Low G Not for me.

Uncle Leroy

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I have been playing the uke for about 4 months now. I came over after 30 years or so on the guitar. At first the hi g string threw me off a bit. But when I play my concert uke I love the original "UKE Sound". Then I bought a Tenor with the low g setup and honestly, I just can't hear the ringing, jangly uke sound I am used to. SO, tonight I put a hi g set on my Pono Tenor and am loving it. Am I missing something without having one of my ukes strung low G?
 
Both. It depends on what you are playing and strumming/picking. I have two Baris strung high/low and two tenors strung high/low. Sometimes in picking melody lines and fill in notes I like the low G, but also sometimes some songs and some picking just works best with high G. It really is a matter of personal preference and what sounds good to you. Lozark
 
Yeah I have the same thing. Low G sounds weird to me. It doesn't sound weird when other people play it, but it sounds weird in my hands.
 
I tend to like High G lately myself and also have been playing mostly sopranos. My Tenor is low G. I guess it just depends. To me the Low G would be best on a baritone lol. I am curious Lozark how do you tune the Baritones?
 
When I first tuned one of my ukes low G I didn't like it. But I stuck with it and after a while it started to grow on me, especially when I found some low G strings I really liked (Worth LGCHHD). Now 1/3 of my ukes are tuned low G and I probably reach for a low G 75% of the time.
 
To me the uke sound is with the reentrant tuning. While I understand why some like low G, to my ears it makes it sound more like a guitar, especially on the larger ukes. It loses the unique quality of those tight chords.
 
When I first tuned one of my ukes low G I didn't like it. But I stuck with it and after a while it started to grow on me, especially when I found some low G strings I really liked (Worth LGCHHD). Now 1/3 of my ukes are tuned low G and I probably reach for a low G 75% of the time.

Ditto. I tried low g and could never stick with it. There was a song I was determined to learn that was for a low g uke (Herb Ohta Jr. and Brittni Paiva's versions of "Europa") so I kept trying. I finally put on some Fremont Blacklines and was content enough to stay low g, but when I tried these strings (the same Worth LGCHHD that dkcrown likes) there was no going back. I have succumbed to the dark side for good. It is now low g for me all the way.

I still keep my other ukes high g for when I want that sound on occasion, but I play my low g one 99% of the time.
 
Yeah I have the same thing. Low G sounds weird to me. It doesn't sound weird when other people play it, but it sounds weird in my hands.

+1. Too much like the guitars I played for 40 years! :) A uke sounds right with that high g, IMHO. But I've heard some great things out of low g ukes, so that's what makes horse racing.
 
Low g is better for peolpe who want more range. But i do enjoy the traditional sound of the high g more.
 
I use both and find they each have their place for
different songs and different 'feel'.Just a matter of
choice of course...
 
There's an old story about James Dean replying to a question about his sexuality along the lines of "I don't want to go through life with one hand tied behind my back".

So for me I have one tenor high g and one low, and a low g baritone, which is really tuned low F. The rest are all reentrant. I don't feel I have choose just one tuning. I like the higher guitar sound, and I like the low 4th for when I'm attempting something bluesy.

PS: Same reason we have fully suspended mountain bikes, cheap beach cruisers, and an electric bike in the garage! We fit the bike to the purpose.
 
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I prefer reentrant tuning most of the time. The exceptions are if I want to do some picking and want the extended range and, more commonly recently, if I want to do something with a "country" flavor - alternating bass just doesn't work for me with reentrant tuning! Instead of thump-strum, thump-strum upi get thump-strum, tinkle-strum... LOL

John
 
I did not like low g at all when I first tried it. I've tried several types of strings on several tenors. Love the Fremont Black Lines on my Kala travel tenor. It is my low g uke. I have a set of wound low g soprano Aquilas, but have never put them on anything yet. Dreams of Ohta-San arrangements. Someday, maybe. I could not do without re-entrant tuning, but I have a growing library of low g pieces that I love playing. As a matter of fact it's my traveling companion lately. I'm working on some Mark Nelson slack key ukulele pieces for a recording. Probably take the flea along today too. Can't be locked into just low g.
Regards,
Ray
 
Well, maybe I should be more adventurous. I do have lots of ukes, I could easily string a low G on one. I can buy just a low G string, right? I've only ever played a low g on a friend's concert. It works with soprano, yes?
 
Thanks All, I thought I was some kinda freak cuz I didn't like it. Thanks for putting my fears to rest.
 
I tried low G on my KoAloha tenor before I sold it...wasn't a fan.
 
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