High D on baritone?

LarryS

LarryS

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Ok so my bari is tuned DGBE, low D, but I think I prefer reentrant otherwise it just sounds like a small guitar. The thing is how widely available are low D sets? The other thing is I have 2 spare sets so I could use one of those for the high D. Would it be best to use the high e from one of the sets or the B?
 
I suppose it depends on whether you are a strummer or a picker. I really like mine to pick with, and I’m thinkin’ of gitten another, better one, I like to play Tenor guitar too. It’s the same tunin’, though mine is in 5ths now. I prefer the steel strings.

Maybe you need a tenor ukulele. I read somewhere that baritones should be low D and not high, but I guess nowdays everyone does whatever they think of.

Anyway, play your baritone however ya wanna — Cheers! :eek:ld:
 
I’ve never tried re-entrant on a bari, but if I did, I would use an E string and tune it to down to D rather than using a B and tuning up. The B might snap. Maybe someone here has experience tuning a baritone that way.
 
High D sets shouldn’t be hard to find. I prefer low D so I don’t have any reccos, but last time I was strung shopping I came across several high D sets from major brands.

There are string calculators available that will help find alternatives if you don’t want to use a canned set. My current low D is from a classical guitar set.
 
I have 2 baris, a Kala cedar top strung low D, & a Lani spruce top strung high D - if I remember right, Living Water do a high D set of fluorocarbons for bari.

(I used to pick tunes on the cedar top, & strum on the spruce top, when I got them, but don't play them much nowadays, preferring a tenor scale.)
 
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Simplest solution:

-High E string from any baritone ukulele set can be used as High D.
-B string (2nd) from any regular tension Classical Guitar set can be used as High D.
 
Uke Republic carries a Living Water "Baritone High D" set! I have used them, and was very satisfied; if I recall correctly, they were all unwound and thus felt very consistent. Benny Chong plays this way. Check it out...

https://youtu.be/e6y0mNVR03A
 
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PhD has high d baritone strings (as well as low G ones).

I have a Pono spruce top baritone tuned in regular low D (I don't have a problem with it sounding somewhat like a small guitar...the kind with four strings), and a Pono mahogany baritone tuned in high d. They sound quite different, due to both the spruce/acacia vs. mahogany and the different strings (as the spruce has wound strings for the D and G, and the mahogany has no wound strings).

I found this video – https://youtu.be/bRhz0QJu2xk – helpful, although again the wood (spruce/rosewood) is a factor.
 
Bill Sheehan said:
Uke Republic carries a Living Water "Baritone High D" set! I have used them, and was very satisfied; if I recall correctly, they were all unwound and thus felt very consistent. Benny Chong plays this way. Check it out...

https://youtu.be/e6y0mNVR03A
Click to expand...

I love Benny! Naively, I want to string my baritone like his now, as if that would make me 1% the player he is! :rolleyes:
(I do like nylon on baritones though so I might give it a go)
 
Glenn, you definitely struck a chord with me! After watching that very video (Benny) a couple of years ago, I went out and got myself a very inexpensive baritone uke, and strung it with a High D all-plain set. It was a lot of fun to play it in that re-entrant mode, but after a couple of weeks I realized that the soprano was calling out to me again, so I made disposition of the baritone; there's something about the soprano that just pulls me in! And I'm sure there's something about all of the other sizes that pulls other folks in. It's all good, as they say!
 
I've only played one soprano, my son's SpongeBob uke, and tho it has a good sound my fingers are quite cramped. D and E are really a struggle on it. I'm not sure if all sops are like that...
 
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