linear GCEA (octave below soprano) on a baritone - possible?

Rick Turner has made a few baritone-scale ukuleles that he calls "octave ukuleles." I believe he uses the bottom four strings (EADG) of a classical guitar set. I have one of these instruments, and I believe the scake is a little longer than 20". The strings are a wee bit floppy, but I don't think the strings I have are from the highest tension set of classical guitar strings available.

Here's a link to a video of UU member Ukulele Jay playing his Compass Rose Octave Ukulele.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aea8ZGcNxyI

An "octave ukulele" search on YouTube revealed found two videos that address what strings to use to turn a conventional baritone into an octave ukulele. Here are links to those videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYNzDsvuOKg UU member Brad Bordessa!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIC1c4wYwTA
 
Last edited:
Anybody ever tried it? I was thinking I can get there using the middle four strings out of a classical guitar set. Or is it madness?

(FWIW, I'm thinking about doing this on my 20+ inch scale Alvarez.)

It's hilarious how much we think alike. I've also been toying with this concept.
 
Shouldn't be a problem with the correct choice of strings. My 20" scale Brunswick baritone is tuned GDAE, an octave below a mandolin. For reference, the bass string (G) I use is a "normal" nylon guitar "E" string ... coincidentally the distance from the third fret on an acoustic guitar to the bridge is similar to the overall scale length of a baritone ukulele ;)
 
Anybody ever tried it?
Yep. I did. Had a cheap bari which needed new strings anyway so I slapped on a set of Aquilas (23U) as an experiment.

Wasn't really my cup of tea, was too bulky and sounded too much like guitar - had I wanted that sound I would have started playing guitar right away. But in a group of ukes it adds a nice low end, even though the Aquilas felt a bit sloppy (but as you see I am used to smaller scales so I can't really judge whether this was to be considered "normal")
 
I was thinking linear, and the 23U set is reentrant- but until you mentioned it, I'd forgotten that I have a set of them stashed away. I'll slap them on to decide if any further experimentation is warranted.

Cap, that's just crazy. Think I need to start wearing a tinfoil hat! BTW did you ever get around to doing anything with that green Harmony?
 
Anybody ever tried it? I was thinking I can get there using the middle four strings out of a classical guitar set.

Yes, there are several ways to do it, and I chose Guadalupe strings. I like them very much. I purchased my set from Mainland Ukes.
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?62861-Guadalupe-custom-baritone-strings

Here is a sound sample, a couple of videos, and a link to a previous thread;

http://www.4shared.com/audio/FoMrEzCn/Guadalupe_Custom_Baritone_GCEA.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCyLRHl0wEY#t=75

http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?108489-Review-Baritone-GCEA-Guadalupe-Custom-Strings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3uUu1YaBfw
 
Anybody ever tried it? I was thinking I can get there using the middle four strings out of a classical guitar set. Or is it madness?

(FWIW, I'm thinking about doing this on my 20+ inch scale Alvarez.)

If you want to do it with classical guitar strings, use the EADG strings, not middle 4.

Middle 4 strings of classical guitar set corresponds to regular baritone tuning (AGDB tunes up to DGBE).

Otherwise there are the Guadalupe custom strings:
http://shop.mainlandukuleles.com/product.sc?productId=85


How does it sound? Here is me trying out the Guadalupe set


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCyLRHl0wEY
 
Cap, that's just crazy. Think I need to start wearing a tinfoil hat! BTW did you ever get around to doing anything with that green Harmony?

Oh yeah, I shaved down the bridge, converted it to a string through, and glued the back on. It's actually a decent player. Right after I got her up and running a friend gave me 3 K&K transducer pickups and I came very close to take the back off again and converting her to an electric. Luckily my laziness took over and I never got around to it.
 
I did it on a baritone as well with guitar strings. It was nice in a group to add some low end, but as a solo instrument I found it to muddy.
 
Great minds think alike! I posted a link to this video in an earlier post (#3). I found it to be very helpful in looking into strings for my Compass Rose octave baritone.

Missed that. Thought I clicked all your links! Sorry for the double post.

EDIT: Duh! You even put my name on there. Haha.
 
Top Bottom