tuning a tenor DGBE like a baritone

Huna

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I found a way to make the Tenor ukulele have tight strings tuning it DGBE. From the Aquila gCEA set, use the C and E for strings 2 and 1 and use A and D from a concert guitar set for strings 4 and 3. Works pretty good! Makes your tenor baritone tuned.
 
yah I just hate buying strings for eight bucks with eight bucks shipping lol... but I might sometime if I ever get a big order to Elderly
 
the combination youre using would surely feel different from the aquila dgbe set. The set has some really chubby strings, feels like playing a bass
 
Mele is selling Hilos on ebay with free shipping. They are trying to get their ebay numbers up.
 
But WHY?!?
Now it's just a little guitar.............................
 
On the contrary, you get the benefits of guitar (more bass notes) with the benefits of uke (smaller size, ukey sound, epicness).
 
well I have no shortage of ukes so ... actually getting a Makai Spruce Tenor and a Tenor Fluke in the mail this week so I can have a little guitar too can't I? with my Makala that is... IDK am playing around with it. I do like lower tone for some stuff... The Makala has a deep body and those wound strings on it really sound nice. I am tempted to put all wound on it or at least three. Maybe should bite the bullet for a baritone. But even on a Baritone I think it would make sense, given the slackness of baritone strings, to maybe use a set of Pro Arte Daddario guitar strings and just use the top four strings? if the highest pitch string is pure nylon then I would opt for an aquila on that string or a fluorocarbon, but fatter for the volume.
 
But WHY?!?
Now it's just a little guitar.............................

Aquilas DGBE strings are rentrant tuning (high D). Sounds like a uke, but a little lower voice. Compliments other ukes well and gives you the ability to play in different keys with finger shapes you already know from GCEA.
 
Aquilas DGBE strings are rentrant tuning (high D). Sounds like a uke, but a little lower voice. Compliments other ukes well and gives you the ability to play in different keys with finger shapes you already know from GCEA.

This was the original Tenor tuning. For at least a couple of decades, everyone played them this way. There are a few old timers who never have changed to C tuning.

Aquila may be the only company left that still makes these "original" Tenor Ukulele strings.
 
Edit here's the link Okay I have explored this a lot and currently do this with great success. Get some worth cbs clear baritone strings use the e string as the 1st and 4th string then use the g and the b in the correct place. I have a youtube vid showing this ill find the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYCqBcmMPAY
 
Thanks for the link, rae. Did you feel it necessary to tune up 1/2 step? Or personal preference?
 
This is a beautiful tuning you guys are talking about here. For sheet music you can use anything with guitar diagrams or chord notation, but still have a deep, rich, ukulele sound.

If you are serious about playing this way, what you should get is an instrument about the size of a Tenor, but with a deeper body. The standard Tenor body is just a bit too cramped for this deep range of notes. It's why so many dropped this tuning and migrated to key of C.

The other thing that would be ideal is to have a longer scale. With a longer scale you wouldn't need a wound 3rd string like the Aquilas. You could you use something like the arrangement rae worked out, but with better tension, and therefore better performance.

Since this is much more of a normal tension, true ukulele tuning, the final touch would be to move away from the heavy construction of modern Big Ukes and have an instrument that was built lightly - like an ukulele, and not a little guitar.

But who makes something like that? How about Southcoast!

Our new standard models have finally started to come up. They're into finishing now and pictures will start going up shortly. In the meantime, the page has the old pictures, but the info is current. The sound samples at the bottom include this tuning - click on the high re-entrant G (strung with our Heavy Gauge Ukulele strings).

http://www.southcoastukes.com/index_files/inters.htm
 
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my Makala MK-T has a deep body. Its a full three inches. I am not using re-entrant for this idea but low D G B E just like a baritone. The Makala is a pretty light ukulele. Probably lighter than a regular Kala for sure as its a thin laminate.
 
Huna, Ukulele players are famous (notorious?) for some of the things they do with tunings. I have stretched the limits myself, and it can be challenging and fun.

To get normal tension for this tuning, however, your 3rd string will be the equivalent of a guitar 4th. This is what Aquila has on their high re-entrant set. That means that your 4th will be around the neighborhood of a guitar 5th.

While Tenors are somewhat heavily built, this is an awful lot of string, even for a Tenor. No reason not to give it a whirl, but for the safety of your instrument, loosen the tension when you're not playing.
 
Aquila makes a set of DGBE strings for tenor, also an option.

Could you post a link to these strings please!? Or tell me what they are called im just starting out and im getting confused with which strings are suitable for DGBE tuning.
 
This was the original Tenor tuning. For at least a couple of decades, everyone played them this way. There are a few old timers who never have changed to C tuning.

Aquila may be the only company left that still makes these "original" Tenor Ukulele strings.

Wow, Dirk, I didn't know that...
 
If you are serious about playing this way, what you should get is an instrument about the size of a Tenor, but with a deeper body. The standard Tenor body is just a bit too cramped for this deep range of notes. It's why so many dropped this tuning and migrated to key of C.
I've had my Fluke tenor tuned dGBE for a while and I agree, it just doesn't sing the way it did before. The lower notes don't ring as nicely and they seem to clatter up against each other. Another option is a baritone uke, although what I love above all is a bari in CGDA, like a tenor guitar.
 
Hi
I didn't like the slackness of DGBE bari strings that I tried on my Martin Baitone and posed a question on UU
about tension issues. A member suggested I try Savarez Alliance High Tension classical guitar strings, so I ordered
a set. They have turned out just perfect for me. A nice tension with a full sound. The D string is wound and the others
are flurocarbon. If you order from strings by mail you can order the D string and the 3 treble strings separately therefore
saving some bucks on the need to buy a 6 string set.
Works for me!
cheers
Gary
 
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