Tenor gcea tuning arrangements?

br8080 · Aug 6, 2008

i noticed the thread regarding low G got some strong opinions on both sides of the issue...reading the comments made me curious about other gcea tuning arrangements used for a tenor.

probably there are several gcea tuning options people use and each provides a unique/distinctive sound.....and not necessarily a sound associated with a uke, but a good sound nonetheless.

i'm curious, what other gcea tuning arrangements are used and for what style of music or play?

for example, do people tune a gcea tuned tenor an octave lower on all strings?

bruce

Kanaka916 · Aug 6, 2008

I know a few who tune down to F# and then use a capo to play with regular tuned ukes. It has to do with vocals - allowing one to reach a certain range without straining and using the normal chord fingerings. Does that make any sense?

br8080 · Aug 6, 2008

i understand, and it makes sense to tune to the singing voices, if possible......

bruce

JoeyJr858 · Aug 7, 2008

i never thought about going an octave lower, but if you ever check out a tahitian banjo... the C and E string are 1 octave higher...

I really dig it! check out some Jamoa Jam songs! Good stuff!

TokyoUketarist · Aug 7, 2008

Guitar players do it all the time. I tune some of my guitars down from E to B.
You just have to use thicker gauge strings so they don't get all floppy becuse of the low tension.

Just like a low G has to be thicker than a high G all the strings would have to be thicker.:rock:

Try it and let us know how it goes!

salukulady · Aug 7, 2008

My two Tenors have low Gcea strings on them. In fact my two Baritones, one of my two Concerts and one of my four Sopranos have low Gcea strings. It works and I like it. I'm a newbie and I did it before I knew there was anything wrong with it. Yes, even my two Baritones are tuned Gcea.

br8080 · Aug 7, 2008

is there a formula or ratio that is used to determine what the new string diameter should be for a lower or higher tuning of an existing string?....or is it critical?

i know many of the string manufacturers offer 'lowG' or other such strings, but if a person wanted to experiment with other string tunings, either an octave higher or lower than standard, and those aren't identified by string manufacturers like the lowG is, how would you know the diameter needed?

bruce

SuperSecretJohn · Aug 7, 2008

Going an octave lower on all strings seems impactical, but if you really wanted, I guess you'd have to look for ever-so-slightly larger diameter WOUND strings... unless you want to make the nut grooves significantly larger forever ruining your chances of going back to standard. They make bass ukes though.

TokyoUketarist · Aug 19, 2008

There is no real special criteria for choosing low tune strings although they definitly need to be thicker. But I don't think they make any for the uke so, I would say use classical guitar strings. You should try to use the low EADG strings or maybe the ADGB ones for the uke's gcea. Tuning lower should give you less tension on the neck so it shouldn't hurt your uke. But tuning higher is not recommended because it will create extra tension on your neck. It's just wood so be careful. Steel string guitars have a truss rod to support the extra tension so you can be more liberal with tunings.

Howlin Hobbit · Aug 19, 2008

TokyoUketarist said:
But tuning higher is not recommended because it will create extra tension on your neck. It's just wood so be careful.

Most are just wood. Dave Means at Glyph uses a strip carbon fiber material as a neck stiffener. The neck is not going to warp. Though you could sure still tune up so high that you pulled the neck or bridge loose.

SamWise · Sep 19, 2008

It's very unlikely that tuning down a whole octave will fly. You'll get uber-floppy strings. Imagine trying to tune a regular guitar to bass tuning....

TokyoUketarist · Sep 20, 2008

Howlin Hobbit said:
Most are just wood. Dave Means at Glyph uses a strip carbon fiber material as a neck stiffener. The neck is not going to warp. Though you could sure still tune up so high that you pulled the neck or bridge loose.

There are alot of makers out there so if it has a bolt on neck and not just glued on and maybe graphite like HH says or metal like a truss rod then it would be safe to tune up high. On guitars it is usually done with metal strings so maybe if you had a solid bodied uke it would be more sturdy for what you want.

In other words you need a strong neck attached to the body with more than just glue. Got it?

Tenor gcea tuning arrangements?

br8080

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