Buying a baritone uke - advice needed

B

Brit in Prague

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I am a guitar player who would like to buy a baritone uke. Specifically, I'd like to play it when accompanying myself singing jazz standards (tricky chords, ya know).

Problem is, the very few baritones I have seen and tried in music shops seem to have very narrow fretboards (so the strings are close together) - as a result, my fingers are very bunched up.

My question is - what are the dimensions of the largest baritone uke I could hope to find? I'm primarily interested in finding one whose strings are about as far apart from each other as they would be on a normal classical/Spanish guitar; but ultimately, something around the size of a half-sized guitar would be ideal.

Dimensions in centimetres/millimetres would be ideal, but I can convert inches! As a guide, the largest "nut size" I have been able to find on the internet was something like 37 millimetres, which seems to small for me.

If possible, in addition to the above, I'd appreciate precise suggetions as to specific a make/brand of baritone.

I guess I would firstly want to try something cheap, and then if I get on with it, try to find something of better quality. So all suggestions welcome!
 
Aloha Brit in Prague,
I don't know the width of the Rogue baritone neck, but it's kinda wide for me and it's a very inexpensive ukulele...if youre not worried by looks, but it sounds decent....It's only $29.99 at Musician Friend
you can google it and get all the information.....I really like the deep rich sounds of it and its suprising for the cost....Good Luck...MM Stan... http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=Rogue+baritone+ukulele
click on it for information..
 
I'll second the Rogue. I also play guitar and the fingerboard is pretty similar in width. For thirty bucks, it's amazingly good and fun to play.
 
I don't have any exact dimensions for you but I play a full sized classical guitar and a baby Taylor acoustic. I own quite a few baritone ukes too... and all of them have a thinner neck than my guitars... 'cuz there are fewer strings. But the strings are spaced further apart on the uke. Playing the guitars is difficult for me because I have to be so precise with my fretting. The bari is much more forgiving in that respect. Some of the cheaper baritones like the Amigo and the Mahalo are a bit smaller than other baritones.

Of all the new baritones, the best is probably Mainland Ukes' solid cedar/rosewood bari.
 
Brit, I'm a long time guitar player who is slowly becoming a long time uke player. I experienced a similar problem at first. The end result is that ukulele's are not small guitars. I know you know this, but your fingers don't yet. If it is really giving you troubles, an alternative may be a tenor guitar. They are four string and can sound awesome as a solo instrument. However, they can be expensive.

The Rogue suggested is probably your most cost effective alternative. I have a Rogue acoustic that I picked up from MF a few years ago. For a cheap instrument they are surprisingly high quality. You won't get the sweet tones you would out of an Alvarez or a Martin, but you still get something good. I haven't played the Rogue baritone uke yet, but if it is anything like my acoustic, then it is probably a $100 uke costs $30.

~DB
 
I would look into the Oscar Schmidt Baritones and specifically the OU55CE. Widest fretboards I've seen on a Bari Uke. The OU55CE is also a very nice ukulele but costs more than the others in the line.

Mike
 
mm stan said:
Hey BrewerPaul,
Wasn't that an awesome deal, did you ever try my tunings...MM Stan..
Click to expand...

Only briefly, but thanks. I really don't want to learn any more tunings now: between mandolin, guitar and uke(s) I have more than enough fingerings clogging my aging brain...
 
I'm just a beginner at uke but I've been playing guitar for a while, I just got a rouge baritone and I love the thing it does seem like I need to tune it constantly tho.
 
Aloha Warewolf2020,
Like in all new ukuleles You need to break in the strings and strech them out..it will take time, if you play it more that faster the process..
With my Two with different strings...I haven't tuned them in weeks at a time when the strings settle in....You can quicken the process by
tuning it and bending the individual strings one at a time from side to side 3-4 times and retune and do that process 3-4 again daily until
your strings have streched and stablized.....If you want a lower tuning whichn makes your ukulele more rich and deep sounds PM me....MM Stan
Good Luck and Let me Know...."Keep strumming them strings"
 
Does anyone know of a source for the Rogue baritone in Europe?

Jens
 
We have two instruments that work nicely in the linear (low 4th) key of G "Chicago" or Baritone Uke tuning. They'll sound much better in that tuning than standard baritone ukuleles.

Not only do they have good width at the nut, (better than 3-8) but the scales are 23" - longer than a Baritone 20". That gives you more room lengthwise as well as good width.

They are our Cuatro (or "Super Baritone") and our Tenor Guitar (made for classical - not metal strings). Find info on both from this page:

http://www.southcoastukes.com/index_files/instruments.htm

In regard to the earlier suggestion about the Tenor Guitar, I'll add two things. First, unlike ours, they're made for and sound best with steel strings. Second, the common practice is to make them with nut widths narrower than common with the Baritone Uke. The longer scale was actually difficult for folks with smaller fingers (and there were a lot of open chords and barring back when they were most popular), and so the nut width was narrow to compensate.

Ours combine the wide neck and the long scale - you end up with the "roomiest" combination available in a 4-string.


Only problem - not cheap, but something to keep in mind if you decide one day that this is the the type of instrument that really suits you.
 
jop said:
Does anyone know of a source for the Rogue baritone in Europe?

Jens
Click to expand...

Aloha Jop,
Rogue ukuleles are just Musician's friend line....also their affiliated company Music 123
They have a toll free number..800 776-5173 or order through their website...
musiciansfriend.com tele is 24 hours Good Luck!! MM Stan..:):)
or write them..931 Chevy Way Medford, Or 97504-4127
 
I found the Ohana had a wider neck than most of the baritone ukes I've tried. It's wider than my Pono. Vintage ukes like old Harmony and Lyra ukes seem to have a little wider neck, too.
 
I had the same problem with a 1/2 size guitar. I bought the Hohner 1/2 size guitar nylon strings) from Musican's Friend for $40, to have something small and cheap to carry around, but it is clearly made for a child, with a much narrower neck. (Considering the probable cost and hassle of shipping it back, for a $40 instrument, I will probably keep it, perhaps tune it a fourth higher into a requinto, but the neck will still be too small.) (It also sounds real bad with the strings that came with it (One would think that Hohner would do better than that!), but I think that new strings will improve its sound, and tuning it higher still more. Yet, the neck is still too narrow.)

However, I wouldn't think that the baritone uke would have the same problem. For one thing, it is not made for children. Besides that though, a uke neck does not need to be as wide as a guitar neck, because there are only 4 strings instead of 6. The neck could be 1/3 narrower than a guitar neck, and be just as roomy. (I don't have a baritone uke yet though, but am awaiting the Rogue I ordered.)
 
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Brewerpaul said:
I'll second the Rogue. I also play guitar and the fingerboard is pretty similar in width. For thirty bucks, it's amazingly good and fun to play.
Click to expand...

I just got one, and yes, the fingerboard is pretty similar in width to a full-size guitar. However, with only four strings, that makes the string spacing MUCH WIDER than that of a guitar. (The OP asked for similar string spacing to a guitar, not similar width fretboard, which with fewer strings, makes for much wider string spacing.)

I find the extra-wide string spacing makes chords difficult. (The very heavy strings that came on the uke don't help with that either.)
 
I just got myself TWO Rogue baritones, and I must say that the string spacing is rather generous. At the nut there is about 13 mm between strings (one or two mm more than a classical guitar) and at the saddle there is a whopping 19 mm. Almost enough to drop your hand between when strumming :eek:). One of the Rogues is going to be converted into a 'ukulele-bass, so the extra width is actually welcome. I was worried that it wouldn't be wide enough. No problems here! The other 'uke is going to stay in its baritone state, so I think minor surgery will be needed in order to make it more playable. I much prefer the surgery to be performed on the 'uke, rather than me, so a new nut and a set of new holes in the bridge is probably needed.
Generally I think they're great value for the money. Intonation is ok, -action a bit high. The finish is rather rough but consistent; both nuts seem to be finished with a brick or an angle grinder:eek:). The sound is rather 'muffled' but better strings are in the mail and will hopefully help a bit.
 
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New Martin strings arrived in the mail today. They certainly make a difference; being thinner than the original stings they call for less tension, which makes chording much easier. The sound is brighter. Even though my fingers have gotten a bit used to the generous string spacing, I still think I'll have to move the strings a bit closer together.
 
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