Soprano tuning ... Bb?

ukulately

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Well, I tuned my soprano down a tone for giggles and lo and behold, it sounds ... better, me thinks. Anyone else found this? Perhaps I need new strings.
I also put G tuning strings on my tenor (Aquila re-entrant), tuned it up a semi-tone by mistake and it also sounded a whole lot better. Better than down in G that is. Probably not better or worse than C tuning though, just different. Maybe louder though.

Interesting.
 
Well, most people tune the tenor down to Bb and the soprano up to D, but if you want to do it on the "wrong" instruments, go right ahead. :p
 
Bb didn't work for me on any of my sopranos, but D (aDF#B) works great on them. I only have one soprano in C tuning, the Famous FS-5G because it'S designed for that tuning (or so I believe; heavily compensated for those strings it comes with, which don't work well in D tuning). I think Bb is a good choice for tenors. I'd probably find the tension too low on a soprano (C is borderline too floppy for me).

What soprano is it?
 
Yeh I'll try Bb on the tenor too, see what happens.
 
I can't say I've tried Bb on a soprano yet. I tend to buy strings for D tuning so tuning down a couple of tones would just make them too floppy. Having said that I have a set of Pyramid nylon strings which seem much too tight even in C tuning. I was going to try them on a concert, but maybe I'll give Bb on a soprano a go instead.
 
I only have one soprano in C tuning, the Famous FS-5G because it'S designed for that tuning (or so I believe; heavily compensated for those strings it comes with, which don't work well in D tuning).

Two now, actually. I switched my koa Black Bear soprano back to Living Water strings and C tuning. Love those strings, but feel they sound best in C. Seems like I now use different strings on each instrument I have. Ah well! :)
 
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