GCEA on a Baritone. Lovin' it!

kissing · May 1, 2011

Well I have a DGBE tuned steel-string tenor acoustic guitar along the way, and I always felt my Oscar Schmidt laminate baritone sounded a bit weak acoustically.

So I decided to try some Aquila gCEA strings (re-entrant) on it.
And wow, I love the sound. It went from a dull sounding baritone to an extra-rich sounding tenor. I'm now addicted to this sound, and I prefer it over my soprano and concert (which are solid-topped).

Anyone else discover the joy of a Uke-tuned baritone? It's great!
It sounds well balanced (as opposed to overly trebly. Not too much bass either, as the body is not a big baritone) and has great sustain.

Teek · May 1, 2011

Almost. I have the hubby's bari strung up with Worth Brown medium strings tuned up a step to E,A,C#,F#. It sounds great, no drone and all unwound strings. Very rich but with tons of sustain and sparkle.

This is a great alternate way to use a baritone IMO.

John Kavanagh always held that he considered the baritone as a long scale tenor.

Rockabilly · May 1, 2011

Yes I have a Kala baritone with a Aquilla GCEA strings. I was pleasantly surprised with the sound!

PhilUSAFRet · May 1, 2011

Anyone have the South Coast linears on a baritone? How are they?

rabbit · May 1, 2011

People, please keep this up.

I'm interested in learning what I can from your reentrant baritone experiences.

Thank you.

Link · May 1, 2011

I have always wanted to try this. Now I have to.

ukestang · May 1, 2011

Have a Oscar Schmidt baritone as well, not really impressed with either, beautiful instrument though. Been thinking about putting gCEA strings on also. Having played guitar for 45 years, the bari just isn't a uke, to me. Cool instrument, has its place, but if I want to play DGBE tuning. I'll just grab a guitar. Bought the bari for my guitar playing buddies to use cause they don't think they can play a uke, they don't care for it either. Think I'll put this on the list of uke things to do.

GVlog · May 1, 2011

My peeve with the Aquila baritone GCEA set is that the tension for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd strings feels too high. I have no issues with their tone or volume though. I used the re-entrant GCEA set and substituted the low-G string from an Aquila baritone DGBE set.

I have two sets of Southcoast all-unwound GCEAs standing by. These should have a more comfortable tension as the gauges are smaller.

Ron · May 2, 2011

I've got my Bushman bari tuned GCEA with a bit of a Frakenstein set but I love it. It sounds like a uke.

ichadwick · May 17, 2011

I got a Bean Sprout baritone from a UUer a while back, tuned that way. Hated it. Sounded plinky and thin. Strings were tight and inflexible. Hurt my fingers to play. Re-strung it re-entrant DGBE and it was much improved, with richer tones, more depth. Might just be the uke, of course, but I like the lower pitch of the bari for many songs. I keep tenors for when songs suit its tuning.

GCEA on a Baritone. Lovin' it!

kissing

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Teek

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Rockabilly

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PhilUSAFRet

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rabbit

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Link

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ukestang

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GVlog

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Ron

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ichadwick

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