Which Uke gets the Low G?

Thinker

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Hi guys!

So, I have a KoAloha Tenor and a brand new long-neck Soprano. I love them both. I have only been playing a few months. I've gotten a lot of my chord work down, even if some of my strum patterns are only so-so.

Here's my question: I'm thinking of stringing one of my ukes with a low-G as I try to do more finger style stuff. But which one?

The long-neck soprano makes it so easy to reach long distances. But the tenor has more room on the fret board. The soprano has an INCREDIBLE Hawaiian tone - great for chord work.

I'm indecisive. Is there an obvious answer?

- Thinker
 
I don't think it is an obvious answer, but I would opt for the tenor. My KoAloha tenor is low g and I love it - I would give a shout out to the PhD low g strings on it. Of all I tried, they sounded the best on that uke.
 
Personally, I would be more inclined to string a tenor with Low-G. Of course, then I'd need to get another tenor. Oh wait...
 
The tenor, the longer scale and larger body do better with low g.
There are many folks who do put low g on sopranos and concerts though, so the choice is yours.
 
Imo Neither. There's some great fingerpicking techniques with reentrant tuning that you'll want the tenor's wider fret spacing for.
 
Which is why you need two tenors :D

Exactly what I was thinking! I have had two tenors strung low g. I like the sound, but ultimately I go back to high g. Now that I have more ukes, I'll probably always leave one in low g.

Back to your question... Try to string them both in low g and see how they sound. Strings are really cheap and you will get the best answer.
 
I have many ukes tuned to low G... a long neck soprano, a concert, a tenor, a soprano... it really depends on the uke and the low G string you are using. Some combinations just won't sound good, while others are fine. If you have trouble with sustain, go for a wound low g string. The larger uke bodies are going to handle the low tones better. Some ukes won't sound good in low g no matter how hard you try. Have fun experimenting.

–Lori
 
Exactly what I was thinking! I have had two tenors strung low g. I like the sound, but ultimately I go back to high g. Now that I have more ukes, I'll probably always leave one in low g.

Back to your question... Try to string them both in low g and see how they sound. Strings are really cheap and you will get the best answer.

I love how everything in this forum eventually leads to "buy more ukes!"
 
I have many ukes tuned to low G... a long neck soprano, a concert, a tenor, a soprano... it really depends on the uke and the low G string you are using. Some combinations just won't sound good, while others are fine. If you have trouble with sustain, go for a wound low g string. The larger uke bodies are going to handle the low tones better. Some ukes won't sound good in low g no matter how hard you try. Have fun experimenting.

–Lori

Thanks everyone! I'm inclined to tenor it at first. Partly itis because my soprano sounds so great as it is. I don't want to mess with. And partly because Low G string will sounds so nice in the Big Tenor.
 
If you like both ukuleles, definitely the tenor. You might try the long-neck soprano too, just to prove to yourself the tenor is the right choice. Then you'll be sure.
 
The tenor. I've tried Low-G on all my sopranos and haven't found any that sounded good to my ears. I recently put Low-G Worth Browns on my Mainland Concert. Sounds OK but I liked it better in High-G. My tenor sounds it's best in Low-G tuned GCEA. Currently using Fremont Blacklines on it. Also, I have found that I prefer an unwound low g string.
 
Not trying to thread-jack, but every day I learn something new and exciting about ukes here. I'm still so green I had never heard of stringing for low G. Google, here I come!
 
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