Anyone else think baritone ukuleles are evil?

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KenjiBeast

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Alright first off let me point out the fact that I am a passionate ukulele player, in addition to a devoted guitarist. For both of these instruments, I have undying respect and consistently find myself in awe of the elegance of their design.

That said, I have always lowered my eyebrows at the idea of the baritone ukulele. It destroys the defining aspect of the ukulele- re-entrant tuning, while disposing of the two bass strings of the guitar, a similarly heretical act. I've always been of the opinion that it is less a unified instrument unto itself, and more the crippled bastard offspring of guitar and uke, and is therefore beyond redemption, same as the satan-spawned six string banjo.

The reason I'm posting this is likely because I'm trying to convince myself I still don't want one, but I'm also curious if anyone views the baritone uke similarly. However, I do find myself tempted occasionally. :drool:
 
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Hi Kenji

I have a pretty big uke collection and must confess I've never been tempted by a baritone uke. I have a couple of tenors, and honestly, even they feel a little intimidating to me. Baritones just don't conform to what my idea of a ukulele is, either in size or sound. Too much like little guitars. give me a soprano or concert anyday.

But each to their own. Evil? Well, maybe not. You can still tune the baris GCEA. But they're kind of like the middle sibling who misses out...not the eldest, not the youngest and with a crisis of identity...am I a uke or am I a guitar? Aaaaaargh...thousands of dollars in therapy later...:)
 
Aloha Kenji,
I like my baritones and the richness they provide....you give me any uke and I'll enjoy it....are you kidding..don't put something down because you didn't try it...variety is the spice of life, man!! didn't you know that.....he he.. I'm an equal oppertunity ukulele enabler....lol try it, you'll like it... MM Stan..
 
I've always been of the opinion that it is less a unified instrument unto itself, and more the crippled bastard offspring of guitar and uke, and is therefore beyond redemption, same as the satan-spawned six string banjo.
Click to expand...

If I've learnt anything from Shakespeare, it's that we love bastards!


But in all seriousness, Baritones are special instruments in their own right.
They are a bit of a misfit, as well as an instrument of all seasons, at the same time.

I prefer baritone ukuleles now. In fact, they're my instrument of choice, more so than regular tuning ukes.
I *can* play guitar, but I much prefer baritone uke for its playability and 'light' sound.
A guitar can't quite sound like a baritone uke, and nor vice versa. It still has an identity in its own right that no other instrument can exactly produce.

And as any uke player would know - there is a special charm in playing a 4-stringed instrument rather than a 6-stringed one.
 
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KenjiBeast said:
It destroys the defining aspect of the ukulele- re-entrant tuning, while disposing of the two bass strings of the guitar, a similarly heretical act.
Click to expand...

Agreed.
And the evil thing is therefore not the Baritone ukulele but every ukulele with a non-reentrant tuning (castrated guitars)!

I'm very happy with my two Baritone ukuleles with reentrant tuning.
 
Since you are a passionate uke player and a devoted guitarist, I would think that playing the baritone (even low D) would be the natural progression to round out your musical experience in this family of instruments. It's your destiny... evil or not.
 
Love my bari.. with non wound Worth Brown medium tenor strings tuned up to linear tuning that works on this uke, E A C# F#. No DGBE for me, for that I will just pull out the guitars and mostly ignore the 6th string. I don't care about the key, I can't sing and don't play with anyone else.

John Kavanagh used to say something like "Think of it as a long scale tenor".
 
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You know you need one... you know you need one...

Aren't you really just faffing around trying to convince yourself otherwise. I was the same as you, resisted for 18 months, then one day in a spur of madness, I bought a cheap Kala Bari.

Beware its addictive....Now I hardly play anything else... my soprano is in its case for another month, my guitar is gathering dust in the corner, I restrung my tenor dGBE.
 
bought a really dirty Martin baritone for the purpose of cleaning it and selling at a profit. That worked out great.
Of course, while I had it, I played it.
While I could definitely feel the inner tension of thinking "what IS this thing - where are the bass strings - WHY does it exist?" -
I also really enjoyed the voicing and the size.
If it appeals, then have one.
 
Guess I should chime in as I play my baris the most. My first Bari was/is a Makala mahogany which i just sort of let lie around for a long time, then finally got really interested about a year ago and restrung it to GCEA and really fell in love with it. Then bought a tenor and really liked it. Then bought another Bari, Kala spruce top, and wow, that is my go to ukulele. As to its placement in the uke hierarchy, for me it is just a big tenor. Sounds almost identical to my Kala tenor in C tuning, just a fuller, bigger sound. For me The Bari is easier to fret and pick. I don't have particularly big hands, but for some reason they feel more comfortable on my Baris. It is almost like saying the concert is just a large soprano, and the tenor is just a large concert. All in your perspective, I guess. Buy one, You will like it!!! Lozark
 
Sometimes you just end up with in-between instruments, like alto-clarinet.

That's funny about tenor guitar. I didn't know there was such a thing until watching A Mighty Wind, and realizing he's not playing a baritone uke... but it has 4 strings... what is this thing?? :)

Bill1 said:
This is a typical statement from someone who will be buying a baritone ukulele in the near future. I predict a Kamaka or a custom made one for you.
Some articles on the history of the Baritone states that it was actually originally made to help young people learn guitar. The traditional model does not have re-entrant tuning, but it is not hard to set up a baritone with re-entrant tuning. Probably as soon as you realise this, it wont be long before you place an order. There is a shop attached to this bulletin board that sells baritone kamakas, why not just have a little surf there now?
An even more confusing thing is to look at the traditional tuning of a tenor guitar (which is based on a banjo?), and then then the size of a tenor guitar, and then try to work out why there is a tenor guitar and a baritone ukulele.
If you want even more to talk about, show us where it says that a ukulele must have re-entrant tuning.
Click to expand...
 
just got my Gibson baritone set up with southcoast linear[key of C] and It plays and sounds great, some of the chords are a stretch though. I haven't played it enough to decide if I like the low G sound . I tried it with a tenor and went back to g. Starting to play more melody and can see the advantage of having all those low notes. I also have a Gibson guitar [an LG-3] which has lots more bass notes, but it really doesn't sound as sweet as the bari, completely different tone ,it would with steel strings of course. I guess the Bari does fill a slot in the herd, but I usually play what's handy, and that's usually the Makala dolphin that is just laying around because it was so cheap.Anyway,I'll play around with it awhile and if I find I'm not playing it much I'll sell it.
 
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KenjiBeast said:
It destroys the defining aspect of the ukulele- re-entrant tuning...
Click to expand...
Why? I tune two of my baritones high-d. I think it makes for a lovely sound. It's still a uke, just a little bigger and deeper in pitch. I'm sure there were similar sentiments about the tenor at one time... I mostly play tenor, but for some songs, the lower reach of baritone (coupled with the very limited range of my voice) just works a bit better.

You COULD restring it CGEA, as some do, but I tried it found that a bit shrill, and the strings very tight and inflexible. Besides, it seems to me to be trying to deny the bari's inherent nature.
 
To me, it seems like the only "real" ukulele is the soprano. Everything else is just a toy guitar. For those of us who are really frustrated guitar players who can only handle four strings at a time, the concert, tenor, and (most of all) baritone ukes go a long way in contributing to our delusion that we are guitar players!
 
o me, it seems like the only "real" ukulele is the soprano. Everything else is just a toy guitar. For those of us who are really frustrated guitar players who can only handle four strings at a time, the concert, tenor, and (most of all) baritone ukes go a long way in contributing to our delusion that we are guitar players!
Click to expand...

...But the Bari is just so much more portable than a guitar. I looked at travel guitars before getting my Bari (Washburn Rover, Baby Taylor, Martin Backpacker) and although all were nice, the Washburn had a weak sound, the Martin cost too much, the Baby Taylor (although it sounded the best) was still too big. I settled on a Kala Bari which cost me half the price of the Rover, had money for a case, a couple of sets of strings, and beer money. It sounds great too.
 
Papa Tom said:
To me, it seems like the only "real" ukulele is the soprano. Everything else is just a toy guitar. For those of us who are really frustrated guitar players who can only handle four strings at a time, the concert, tenor, and (most of all) baritone ukes go a long way in contributing to our delusion that we are guitar players!
Click to expand...

I think you might be on to something Pop. I have had short affairs with a lot of different instruments over the years, and everyone keeps asking me (particularly my mother), "why don't you just learn the guitar dummy?" But guitar just didn't work for me. I like the idea of it, but in reality the damn thing is too big and clunky, and the strings HURT, and my hands aren't nimble enough to make the cool chords. Then I curled up around a ukulele and it just fit! I could play it all day and my fingers didn't bleed, and you can make all of these great sounds so much more easily, and it is such a happy instrument. You can be serious with it or not, it loves you either way. I have to part company with you though when you say that only the soprano is the real thing. I think of the other sizes as just being for different sized people or a different size sound. Small, medium, large, and extra large...you know?
 
i had a kala baritone strung with aquilla gcea strings. i really liked it alot...i gave it to a friend trying spread the ukulele love...i think i might get another cuz i liked it that much!
 
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