6 string discussion

ryanvt

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What are your experiences with six string ukes?

What sizes, brands, models have you played? Comparisons?

What types of music do you play with them?

Anything else?

I have only seen videos, but I think they sound beautiful. I really like the sound of the kamaka lili'u as well as the mya moe tenor and Bari six string. What are your impressions?
 
Never played one,but have heard a few.Seem okay if you like
the sound.Only way to find out,is to get your hands on one
and see if you think it's for you!
 
I own a tenor Lanikai LU-6 and I love it, but then again, I don't own a uke I don't love so take that into consideration.

I currently have it strung g cC e aA, but I have strung it g cC e aa in the past. I saw Taimane Gardner in a video and it appeared to me that she was using g cC e a but I could be mistaken.

Having the low A note at the bottom of a down stroke makes playing some songs more of a challenge for me. That being said it has also encouraged me to explore alternate voicing which has brought me a better understanding of the fretboard.

As far as the songs I play with it, I enjoy "What a Difference a Day Makes"-Johnnie Ray, "Somebody That I Used to Know"-Gotye, "Ruby's Arms"-Tom Waits, "Seduced"-Leon Redbone, to name a few. I really enjoy playing it along with other ukes and just banging rhythm.

but I warn you... You get a six string, next thing you know you're going to want an eight string, it's just a 'gateway uke' to instruments with more and more strings.. ;)

(now where is my zither...?)
 
Aloha ryanvt,
I was intriged by the 6's also, so I bought an entry level 6er to try it out. Sound fuller for strumming background music much like a 12 string guitar versus a 6 string. For me, found that you have to be clean on your chords or it sounds muddy...made me more determined to work at it.
Oh, the uke I bought cost about $70.00, not bad to try something different. Now I have one that cost 10X that new.........................BO.....................
 
Thanks for the responses so far, keep them coming!

Ukesocrazy, I think my first uke was a "gateway uke" and you only live once sooooo....
 
I have owned 3 six stringers. All of them were our are Meles. My first one I sold to buy an 8 stringer and my second one became a gift. My current one will stay with me. As far as others I have played, I have played a free kamakas and kanileas as well as some cheaper Lani kai ones. I didn't like the Lani kai ones (but their eight stringers are pretty sweet). I liked one of the kanilea ones and the kamakas were all pretty sweet as well. I like the meles the best for price and quality. Plus I like the mahogany sound. Apparently ohana makes them now as well.

I have string mine with the low a, low a and low g, and low g. All other strings were standard. I prefer the low g sound. My first choice is 6 string Uke out of all my ukes but my koaloha concert gets almost add much play time.
 
I have owned one (Kamaka) for 6 months now. Built in 2005. I strung it with Worth Browns.

My experience: this is one beautiful strumming AND picking machine. I thought I would have to really practice to get a clean sound from the doubled strings, but the spacing and action is set so well it was no trouble at all.

My first song I played on mine was "Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" along with George Harrison who plays a Kamaka Lili-u on his video.

I'm now attempting to learn Troy Fernandez' song "TNC", one of those songs which makes a lot of use of the single high-G as a "drone" string. I've kept the original string course: high-G, two C's, E and two A's. I've read where some players string the A's in unison because they thought the low A (being the lowest string on the uke) sounded a bit boomy. This might just be a string thing, though. I think the Worth Browns sound lovely.
 
I have converted the nut on a Mahalo guitarele and made it into a double course baritone. To make the Mahalo guitarele into a double course baritone I needed to add a d above middle C and a g above middle C. The tuning is......
Dd Gg B E. The 19 inch scale works fine for a baritone conversion. For the high d on the 4th string I used a .028 E string and for the high g on the 3rd string I used a piece of 8 lb fishing line because I could not find a .021 or .022 nylon string anywhere locally. The fishing line stretched for 2 days and then is fine since before Christmas. I hope all this makes sense. Tricky part is spacing the 6 string guitar nut with very close grouves for the double courses.
PS: The fishing line is .020 so I could get the high g.
 
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I have played a Mele and did not really feel it. Something just did not click with me and I returned it. Later some time I got my hands on a Koaloha black label and it was awesome. I saved up for a while but it sold before I had the funds. I have been thinking about getting a Koaloha sometime but they are not really for sale to many places. Bottom line is you got to try it out and see what you think.

One thing I remember was the headstock seemed heavy, due to the extra tuners on the Mele. Not sure if there is a good way around this unless the body weight is increased to try and balance the instrument. It has been at least a couple years since I have laid a finger on a six string though.
 
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I've always thought of a 6 string was meant for strumming, but really like how my Lanikai CK-6E sounds picked.
CK6E_front.jpg
 
I love the 6 string. I got a Kanile'a 6 string and love the sound. Loved it so much that a Kamaka 8 string was recently added. I am 85% a strummer, just starting to work on picking.
 
I have to agree with the comments about the "boomy" a string, it just sounds a bit odd to me. I do really like the sound strummed, but I do a lot a arpeggiated chords and picking so I just haven't really gotten in to my 6. When I want the fuller sound I almost always go for my 8 string. I may need to try different strings on it and maybe the unison a's.
 
I love the Yamaha GL1 Guitalele. It is tuned like a guitar with a capo on the fifth fret. More guitar than uke though.
 
I have a Kamaka Liliu that I have just restrung with my second set of Southcoast strings. Low G, C's in octaves and the A's in unison. It sounds fantastic. Before that, it was strung what I would call the traditional six string way. High G, C's and A's in octaves. While I liked the way it sounded before, I prefer the way it sounds now.

Another thing that I find with the A's in unison is that it is easier to fret certain chords like Em because the string guages are the same. When strung in octaves, the large difference in the string guages between the Southcoast wound A and the nylon A made it tricky to properly fret both. But I don't find that with the octaved C's.

Some of the songs I like to play on the six string. Neil Young's "Comes A Time", The Bee Gees "I Started A Joke", and one that I am working on now, Jethro Tull "Skating Away"
 
I just got a Mya-Moe 6 string.
I am tuned octave C's and unison A's.
To me it seemed from some experimentation octave A's would be great for strumming,
Unision A's for picking. The unison A's seem to really ring when strumed too.
 
I just got a Mya-Moe 6 string.
I am tuned octave C's and unison A's.
To me it seemed from some experimentation octave A's would be great for strumming,
Unision A's for picking. The unison A's seem to really ring when strumed too.

Hey Sailor,
Any chance you could upload a video of it? I'd loooove to know what a MyaMoe 6 string sounds like.

No pressure though.
 
Anyone know about the Worth 6 string sets ?
Wound/Unwound and tuning. Octave A' or unison?
 
Anyone know about the Worth 6 string sets ?
Wound/Unwound and tuning. Octave A' or unison?

I have Worth Browns on my Mele 6 String. High G, unwound (not quite sure if I've ever heard of a wound high G, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong), octave C's and octave A's.
 
I have Worth Browns on my Mele 6 String. High G, unwound (not quite sure if I've ever heard of a wound high G, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong), octave C's and octave A's.

thanks, I am looking for a set with unwound low C and unison A's.
 
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