Should newbie string baritone GCEA?

MARKbOC

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 29, 2015
Messages
179
Reaction score
0
Location
Orange County, CA
Im a relative beginner and am considering adding a baritone to the herd because I really like the fuller sound. i'm thinking about stringing it with GCEA so that Im not learning two different things at once.

i would EVENTUALLY like to learn the baritone tuning but thought it might be something I can go back to after i've become a little more proficient. i know that its not exactly rocket science converting the chords but i'm still working on muscle memory and speeding up the time between seeing a chord and fingers being in place so i figured removing ANY additional thought process would help at this point.

does this strategy make sense to anybody but me? would love any insight/thoughts
 
Sure you can tune it to a C tuning. A chord shape is a chord shape. G tuning and C tuning use the same shapes just ending up with different chords. Tune it to a C tuning if you want, learn the shapes and when you're ready tune it to a proper G tuning.

I always found a bari tuned to C rather thin sounding. If I want a bari in C, I either change the shape of the chord or put a capo on the 5th fret. Good luck, main thing is to play and have fun.
 
I bought some Aquila "GCEA Baritone" strings and put them on my baritone a few months ago. My baritone went from a being booming projector to a thin sounding dud.

I don't think the new strings stayed on for more than an hour. I don't know the baritone chords, so I can't really play it tuned DGBE, but it wasn't worth having a baritone that sounded like that. At least it sounds nice when I strum GCEA chords shapes on it now.

I hope you have better luck!
 
First recommendation: Play it for a while using the strings it came with. As long as you are playing alone, the pitch won't matter. You'll just be playing it tuned to a lower pitch. You might end up liking it. If you later want to play those strings with a group of players, you'll need to think differently about what chords you are actually playing.
If linear, that's D3-G3-B3-E4.

Second recommendation: If you decide to switch to GCEA, get the Guadalupe set. These are hand wound linear (low G) GCEA strings designed to be tuned an octave lower than your tenor/concert. You'll end up with a sound even deeper than the baritone sound.
That's G2-C3-E3-A3.

I also had the Aquila GCEA baritone set. I liked them, but tuned them an octave lower (re-entrant G3-C3-E3-A3). They were low tension tuned that way, but I didn't find them to be "floppy," and liked the sound.
 
I really like baritones tuned with High D. That way you get a lower pitch/key but still have a "uke" sound.

DUK
 
Top Bottom