
DGgCEa
To play a B just below middle C I could use:
the 5th low-G string at the 4th fret (closer to the rest of the notes in a song)
the 6th D string at the 9th fret

I hope I got my fret note alignments right…
 
The question i have is "Why?"

Why not just get a baritone or tenor ukulele. The additional strings are going to add complexity. You say you are a beginner. I could imagine where someone who is an advanced player might want to experiment by adding some bass strings to a reentrant tuning, but in general I can't see any benefits to what you want to do. I think you'd be better off getting a tenor and learning to play it, then start experimenting.
 
The question i have is "Why?"

Why not just get a baritone or tenor ukulele. The additional strings are going to add complexity. You say you are a beginner. I could imagine where someone who is an advanced player might want to experiment by adding some bass strings to a reentrant tuning, but in general I can't see any benefits to what you want to do. I think you'd be better off getting a tenor and learning to play it, then start experimenting.
That was my thought as well.

The advantage of a guitalele/mini is that it is tuned relative to a guitar (albeit at a different pitch). This gives you a wider tonal range and more options for fingerpicking.

But throwing a re-entrant string into the mix throws all that off. If all you want to do is strum chords, it might make for an interesting sound.

But if you want to fingerpick on a six-string, you are better off to learn with a more standard tuning first before you try something else.

There are plenty of fingerpicking tabs for both linear and re-entrant ukes out there, but I've never seen any for a six-string with a re-entrant fourth.

You will be better off just getting a tenor or a baritone for now.
 
There are better options for what you're looking for.

1. Get a baritone ukulele and tune it to gCEA using Aquila Baritone gCEA set.

2. Get a tenor


Not sure what you mean by "classical guitar sound".
Classical guitars are tuned EADGBE in a linear fashion. To emulate this on a uke, you get closest with a DGBE tuned baritone or a Tenor with low-G.

The re-entrant g will always give you an ukulele-like sound than classical guitar.

ADgCEa is an interesting tuning that I have contemplated in trying some day. But if you get a guitalele, you will be stepping into 6-string territory. You will be learning a new instrument.

However, if you like the way a classical guitar sounds, you might as well stick to regular guitalele tuning without the high-G... or get a classical guitar :)

But hey, each to their own. I have a dgbe (octave high) tuned steel stringed, soprano sized Braguinha on its way. I have also tuned baritone to low GCEA (one octave below regular). I'm a big fan of experimenting where its practical and fun
 
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Katysax has a point....I wonder why anyone without years of experience playing, would want more than 4 strings. We have an 8 string that almost never gets played, it's just too much work.
I'd stick with 4, for a while. Baritone ukes are becoming very popular.
 
Thanks you all for your comments its helping me to ask myself why.

Here is the path I took to get to the Mini. Most of my research has been with looking at tenors. I settled on a Cordoba 22T or Kala with a Solid Spruce top. I then waited for a sale. As I was waiting I saw that HMS had a Bari Cordoba 22b that was tuned already as gCEA. So I said why not. I purchased a Cordoba 22B from a local store with a 15% discount. When it arrived I returned it because it came used and with the wrong string set, it was purchased as new. I did play it for a short time and saw that I could get used to the bari size (sounded better too). Then I saw that the Mini was tuned to ADGCEa, hence the post I started with.

I will continue thinking on the why, but some of the why come from purchasing for the future, with a Tenor or Bari I can see myself down the road wanting more base. Other parts of the why was my 2nd uku would be a Mini first tuned to xxgCEA, then later as whatever, so I don't have to keep purchase better (trying to keep UAS in check before it starts).

By the way, I don't mind the complexity. I was crazy enough as a beginner to start off with using some of Ken Middleton's advanced finger-style music (advanced to me that is, I purchased one of his eBooks and a single tune).

I almost do no strumming.

You all got me thinking, leaning again to maybe just the tenor or Bari, but I will have to find a Mini at a local store to try.
 
Another option is the Eddie Freeman Guilele string set from Southcoast which is available for both tenor and baritone sized Guilele's. The good Dr Bekken has some videos using them on his Yamaha Guitarlele and they sound nice. Do google on "southcoast Eddie freeman" and "dr bekken guilele video" for more info.
 
Buying for the future when you are a beginner is a bad idea. You don't know what the future will bring. I've played guitar for 50 years and ukulele for about 17 years and I've had a lot of futures. For years I liked to play soprano on the uke but overall preferred to play the guitar. Then I went through a period where I only want to play low G because it was more guitar like. Then I decided that I liked reentrant better. Now I'm finding more and more that I'm playing about 50/50 low G and reentrant. Sometimes I have liked tenor and sometimes concert. What I like changes as my playing evolves and as I hear new things and meet new people and so forth. You just can't predict the future.

It seems like you "want" the mini. Nothing wrong with that. But then determine why you want it. Maybe you want to play a small guitar more than you want to play ukulele. It's kind of like my high school boyfriend who wanted a race car but all he had to work on was my family's riding lawnmower. I got to cut the grass on the most hot rodded mower in town until the engine blew up. I got to play a mini the other day and its very nice, a step in evolution beyond the Islander Guitalele. I'm thinking that when the guitar tuning set is available I want to get one. But I'm keeping my ukes.
 
I had a set of these gCEA re-entrant baritone Aquilas on a Cordoba Cuatro (which was basically a baritone uke from HMS). I would recommend the Cuatro. But I would not recommend the strings. Something in the tension did not feel right. Felt way too tense at that length. I didn't like it. I do like Ken Middleton's Living Water re-entrant dGBE baritone strings though.


 
If you want a baritone uke, you can get an inexpensive one for $85, such as the Makala MK-B, and see how you like it, if not, then just sell it or give it away.

I bought one a few months ago from Austin Bazaar specifically for the purpose of exploring alternate tunings on a Baritone scale, and even though I have much more expensive ukes, I am very impressed with the playability, sound and build quality, and unlike many of my other ukes, this one has not required any adjustment of the nut or saddle and plays great without any fret buzz or intonation issues up to around the 14th fret.

After some experimentation with C6 and other various tunings, as well as re-entrant G6 tuning, I have returned to the standard G6 linear tuning (DGBE) because I find that this is the sound I am looking for at the moment. Also to note that Ken Middleton offers a re-entrant baritone G6 string set, as well as the linear set, but you may find that if all strings are unwound on a baritone that the unwound 4th string is too floppy, and far as ubulele said above, that the Aquila REDS singles are a great option.

Like katysax said above, if you want a smaller scale GUITAR-type instrument then get the Cordoba MINI, which starts ~$199 from various vendors. I too am thinking about getting a MINI, but I've been playing guitar for 35+ yrs and ukulele for 2 yrs now and have more than a dozen ukes and UAS is very hard to resist. Oy!!! :(

As far as a re-entrant 4th string, I did this on my Yamaha GL-1 Guitalele (17" tenor scale, normally tuned ADGCEA LINEAR), and did NOT like the sound at all, however YMMV. :)
 
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It's kind of like my high school boyfriend who wanted a race car but all he had to work on was my family's riding lawnmower. I got to cut the grass on the most hot rodded mower in town until the engine blew up.
That made me laugh! :)

I got to play a mini the other day and its very nice, a step in evolution beyond the Islander Guitalele. I'm thinking that when the guitar tuning set is available I want to get one.
I didn't like the Yamaha Guitalele because the neck just felt too cramped for my fingers.

The mini is 510mm, which is a good jump in size. I'll be curious to hear how the standard guitar tuning set works out on it. I'm a bit skeptical that it will have enough tension to do it justice.

If you're willing to go a bit bigger, consider the Cordoba Requinto 580. It comes with HT Savarez strings meant for standard guitar tuning. That puts the tension a little lower (easier on my hands) but it just booms in standard tuning. If you did not know it was a 580, you'd think it sounded like a full sized guitar, deep and rich in standard tuning. I really like mine. :)

They're going for $268 on Amazon, and I think it's an incredible value for what you get (and I have a couple full-sized luthier made classical guitars). But one caution... Cordoba bills it as a 1/2 size, but it will not fit the Cordoba 1/2 size "deluxe" gig bag without a shoehorn! I had to send that back and get the 3/4 size, which fits just fine.
 
Totally agree about the Yamaha guitalele feeling cramped.

It actually feels easier to play with low-tension steel strings. One day i got frustrated with my Yamaha and so I whacked on a .010 electric guitar string set. It feels easier to play as steel strings are narrower. Sounds better too!

But of course, this is probably not a great idea xD
I only did it because otherwise it just hangs on the wall and collects dust
 
...
If you're willing to go a bit bigger, consider the Cordoba Requinto 580. It comes with HT Savarez strings meant for standard guitar tuning. That puts the tension a little lower (easier on my hands) but it just booms in standard tuning. If you did not know it was a 580, you'd think it sounded like a full sized guitar, deep and rich in standard tuning. I really like mine. :)

They're going for $268 on Amazon, and I think it's an incredible value for what you get (and I have a couple full-sized luthier made classical guitars). But one caution... Cordoba bills it as a 1/2 size, but it will not fit the Cordoba 1/2 size "deluxe" gig bag without a shoehorn! I had to send that back and get the 3/4 size, which fits just fine.

Big problem to me for something like this Requinto 580 is the NUT WIDTH at 47mm (1.85"), whereas the specs on the Cordoba Mini on their web site for the Cordoba Mini at 50mm (1.96"), maybe not to others, but to me this is a HUGE difference in being able to fret the strings properly. I cant play the Yamaha GL-1 any more (nut width is 46mm) and will probably convert it to a 4-stringer and make a new nut and saddle for it.

ALSO...

La Bella makes classical string sets for 'fractional guitars', i.e., 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 size DESIGNED with enough tension for EADGBE tuning at these shorter scale lengths.. The 1/4 size set is FG114 and can work on 17"-20" scale lengths.

Also the D'Addario EJ44LP classical set is extra hard tension, and can also be used for this tuning at the 17"-20" scale lengths.

on each link, click on FULL SPECS:

http://www.cordobaguitars.com/p/requinto-580

http://www.cordobaguitars.com/p/mini-m

http://www.labella.com/category/products/classical/specialty-sets/

http://daddario.com/DADProductDetai...ightly_Polished_Composite__Extra_Hard_Tension
 
True that on not being able to predict the future, I would be a false prophet if I tried. And True, I confess, I would not mind having a mini.

A easy solution I know would be to just purchase more then 1, a Mini plus a Bari or Tenor (like the one Booli mentioned). My thoughts were, hey I could buy the Mini and remove strings 5 and 6 (or just don’t use them), use it as a 4 string uku (wow that would be a massive neck for just 4 strings). I think outside of the box a lot. Not sure how a high G version of the mini would sound but I know I’m limiting myself but I finger-pick only, almost never strum.

All the thoughts comments from everyone is being helpful to organize my inexperience and out of the box thinking, thanks.
 
Like you, I appreciate the sound of a nylon-string guitar, and prefer the size of a ukulele. I have a baritone ukulele strung GCEA, but an octave lower. I purchased the strings from Mainland Ukes. This might be an option to consider. There are a couple of sets listed under the accessories link on the Mainland site, but you can also call and explain what you you are looking for.

Some folks here (including Kissing) have experimented with this sort of tuning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCyLRHl0wEY
Some have called this an "octave ukulele." I think it sounds great.

Another option is a 5-string tenor. The extra string allows you to combine re-entrant and linear tuning (both high-G and low-G in one instrument). Search here on Ukulele Underground and on YouTube for the Oscar Schmidt OUWK100K "Willie K" Five String Tenor Uke:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVchZQzXTqE
I think Ohana also makes a 5-string.
Edit; here's a link to the Ohana 5-string:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj6MgqlhpNQ

However, if you really want to learn guitar chord shapes, you might want to research a quarter-size or half-size classical guitar. Some call them child-size quitars. That would get you closer in size to what you are used to, but would use an entirely different tuning, and different chord shapes.
 
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True that on not being able to predict the future, I would be a false prophet if I tried. And True, I confess, I would not mind having a mini.

A easy solution I know would be to just purchase more then 1, a Mini plus a Bari or Tenor (like the one Booli mentioned). My thoughts were, hey I could buy the Mini and remove strings 5 and 6 (or just don’t use them), use it as a 4 string uku (wow that would be a massive neck for just 4 strings). I think outside of the box a lot. Not sure how a high G version of the mini would sound but I know I’m limiting myself but I finger-pick only, almost never strum.

All the thoughts comments from everyone is being helpful to organize my inexperience and out of the box thinking, thanks.

The only issue with removing strings 5 & 6, aside from having 2/3 of the neck width now unused, is that string spacing is probably going to be a bit tighter for the 4 remaining strings than, say a baritone uke, which is closer to a 1.5" nut width.

However, I could be wrong, but do not have access to a Cordoba Mini (yet :)) to verify.

For my Yamaha GL-1, were I to convert this essentially to a tenor uke, and replace the nut with one cut for 4 strings, the nut slots would have to be evenly spaced to fit within the original width of the 6 strings, and as such may even be WIDER than the string-to-string spacing on a baritone (I dont recall the intra-string spacing at the moment). I have not done this yet primarily due to time constraints, but the GL-1 sits in the case now, for months, unplayed, and has limited potential for resale value vs. modifying it or hacking it into something else that I would play. I love the sound, but getting older sometimes mangles one's finger dexterity and the current string spacing is not comfortable.
 
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The only issue with removing strings 5 & 6, aside from having 2/3 of the neck width now unused, is that string spacing is probably going to be a bit tighter for the 4 remaining strings than, say a baritone uke, which is closer to a 1.5" nut width.

...

Not seen one yet but soon since McCabe’s has all three versions in stock currently. You might be right on the spacing; here are some quick calculations of available space not actual spacing:

Standard nut 1.375 (1 3/8”) divided by 4 strings is 0.34375 space available for each
Wide nut 1.5 divided by 4 strings is 0.375” space available for each
Mini Nut 50mm (1.96”) divided by 6 strings is 0.32667” space available for each

Differences:
Mini compared to standard about 0.01708” less spacing available
Mini compared to Wide about 0.04833” less spacing available
 
The only issue with removing strings 5 & 6, aside from having 2/3 of the neck width now unused, is that string spacing is probably going to be a bit tighter for the 4 remaining strings than, say a baritone uke, which is closer to a 1.5" nut width.

However, I could be wrong, but do not have access to a Cordoba Mini (yet :)) to verify.

For my Yamaha GL-1, were I to convert this essentially to a tenor uke, and replace the nut with one cut for 4 strings, the nut slots would have to be evenly spaced to fit within the original width of the 6 strings, and as such may even be WIDER than the string-to-string spacing on a baritone (I dont recall the intra-string spacing at the moment). I have not done this yet primarily due to time constraints, but the GL-1 sits in the case now, for months, unplayed, and has limited potential for resale value vs. modifying it or hacking it into something else that I would play. I love the sound, but getting older sometimes mangles one's finger dexterity and the current string spacing is not comfortable.

Try it with some light steel strings; such as a .010 electric guitar set tuned up ADGCEA


I did this once, and the instrument came alive.
it's like it was designed to be a steel string fretboard but the designers got confused and made it nylon string.
 
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Not seen one yet but soon since McCabe’s has all three versions in stock currently. You might be right on the spacing; here are some quick calculations of available space not actual spacing:

Standard nut 1.375 (1 3/8”) divided by 4 strings is 0.34375 space available for each
Wide nut 1.5 divided by 4 strings is 0.375” space available for each
Mini Nut 50mm (1.96”) divided by 6 strings is 0.32667” space available for each

Differences:
Mini compared to standard about 0.01708” less spacing available
Mini compared to Wide about 0.04833” less spacing available

Hmm. I've actually been doing this math a bit differently. Please tell me if this makes sense to you...

1. For all nuts, regardless of width, subtract 1/8" from each outer edge as a margin, spacing IN from the edge of the fretboard, and THEN divide the remaining dimension by three (3) [for a 4-string instrument], and that tells you how far apart the strings are from each other, once you count in 1/8" from the edge...

2. Using this math above is how I've cut all the custom nuts I've made (8 so far), and never had an issue.

3. So, a nut of total width 1.375", minus 0.125" (left margin), minus 0.125" (right margin) yields 1.125" of working space from G to A. Thus each sof 4 trings is a distance of 0.375" apart, string-to-string.

4. A nut of total width of 1.5", minus 0.125" (left margin), minus 0.125" (right margin) yields 1.25" of working space from G to A (or D to E for baritone). Thus each of 4 strings is a distance of 0.4167" apart, string-to-string.

5. 4. A nut of total width of 1.96", minus 0.125" (left margin), minus 0.125" (right margin) yields 1.71" of working space (for 6 strings) from E to E (guitar) (or A to A for guilele). We divide this number by 5, thus each of 6 strings is a distance of 0.342" apart, string-to-string.

With the math I've been doing, the differences seem to be, in the cases of:
- Soprano to (some) tenor nut widths of 1.375", strings are 0.375" apart. (0.0417 closer than tenor/bari, but 0.033" wider than the Mini)
- (Some) tenor to baritone nut widths of 1.50", strings are 0.4167" apart. (0.0417 wider than soprano-tenor, and 0.0747" wider than the Mini)
- Cordoba Mini nut width of 1.96", strings are 0.342" apart (which is tighter spacing than either of the above).

Keeping in mind that these measurements are really splitting hairs in 100ths of an inch. It makes my brain hurt to use imperial measurements, and I try to use metric as often as possible, but I'm too tired to rework the math from the previous post in metric right now, otherwise I would have done that, but I dont want to mix things up and/or confuse the issue.

It may seem like nitpicking to some folks but 1-2mm here and there can make a difference in better or worse playability, and at least to me when you spread that +/- across the span of however many strings on the instrument, can make the instrument more comfortable to play or more difficult to play.
 
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