Down one uke, and baritone-less...

Griffis

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Nomadis. Quo vadis?
Well, down to two sopranos and a concert.

I do really enjoy the baritone and have owned a few over the years including a Martin given to me by my uncle (it was destroyed in a flood) and a couple of old Harmonys.

I had this Woods brand uke given to me by a friend last year. No longer in production but just a decent, runofthemill mass-produced Asian cheapie. Decent, lightweight uke.

I was hoping my wife might bond with it and we'd take up playing duets again. We used to play guitar-mandolin duets. I no longer can play mando and her guitar was killed by that same flood.

She really misses guitar. Today we stumbled onto one cheap at a pawn shop and after discussing it with the friend who gifted me with the baritone, we traded that uke towards the guitar.

My wife is ecstatic, as am I. I've been re-learning our old pieces on uke and the sound we make IS more rich and full than it was with the baritone-soprano uke setup.

I imagine this isn't the end for me with baritones though. They've always been my second favorite size after sopranos and I really enjoy them as their own instrument and in contrast to sopranos.

I will say my hands are bad off enough that the bari is a bit hard on them, scale-wise, but I will likely end up using this to score another old Harmony baritone down the road.
 
I will say my hands are bad off enough that the bari is a bit hard on them, scale-wise, but I will likely end up using this to score another old Harmony baritone down the road.
I prefer the vintage 19" scale to the modern 20+" scale for that reason. There are a few new 19" options like Bruko and "super tenors". If that is still too much, you can get some of the baritone sound with reentrant dGBE strings on tenor scale.
 
I prefer the vintage 19" scale to the modern 20+" scale for that reason. There are a few new 19" options like Bruko and "super tenors". If that is still too much, you can get some of the baritone sound with reentrant dGBE strings on tenor scale.

Jim, that never occurred to me! Didn't measure the scale of the bari I just traded off, but I bet you're right. I thought it was harder to play than the older Harmonys and Martin I used to have due to my hands degenerating.

By the way--that custom Covered Bridge pinapple you just landed looks outstanding. Congrats!
 
Sacrificing a baritone to make your wife happy - a good trade-off.
 
I have no doubt you two will make beautiful music together.
 
Jim, that never occurred to me! Didn't measure the scale of the bari I just traded off, but I bet you're right. I thought it was harder to play than the older Harmonys and Martin I used to have due to my hands degenerating.!

Hora, a Romanian manufacturer, make a 18"-something scale baritone. Solid wood and inexpensive.
 
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