Lou barlow uses much heavier ukulele strings.

Maarten197430 · Oct 2, 2016

Hello,
Lou barlow's new album is a ukulele (baritone, lanikai) acoustic album.
He uses lower tunings like DADE, D# A# G d# and D# G# C d#
These are great tunings.
He say's he use's heavier strings.
Does anyone have an clue or advise wich strings are usable?
Possible steel strings, but i don't wanne damage my uke.

You can hear it verry well in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=521G-7h_Hyg

Greetings Maarten from Belgium.

Camsuke · Oct 2, 2016

From Lou's website "for the ukelele i restring it using a standard set of nylon classical guitar strings.. 2 fattest , 2 skinniest ( leaving out the the D and G ).. this way the sound is much lower and warmer than the very thin strings the ukelele is strung with.."

Booli · Oct 2, 2016

Sorry that this does not answer your question (Campbell did in an above post)-

...and being that you cannot see his face, but his hair and the sound of his singing and playing would have had me guess that this was a video of Eddie Vedder...

Nice to see some serious singers with a voice lower than the tenor of pop-music, and using the uke as the main instrument!

This is the first I've heard/seen Lou Barlow :music:

Although, maybe not intended, but thanks for sharing this video.

good_uke_boy · Oct 2, 2016

Very cool first post.

OhioBelle · Oct 2, 2016

good_uke_boy said:
Very cool first post.

Agreed! Thanks for sharing this video. I agree with Booli. The ukulele can be a serious instrument, only limited by the sounds in the player's mind. Love this moody, evocative, performance.

Maarten197430 · Oct 3, 2016

Thankyou verry much, i see the lou site has a forum with more info.
He is a verry original artist for me.
I'm happy now.

jer · Oct 5, 2016

Cool. I'd never heard of him.

Also, never put steel strings on a uke or any other instrument designed for nylon strings. You're right in that it could damage it. If not right away, then definitely over time. They're not made for that kind of tension. It would even be possible to put nylon strings on an instrument that have too much tension for it. It's best to check with the builder/manufacturer to see what is safe. Different companies use different bracing, etc.

stevejfc · Oct 5, 2016

Thanks for the video...... it's an eye (and ear) opener!

Griffis · Oct 6, 2016

Lou is cool. Glad to hear of this album. Barlow was the bass player in the band Dinosaur, Jr. and was also in Sebadoh and Folk Implosion. Good writer. Lots of quality music under his belt.

Lou barlow uses much heavier ukulele strings.

Maarten197430

New member

Camsuke

Well-known member

Booli

Well-known member

good_uke_boy

Well-known member

OhioBelle

Well-known member

Maarten197430

New member

jer

Well-known member

stevejfc

Well-known member

Griffis

Well-known member

Similar threads