5 string tenor ukulele strings

Hi all,

i am in the process of building a 5 string tenor ukulele. normal ukuleles are tuned gCEA, the bottom string (which would be the lowest on a guitar) is a re-entrant high string. the photos of the process are on my page: http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/albums/violele

My design is to make a GgCAE uke, with a double G string, both high and low. i've seen it done before and it sounds great (search 'ohana 5 string ukulele). the build is progressing perfectly and i'm almost at the end so i need some strings, but its a pig to find low G that isn't wound (I really don't want a wound string.)

from my research a standard uke setup has gauges .23, .27, .31 and .23, or there abouts. i have found nylon accoustic guitar strings that have the bottom three unwound strings gauged at .28, .32 and .40. i figure this would be perfect cos mine is a tenor not soprano uke. if i buy 2 sets i can string it .28, .32, .40, .28, .40.

But i don't know if the tunings will work. can anyone help me work out the string sizes to get the correct tunings. thanks in advance

Hi,

interesting looking project. If you want Tenor uke strings with a low G, then Worth make them. Their CT-LG strings should do the job, although you'd need to get a set of the high G (CT) strings as well. Which would end up costing quite a bit though (if you're planning on making more than one it isn't so bad price wise as the Worth's are apparently long enough to string 2 tenors).

I don't know how well it would work if you try to cheat and use the spare length of the E or A string for you're high G but it might be possible too.

Out of interest (as I was thinking it might be interesting to convert a violin some day) it looks as if you've continued the neck up the inside of the instrument all the way to the back. Do you need that much strength? as I understand it (from about 5 minutes on google) the string tension should be fairly similar.

I've not built anything myself yet so, it's all theory to me and I'll probably do a lot of research if I decide to do a conversion myself. I was just curious if I'd mis-estimated on the tension or not understood the photos correctly.

Aquila do a single Low G string. Just add that to a regular (High g) set of tenor strings and you should be good to go.

the problem that i have run into is that i can't find single strings, meaning i would have to buy 2 packs and only use half of each pack. thats why i was interested in using the guitar strings instead.

ukulian: where can i get the low G as a single string? i've seen sets with a low G, but no singles. i've had a look around and it seems like the aquila low g strings are wound. Is it possible to get them unwound?

J-UK: yes, i did design this one with a through the body build, but it more out of habit and design. i have built cigar box guitars before and they generally require the neck to go all the way through the body for strength, so i just used the same design for the violele. it was easier than trying to make a neck block and seat the neck correctly. I try and make the instruments as quickly and easily as possible, so the simplistic design is useful.
The one thing that i have thought as a benefit of the strut is that the added weight of the dense hard wood will improve the sustain. Violins have very little sustain in them selves because they are so light. there is hardly any wood in them to vibrate, and what wood there is is soft wood. the sustain is given by the stroke of the bow not the vibration of the strings, so adding the weight should hopefully make it a fuller sound. I don't know if this is true, as i haven't finished yet and can't test it, but thats my theory.

getting a single string shouldn't be that hard depending on where you live. I'm from San Jose and there are a few shops (Ukulele Source; Gryphon Stringed Instruments) that sell them individually. You could probably call some of the bigger suppliers you run in to here on the forums and they could probably set you up with what you need as well (Southcoast; Elderly, come to mind).

Edit: Just saw the the UU merchandise store sells PhD strings. You can order a pack plus a single low g.

Aquila Low G at present is wound. However, they are producing a 'Red' low G string that is not wound and should be available in the next month or so.

We use wound 4D guitar strings for low G tuning on ukuleles - to me they sound better than any low G ukulele strings I've come across. You should be able to find single 4Ds at any good guitar shop and certainly also online.

Why is it that I have a strong feeling that if you were to reach out to Southcoast they'd be more than happy to work with you on putting together a five-string GgCEA set?

Call it a hunch ...