6 string ukuleles

Ted4

Ted4

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Eh up,
Greetings from sunny Bridlington...Here's my problem folks..like most people I have UAS and have amassed an army of ukes. BUT I really would like a 6 string with the wide fretboard and string spacing of a uke. I've had a Yamaha Guilele, and the strings were way too close together, any thoughts about what Ishould buy??
 
I make the odd Guitalele type instrument but unfortunately it's high end. I'm assuming you are referring to the instrument that has 6 strings and is a miniature guitar. I usually do a 48 mm nut width which was very common on 19 th century guitars. In fact many were below this at 46 and 47 mm's. I think the Yamaha guitalele also has a 48 mm nut width. I do mine with a slightly longer string length. BTW. There's nothing new about these types of instruments. Occasionally they were made in the 19th century and are sometimes called 'chitarra bambini', which I guess is Italian for baby guitar.
I think that one of the problems is that the instrument has a very small body but virtually a full width fretboard. Even at 48 mm (nut) and 58 mm width at the body juncture it can look a little odd. Somewhere I have my first prototype. You are perfectly welcome to try it but I doubt it will feel much different to your Guitalele. I once had the opportunity to directly compare it to a Guitalele and the consensus was that mine sounded more guitar like. The Guitalele is hardly the most refined instrument ever made but I do consider it an absolute bargain.
 
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You might also want to look at the Kiku from Kinnard Ukes. Terrific luthier - maybe higher end than you would like, but worth a look. Sounds like it has the spacing of a guitar neck though.
 
Thanks chaps, I will study all your comments and get back to you. And Yes, I suppose I am really talking about a small guitar rather than a uke.
 
Ted4 said:
Eh up,
Greetings from sunny Bridlington...Here's my problem folks..like most people I have UAS and have amassed an army of ukes. BUT I really would like a 6 string with the wide fretboard and string spacing of a uke. I've had a Yamaha Guilele, and the strings were way too close together, any thoughts about what Ishould buy??
Click to expand...
'

""You mentioned strings too close together""
I have the c' and c" 3.5 mm apart and the a and a' 3.5 mm apart. I reworked the nut so I have about 9 mm spacing across the nut.
I hope we are referring to ukuleles as in the heading of your post and not the guitarele families.
PS: I am sorry Ted4 for my posting. I guess we were typing at the same time. I see now that you are referring to a guitar type instead of an ukulele.
 
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I played a Kanilea guitalele recently and it feels wider than the yahama. It felt much easier to play and sounded pretty decent. Check out the listing on HMS.
 
If you are looking for a recommendation on a 'normal' 6 string Uke, I can highly recommend a Mya-Moe 6er. I used to own a myrtle body one which I strung with a set of Southcoast strings. It was a magic instrument. Note that I like wide fretboards and although this Uke wasn't that wide, it was very easy to play. I sold it only to afford a custom 8 string. I still wish I could have afforded to have kept it.
 
PhilUSAFRet said:
Perhaps you'd enjoy a Baby Taylor? https://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/acoustic/baby-taylor

On the smaller, cheaper side, one of these: https://www.google.com/#q=+1/2+size+guitar
Click to expand...

I think the Taylor is steel string. The 1/2 size classical guitar is still much larger than a Guitalele type. Guitalele type instruments are more comparable with a Baritone Uke, except with the two extra bass strings. Tone is more towards the Uke as well, although that might depend on what you tune it to. Normally they are tuned to 'A' although it is possible to tune down to 'G'. I've even had mine at a low 'E' but it does require a certain string selection + you have to accept lower tension.
Unless the OP has rather chunky fingers (some people do) this might be a matter of technique. My fingers are a touch on the chunky side (small but a little fat!) and I don't have any problem playing fingerstyle picking on a guitar with a 48 mm nut. I mean I don't inadvertently damp notes with the left hand fingers. Having said that some folk really do have big fingers, both in length and width.
 
The Kanile'a GL6 and the Islander GL6 have much wider necks and string spacing than the Yamaha. They also have slightly larger bodies. I spent a lot of time lately watching and listening to guitarlele videos, and to me, there are two models that sound better than the rest: the Kanile'a GL6 (super tenor body) and the KoAloha D-VI (tenor body). They are also unfortunately the most expensive options among the non-custom choices. Personally, I intend to get the GL6, because it combines everything I like about my other ukes: deeper tone, long neck and body size of a baritone, the treble strings of a GCEA tuned low-G tenor, and a full sound without being a piece of furniture. The KoAloha would be my close second, but I want the bigger body.
 
By gum, it's going to take weeks to check all this lot out..thanks chaps!
 
Michael N. said:
I think the Taylor is steel string. The 1/2 size classical guitar is still much larger than a Guitalele type. Guitalele type instruments are more comparable with a Baritone Uke, except with the two extra bass strings. Tone is more towards the Uke as well, although that might depend on what you tune it to. Normally they are tuned to 'A' although it is possible to tune down to 'G'. I've even had mine at a low 'E' but it does require a certain string selection + you have to accept lower tension.
Click to expand...

The only time I tried a Yamaha Guitalele, it was tuned like a uke but with the extra bass strings ie ADGCEA
 
The nut width on the Yamaha GL-1 guitalele is actually 45mm.

Compared to standard classical guitar OR ukulele is feels very cramped to me and is NOT fun to play.

I have one, and will hopefully replace it with a Cordoba MINI, the newer model with the solid cedar top and padauk binding

Nut width on that is 52mm, scale length is 21" (yes I mixed metric and imperial) and sells for MAP $329 and comes with a pickup and a case....
 
Yes, which is standard guitar tuning but up a 4 th. In other words the string to string intervals are exactly the same. Alternately stick a capo on the 5 th fret of a guitar and you end up with ADGCEA. You can play a Guitalele from standard guitar music notation or tab and it will work out perfectly fine, it will just sound higher in pitch.
 
Booli said:
The nut on the Yamaha GL-1 guitalele is actually 45mm.

I have one, and will hopefully replace it with a Cordoba MINI, the newer model with the solid cedar top and padauk binding

Nut width on that is 52mm, scale length is 21" (yes I mixed metric and imperial) and sells for MAP $329 and comes with a pickup and a case....
Click to expand...

For some reason I thought it was 48 mm's. 45mm's is a touch on the narrow side, unless you happen to have fairly dainty fingers. I suspect that 90%+ of people will be OK with a 48 mm nut given they are using good technique.
 
Michael N. said:
For some reason I thought it was 48 mm's. 45mm's is a touch on the narrow side, unless you happen to have fairly dainty fingers. I suspect that 90%+ of people will be OK with a 48 mm nut given they are using good technique.
Click to expand...


FYI: Most steel string guitars, and electric basses the nut is 43mm.

and Banjo and tenor guitar nuts are typically 28-30mm.
 
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