temporus
Member
Because I own a mandolin, and because I don't play it so much as I should, I was curious if it's feasible to re-tune it as a Uke, with a Low G tuning, not re-entrant. Just curious. I don't want to damage the mandolin.
I don't know why you would...a mandolin is not played the same as a uke and it's strung pretty tight with a violin tuning. Generally, as I understand it, it's plucked or plucked tremolo style. The tuning is set up to facilitate scales and tunes. If you tune it higher, you could stress the neck. If you dislike it (and I sure don't like them) you could trade it for a ukulele. Mandolins are not cheap.
I don't understand the resistance to the idea. A mandolin has a very unique sound, very different than that of an 8 string uke. And I don't suppose one would do this to mimic the techniques of the uke but rather obtain the sound of the mandolin while retaining the familiar chords and scales of the uke.
Get an 8 string ukulele instead.
Lots of threads here about this topic in the past. I've tried it, and for me it didn't work. The standard mandolin's neck is much narrower than a ukulele's neck, which makes some basic ukulele chords really hard to play. The electric Mandobird may have a slightly wider neck.
- FiL