Thoughts on dGBE tenor ukulele tuning

https://youtu.be/z7lbPMyTwFI

Some deep philosophy here, about my new relationship with the tenor ukulele.

Good video!

The high string tension of gCEA on a tenor also put me off, but I didn't initially realize that it was the tension that caused my "something's off" feeling. This only dawned on me when I tuned down my tenor to re-entrant Bb6 (fBbDG) and both the sound and the lower tension were so phenomenally better (for me) and more enjoyable in a "Woah, this is really great, feels like a new instrument!" kind of way. Same idea as with your revelation, just not as deep.

When you order a set of dgbe strings for a tenor, does it come with a low or high D string? if you have to specify low D which companies sell low D sets of tenor strings? I haven't found any yet! Just starting to think about dipping my toe into this size and tuning of ukulele!

I think that if you order TENOR strings for dGBE TUNING, high D is the standard. For baritone, however, low D is standard, and high D must be specified. Tenor strings for this tuning
are sold by Southcoast, GHS and Aquila. Probably others too.

Hey Doc, what how much does this tuning effect volume?

With those Aquilas, about nothing.

Doc I agree with you on the sound and feel of the tenor in G. I've been playing around with it after finding out that a 'normal' string set can be detuned to G tuning.
I found that a set of D'Addario Carbons worked well, even low D but really prefer a High d string as it makes the tenor sound like a Uke rather than a small guitar. I thought that the strings were a bit slack, but they tend to stiffen up after a while. I bought a set of Fremont Black lines (high g) and put them on my travel tenor and they took a long time to begin to settle but they are firming up a good bit now and sound pretty good.

I've ordered some Worth Brown Fats to try and a set of the Aquila G for tenor strings. These may have a bit more tension which shouldn't hurt. Southcoast recommends different (fatter) strings to aid in volume, so we shall see if that is true?

My neighbor detuned some Aquila High g's and they work pretty well too, but are very loose. Maybe they will firm up some?

I really prefer the deeper tuning on a tenor. I did notice a slight change in volume, but not much.

drbekken said:

https://youtu.be/z7lbPMyTwFI

Some deep philosophy here, about my new relationship with the tenor ukulele.

Click to expand...

I have my tenors in dGBE tuning and I agree that reentrant tuning gives the right balance between that more mellow sound but still sounding like a ukulele rather than a four string guitar. Like you I did not like the high tension of a tenor tuned GCEA and the tenor never sounded right. Being a recorder player where different sizes are tuned differently I never understood this tuning the three different sizes the same. It made more sense to me to tune the larger instruments to a lower pitch.

Initially I tried tuning my tenor down to A6 and I found the change in tone made a big difference and the lower tension was more comfortable to play (I chose A over Bb because of the keys I mostly sing in). Later I decided to tune down further to dGBE and although the tone was much the same it was more convenient if I played with others as I could use standard "baritone" chords. It's also useful as I often play with guitarists and learning the dGBE chords made it easier for me to follow them and pick up the chords they are playing. Tuning down to dGBE did need a string change as the tension was too low though it was useful for proof of principle. I tried an Aquila dGBE set. Mine came with a red G string but I wasn't entirely happy with the Aquila strings so I looked round for an alternative and found the Worth Fat strings. These were being sold as a high tension GCEA set but I reasoned that they might work in DGBE on a tenor and I was right, at least for me so I have settled on Worth CF strings. I notice that Ken Middleton will make up strings for tuning a tenor dGBE as a custom set and I suspect these will be of similar gauge to the Worth CF strings so I might try them when I'm due a string change, though that might be quite a while as the Worth strings come as double lenghts so I still have the other half of the CF strings I bought.

Thanks, Geoff. That's valuable info.

I have a couple of baritones, so they carry different tunings My favorite (Thank you Dirk of Southcoast) is Aquila red
with a low d on each outside string dGBe. I have a soprano tuned as gCEa. Yes, I also have a tenor with that tuning. I like the fret spacing of the tenor better than the others.