strings for bari tuned gcea 1 octave down?

bellgamin · Mar 30, 2018

I saw a youtube thing where a baritone uke was tuned an octave below linear gcea tuning. It sounded pretty good as a change-of-pace sound. I have an extra bari or 2 so I thought I would try out this octave tuning.

By the way ... I am not technically gifted but I *think* octave-low strings should be those which are high enough tension so they don't flop around. Right or wrong?

In any event, I will VERY much appreciate any string suggestions. &#55357;&#56839;

Croaky Keith · Mar 30, 2018

Guadelupe were the first to produce strings in this tuning, but I think there are others now
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...Review-Baritone-GCEA-Guadalupe-Custom-Strings

https://www.southernukulelestore.co...-baritone-ukulele-strings-custom-set-for-sus/
http://www.kenmiddleton.co.uk/living-water-strings/

I'm not sure if Aquila GCEA bari strings are low or not, but you could ask Mimmo, he makes them, & is often on this forum.

kypfer · Mar 30, 2018

bellgamin said:
I saw a youtube thing where a baritone uke was tuned an octave below linear gcea tuning. It sounded pretty good as a change-of-pace sound. I have an extra bari or 2 so I thought I would try out this octave tuning.

By the way ... I am not technically gifted but I *think* octave-low strings should be those which are high enough tension so they don't flop around. Right or wrong?

In any event, I will VERY much appreciate any string suggestions. ��

Your guess about "floppy" strings is correct ... also too tight is not a good thing!

My usual procedure for this sort of thing is to use one of the on-line string tension calculators to work out what the normal string tension is, for any given tuning and string length, then using the same calculator "in reverse" to best-guess the string diameter needed for different tuning at a similar tension.

At least this way I shouldn't rip the bridge off or bend the neck!

Good luck :music:

Futurethink · Mar 30, 2018

+1 for Guadalupe strings. I don't find them floppy, but I'm not a fan of strings which feel extremely tight. You apparently feel differently.

Do you have a Pono Baritone Nui, or a Tenor Guitar? Maybe using a longer scale length ukulele would improve your perception? Or is it the other way around?

I use my octave ukulele for finger picking, not for strumming.

bellgamin · Mar 30, 2018

Okay, I got on YouTube & listened to 4 videos of baris at octive gcea. I learned that a bari's body doesn't resonate well to that low of a sound, especially when strummed. So I shall file that idea under "R" for RubeGoldberg and seek other weird tunings to play around with.

Thanks for your comments. They helped me back to the reality of what a bari is built to do.

SailingUke · Mar 30, 2018

A long while back there was a thread about this tuning. I tried it and really like it while playing in a group, it added a nice low end. As a solo instrument it was to muddy to my ear.

Jim Hanks · Mar 31, 2018

Here's my fairly recent experiment with this: http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?131506-Sound-sample-Low-low-GCEA-Rogue-baritone

strings for bari tuned gcea 1 octave down?

bellgamin

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