TaiChiTom
Active member
Does anyone play a baritone with low gCEA tuning? I am curious about the fuller tone of a baritone without having to transpose or learn a new set of chords.
Tom
Tom
Baritone with gCEA tuning
- Thread starter TaiChiTom
- Start date
NukeDOC
Retired Mod
guting does
unlucky07
Well-known member
I currently have a baritone with Low G CEA tuning. I have to admit that it took me awhile to get used to it but it just has a nice rich sound that is perfect for my strumming style. I don't think i'm ever changing them back.
Dino
Well-known member
You are in the same position that I was in. I was very curious about that so I ended up buying a baritone and stringing it like a tenor. It was okay. There is a little difference, but not like oh baby oh wow kind of a difference. I would say just go ahead and try it. I actually ended up selling the baritone as it was and buying an 8-string Lanikai from MGM. Now thats some full rich sound with an 8-string.
k0konutz
Well-known member
I've been thinking about getting a bari and stringing it with high G because I simply want the tone of the baritone, without having to learn new chords. Also, most of my arrangements utilize that high G string in melody lines.
What strings are available that compare to the J71's? I have a shop nearby where I can buy individual pro-arte strings, but I don't know where to go from there.
Sorry to hijack the thread, I just didn't feel like it was worth bringing up in a new thread.
What strings are available that compare to the J71's? I have a shop nearby where I can buy individual pro-arte strings, but I don't know where to go from there.
Sorry to hijack the thread, I just didn't feel like it was worth bringing up in a new thread.
freedive135
Well-known member
K0konutz
at the D'Addario website it tells you which strings are in the J71 set
http://www.daddario.com/DADProdDetail.aspx?CodaID=7497&ID=5&Class=AZ
The Ukulele Underground store sells the j71 set cheeper than the store I shop does(I know where I am getting my next set).
Aquila sells a nonwound Tenor set too, not sure how they compare I haven't strung them yet.
Aquila also has a High G set for Baritone.
at the D'Addario website it tells you which strings are in the J71 set
http://www.daddario.com/DADProdDetail.aspx?CodaID=7497&ID=5&Class=AZ
The Ukulele Underground store sells the j71 set cheeper than the store I shop does(I know where I am getting my next set).
Aquila sells a nonwound Tenor set too, not sure how they compare I haven't strung them yet.
Aquila also has a High G set for Baritone.
k0konutz
Well-known member
Will the J71's be suitable for a baritone also? That was my main concern. The store I mentioned sells the J71's and I use them on my tenors, but I don't know enough about tensions and all that to know if there'd be problems with putting them on a baritone if I wanted to string it with high G.
Hobgoblin Steve
Well-known member
Actually, I was wondering this as well. I just bought a Kala from MGM, and it will be tuned to dgbe, but in the event that I dont like it, I was planning on doing a gcea tuning.
If I'm not mistaking, I think that the tension is too high for a baritone to be strung with a GCEA tuning. Unless the neck is re-enforced, I think the neck will bow after awhile. I could be wrong though. I also had a bari strung GCEA, but I didn't like the tightness of the strings. I found that a tenor with low-G had a better sound.
Noob worried that dgbe...
...will stunt my uke growth/progress. Anyone out there that was helped by a bari w/ dgbe, or hurt by it? I'm 6 weeks in with zero music background..and considering re-stringing w/ bari gcea aquilas until i get decent
.thanks
...will stunt my uke growth/progress. Anyone out there that was helped by a bari w/ dgbe, or hurt by it? I'm 6 weeks in with zero music background..and considering re-stringing w/ bari gcea aquilas until i get decent
.thanks
Ukulele Jim
Well-known member
Macdaddy, I bought a baritone DGBE last year without knowing how to play it. Before that purchase I had only played GCEA. Well, it took me all of 2 days to figure out the baritone. The chord shapes are exactly the same. Want to play a C on the bari? It's an F on the little uke. Want to play a G on the bari? It's C on the little uke. And so on. Just get used to which chords replace which, and you'll be fine.
bari with tenor strings
Aguila makes tenor strings for a bari that won't hurt it. The only thing I don't like about them are that the tension is tighter than bari strings, to get that higher tone. You lose the looseness of the bari strings. I think you're better off learning different chord postions; you'll end up knowing more about music, or get yourself a tenor.
Aguila makes tenor strings for a bari that won't hurt it. The only thing I don't like about them are that the tension is tighter than bari strings, to get that higher tone. You lose the looseness of the bari strings. I think you're better off learning different chord postions; you'll end up knowing more about music, or get yourself a tenor.
Tuning baritone to GCEA
I've seen many bridges and tops fly off (separate). Not a good idea unless the baritone is structured for the higher tension. Another workaround is to tune the uke to FBbDG, a whole step lower. So playing a C major in this tuning would be like playing a D major.
I've seen many bridges and tops fly off (separate). Not a good idea unless the baritone is structured for the higher tension. Another workaround is to tune the uke to FBbDG, a whole step lower. So playing a C major in this tuning would be like playing a D major.
I posted a baritone string question on Cosmos. I bought a 1950's harmony baritone a few months ago and recently tried buying new strings for it. It was originally strung with Aquillas high D dGBE. All unwound. It sounded great, lots of volume and the tension, while noticeably lower than a soprano was fine. When I went to buy new strings I discovered that this set (dGBE, unwound) didn't exist. Aquilla makes a set with wound D and wound G and also a set designed for cGEA tuning. So I'm still not sure what was on the uke. Possible suggestions included using the cGEA set and tuning them down.
Anyway I'm sort of getting used to the wound strings but it's really a whole different instrument, not very ukey at all and best for fingerpicking. Sounds a bit like Nick Drake's guitar, which was small bodied, mahogany topped and tuned to his own tunings, which tended to be lower than standard.
Anyway I'm sort of getting used to the wound strings but it's really a whole different instrument, not very ukey at all and best for fingerpicking. Sounds a bit like Nick Drake's guitar, which was small bodied, mahogany topped and tuned to his own tunings, which tended to be lower than standard.
Ukulele Jim
Well-known member
Ambrose, you're right in that the sound of a baritone with wound strings isn't very "ukey". I tend to think of it as sounding more like a traditional nylon string guitar. When I want more of that "guitary" sound I pick up my bari.
