Replacing high G string on a gCEA baritone uke.

Sephiroth

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Hi everyone. I have a quick question.

I bought an all Rosewood baritone ukulele from Caramel, which came with standard DGBE strings. I bought a set of Aquila gCEA strings and the overall sound is a little thin and quiet, not quite what I was hoping for out of a Baritone.

I was thinking about replacing the high Aquila g string with the low G string from the original set to get a fuller sound. Will this make any kind of problem with the uke?

Thanks in advance.
 
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I got the impression the OP meant the G from the DGBE set as a low G with the gCEA set - I'd give it a go, if it were me. :)

Yes, this is what I meant. I'd be using the original G string as the low G from the DGBE set.
 
Unless your GCEA set is an octave lower - and you can get baritone GCEA sets an octave lower, the low G in GCEA is the same pitch as the G in the DGBE tuning so the G string from your DGBE set should be fine. You are tuning it to the same pitch.

My own feeling is you will get a fuller sound still from the baritone if you stick with DGBE. I'm really liking the sound of mine tuned DGBE. It gives a nice full sound and I really cannot see the point of tuning all the different sizes the same.
 
The original D string from your DGBE set is probably approx .036" in diameter. If you install it with the other high g strings and tune it up to low G that D string will apply a lot more tension to the uke. A low G string is usually .030" in diameter.

In short I would not do this because of the increased tension caused by the fatter D string tuned all the way up to G. Get a Fremont Soloist squeekless wound low G string, they are .030" diameter and about $4.00 a piece.

I got the impression the OP meant the G from the DGBE set as a low G with the gCEA set - I'd give it a go, if it were me. :)

It seems to me that 99% of the standard baritone DGBE string sets have the D string as 0.035" and the G string as 0.030" (both wound) from what I've seen from EXTENSIVE string testing in the past 3 yrs.

A 'G' string of 0.030" on a baritone scale as the 3rd string, or moved over to the 4th string with the CEA strings from the other string set should not have any different performance in tension since it was tuned to the SAME pitch, i.e., G3 on the SAME scale length of that baritone.

I would maybe just not cut the string right away after you install it, since the post for the 4th string is about 2" closer to the nut than the 3rd string, and if you want to go back to DGBE without buying another string set, once you CUT the G string, it will NOT reach the tuner for the position as the 3rd string.

So, in the end, it should be PERFECTLY fine to relocate the G string from the 3rd position to the 4th position.
 
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Yes, this is what I meant. I'd be using the original G string as the low G from the DGBE set.
Sorry I misinterpreted what you were saying. I thought you were using the D string in the G position
I agree with the others that using the original G string should work find. Have fun and enjoy.
 
Just a quick update... replaced the high G with the low G from the original set. Sounds great. String tension seems a bit high and it's tough to push some of the strings down, especially for bar chords, but otherwise I'm quite happy.
 
Just a quick update... replaced the high G with the low G from the original set. Sounds great. String tension seems a bit high and it's tough to push some of the strings down, especially for bar chords, but otherwise I'm quite happy.

It might be worthwhile looking into lowering your action (or getting someone to do it for you). A reasonably well-matched set of strings should have little difference in overall tension from any other set, just the diameter changing to reflect the tuned pitch.

Did you not have a problem barring chords with the original strings?
 
It might be worthwhile looking into lowering your action (or getting someone to do it for you). A reasonably well-matched set of strings should have little difference in overall tension from any other set, just the diameter changing to reflect the tuned pitch.

Did you not have a problem barring chords with the original strings?

Honestly, those original strings were on for all of ten seconds. I have no idea... but the tension on these is much greater than on my soprano or tenor ukes.
 
Honestly, those original strings were on for all of ten seconds. I have no idea... but the tension on these is much greater than on my soprano or tenor ukes.
In general, string tensions will go up with scale length, so you shouldn't find this too surprising.
 
Using a G string for a G will not be any problem.

But I found that using dGBE, makes my Caramel Baritone CB-103 Zebrawood sound just right. I put on a set of Worth Baritone strings and use a Worth Brown Fat G string for a Tenor as a Hi d. That made the Big Zebra sound like a Uke rather than a baseless guitar. Actually you could just use a set of Worth Brown Fat Tenor Hi-g strings, they are the same size as the Baritone stings except for the 0.358 fourth in the Baritone set.

When I bought my Baritone I worried about having to learn new Chords, but soon realized that only the names change. When I first got the Big Z, I played it like my tenors and found it worked out just fine unless I was playing with some one in C. After a while I began to learn the Baritone names of the chord forms and am now playing my C Uke's in Baritone chords,except when I play with my Uke Buddy then I play regular. I made it a game to learn the names of each form for each instrument. Now I can say I'm bi-lingual in Uke! :)

I like G tuning so well I've switched my tenors over to dGBE, but haven't found a really good set of strings to regain the tension of a Tenor in C. Howevver it is kind of nice to play the soft finger friendly G tuning.
 
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