First ukulele BUT I am coming with musical experience.

I play the piano,guitar,clarinet,mandolin (definitely not well though),banjo, and bodhran (if there is somebody out there who is a traditional Irish musi[SUB][/SUB]cian,you willl either love or hate me for the bodhran,i know). So, I would like to purchase my first ukulele and I have 2questions.

1.is it possible to tune a concert ukulele to GDAE ?
2.what ukulele would you recommend since I already understand music theory and can read music?

rogueang said:

I play the piano,guitar,clarinet,mandolin (definitely not well though),banjo, and bodhran (if there is somebody out there who is a traditional Irish musi[SUB][/SUB]cian,you willl either love or hate me for the bodhran,i know). So, I would like to purchase my first ukulele and I have 2questions.

1.is it possible to tune a concert ukulele to GDAE ?
2.what ukulele would you recommend since I already understand music theory and can read music?

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Aloha and e komo mai to UU!

It certainly sounds as if you're well versed in music, so you ought to have very little problem getting used to the 'ukulele.

As far as your questions, I'm sure others here will be happy to chime in with much more informed answers, but here are my shots:

1. You could probably tune to GDAE if you like. I suppose you could just swap the A and E strings and up-tune the C a bit, though why would you want to? Not passing judgment, you understand, just curious.

2. The answers for what uke to get will all start with "What is your budget?" However, in broad terms, here are my very ignorant suggestions:

Get a solid wood uke over a laminate one if possible. Respected makers in the lower prices (up to, say $375) include Mainland, Koa Pili Koko, Islander, and Pono. After that comes makers like aNueNue, Big Island, Kelii, Mele, and LoPrinzi. Some of these are made in Asia and finished in the US, while others are domestically made. At the upper end are the handcrafted in Hawai'i makers like Kamaka, G String, Valley Made, Kanile'a, Ko'olau, I'iwi, and KoAloha.

You can also go custom-made, with a ton of very respected makers like DeVine, Moore Bettah, Pete Howlett, Pohaku, Black Bear, and others I can't remember off the top of my head.

There are also some very high-quality laminates available, such as Islander and Pono, which sound as good (if not better) than a lot of the lower-half solids.

Anyway, as I said, I am sure others will come here and be able to offer far more advice.

Welcome to UU!

rogueang said:

1.is it possible to tune a concert ukulele to GDAE ?

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Like PoiDog says, I'm pretty sure it's doable with the right strings. In fact, Aquila actually makes a GDAE set for soprano.

But if you're looking at mando tuning because you're already familiar with it, consider this... the uke tuning is relative to a guitar capo'd at the fifth fret. So if you play guitar, the uke's GCEA shouldn't really be a hurdle for you. The chord shapes are just different. For example, a D chord on a guitar is G on a uke, G is a C, etc.

And don't forget Kala, which makes solid wood instruments in the upper-low and medium price ranges.

Another thing to keep in mind is to try and play any model of ukulele you are considering, before you buy it. Of my 12 ukes, one was a gift, I won one, bought two used (one 30+ years ago as wall art), and the rest I purchased new.Three of the four new ones that I bought without playing first are the three that I play the least; the fourth was a New Kala Cedar Top I purchased from MusicGuyMic, based on my budget and his recommendation. That one is wonderful, and gets played.

If you buy used, you can save a boatload of money - just make sure that you trust the seller implicitly, can play it first, OR have the ability to either return it for a full refund, or have it repaired to your satisfaction.

I've found that bringing someone else with you to listen to the uke while you play helps immensely, as well. And when you are playing a bunch to test them out, play the same piece s of music, at the same tempos, and use the same styles - I recommend a combination of finger picking and strumming, so you can compare the two. Some instruments are great at both, some not as good in one or the other technique.

Try the three basic sizes: Soprano, Concert, Tenor. (Also Baritone, if you find a good one.) See what is right for you. The answer may be "All of them", or "I really hate [insert word here] size..."


Good luck, and welcome to the addiction!

As a kid, I moved from a soprano uke to a baritone to a guitar and hardly notice the chord differences. I just picked up a soprano after years of not playing, the chords came right back. If you want guitar tuning, a baritone is just like a guitar minus the bottom two strings. I suggest you get at least the first uke from a dealer that sets them up. The prices after you consider better strings (at least $10) are really not that far off unless you are going laminate and very inexpensive. If you have a budget of about $250-300 there is a lot to choose from even in solid wood.

Ya,it was to keep it at the mandolin tuning. I had forgotten about the relationship between guitar and ukulele chords,so thanks! And I was thinking about the Oscar Schmidt ukulele's, just because I know the Washburn name. I will definitely check out all of these suggestions!

rogueang said:

I play the piano,guitar,clarinet,mandolin (definitely not well though),banjo, and bodhran (if there is somebody out there who is a traditional Irish musi[SUB][/SUB]cian,you willl either love or hate me for the bodhran,i know). So, I would like to purchase my first ukulele and I have 2questions.

1.is it possible to tune a concert ukulele to GDAE ?
2.what ukulele would you recommend since I already understand music theory and can read music?

Click to expand...

I'm not Irish and I have a bodhran! I don't really have anyone to play it with. I enjoy it from time to time.

rogueang said:

and bodhran (if there is somebody out there who is a traditional Irish musi[SUB][/SUB]cian,you willl either love or hate me for the bodhran,i know).

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I play ITM on piano accordion, so I know what it's like to be a potential session pariah.

JJ

Highly recommend the Mikes at Uke Republic (Ohanas are great!) and Mainland for a good setup and a good uke.

My suggestion would be to spend $50 to $100 on a cheap instrument to see if you like it at all.

1. It is possible. I've done exactly this thing. My ukulele with 360mm string measure works fine in mandoling tuning with following set^
E - nylon fishing line 0.4mm
A - nylon fishing line 0.6mm
D - 2d sting from mandolin set
G - 3d string from mandolin set.

But concert uku has 380mm string measure so you have to calculate tension and diameter using this calculator:
http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/u/wikla/mus/Calcs/wwwscalc.html

Spending just $50-$100 on a uke, since you are already a musician with other instruments, seems like a waste. If you don't get one that you like the sound of you might not like the uke, especially because you probably have more of a trained ear. So, I'd spend a bit more and get something nice. I'm a guitar player and bought a Kala all solid mahogany uke for a very reasonable price.

Hope4U said:

Spending just $50-$100 on a uke, since you are already a musician with other instruments, seems like a waste. If you don't get one that you like the sound of you might not like the uke, especially because you probably have more of a trained ear. So, I'd spend a bit more and get something nice. I'm a guitar player and bought a Kala all solid mahogany uke for a very reasonable price.

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I had musical experience when I started playing the uke. I played mostly wind instruments, though - recorders, flute, harmonica and concertina. However, my previous experiences at string instruments had not been exactly successful, though the tutor at a summer school when I did a try a lute session reckoned we did OK. However I did not want to spend a lot of money only to find that I wasn't going to get on any better with uke so I bought a cheapy initially. However, I took to it and fairly quickly bought a much better instrument. I also quickly got frustrated with the poor intonation of the cheapy so I got rid of it to a charity shop.

It's not straightforward to decide what do for the best when starting with a new instrument. I've generally gone for cheapos till I decided whether or not I was going to take to an instrument, then gone out and bought a decent one if I was enjoying playing it. I know some say start with a decent one as you are less likely to give up - true but if you really don't take to an instrument then it's a lot of money spent. OK with a decent instrument you can usually get most of it back if you sell on, but with tight budgets it's not always easy. OTOH, if you do get on with an instrument, money spent on a good quality one is never wasted.