Baritone

Capt Roy

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I'm thinking about getting a baritone to add to my collection.. I have a real cheap one that has a real high action sand is very hard to get to sound right.

Do any of you have one that you play on a regular basis?
 
Ohana Bk10 and Bk20 are nice not too cheap baris. The difference is the solid mahogany top on the bk20.
 
My Kala KA-B is a laminate; it's very playable and it sounds sweet (especially with a set of Ko'olau Gold strings); and it was under $200. (I am jealous of mattydee's Mainland, though. Heh.)
 
The old Harmony baritones come up on Ebay with some regularity. They're solid mahogany and sound pretty good. You can expect to pay less than $200.00 for one. Here's one now:
I have had 2 Harmony baris. the neck was like a banana on one and the action ridiculously high on another; unless you are buying from someone you know I'd stay away from ebay on one.That said, I love my Gibson bari, which I bought on ebay, but they are in a different class. For under $200 you can probably get a Kala or Lanikai solid spruce top bari, I really like my S-T
 
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I play a Mainland red cedar second - it was under 300.
Mainland Mahogany Bari Second here, well under $300 inc. case. Me Like. Still looking for the perfect strings though.
 
I put new strings on my bari today: Southcoast linears. Holy smokes, but my uke is saved!
It is so much easier to play and it sounds so much better.

I expect you know your bari well enough to know that it needs replacing -- but if you haven't tried switching out your strings, you might try that first.
 
I put new strings on my bari today: Southcoast linears. Holy smokes, but my uke is saved!

Feel the same way, lulu -- the Southcoasts make an old Hohner sing.

Capt. Roy: I know it's already been suggested, but here's another vote for picking up an old solid Bari. I snagged mine off Craigslist -- I actually met the seller outside the hospital the day after my daughter was born (UAS, anyone?) -- and for really short money I picked up a very playable uke. Harmony would be an obvious choice, or spring for a Favilla.

Good luck.
 
Baritone ukes for sale.

Hi. I have six baritones for sale for under $200:

Harmony Silvertone $175
Harmony Silvetrone $150
Harmony Green label $150
Harmony Airline $125
Kingston $110
Domino $90

All are in excellent condition. All have new Aquila strings with extra low-G string included.
I also have cases for the above.

The baris live in Ann Arbor. Pictures on request.

Jim Turner
 
I'm still in love with my Cordoba 20 BM baritone uke. (i still hate the initials though!) It came with the Aquila strings but I've got a set of Worth Browns coming just to see how they sound. Also, for my Dad's B-day coming around the corner, I just got him the same uke as I have, so now there will be two Cordoba 20 BMs (haha) in the family. (He don't know it yet but it'll be fun to see him light up when we go to practice and he uses mine and I tell him to keep it...Happy Birthday!)

He joined the senior action baritone uke group and got me to join as well to keep him company. They sold him a 30$ Rogue that sounds horrible, that I'm gonna get re-strung anyway for him. I got my Cordoba from HMS for just under 2 C-notes and I got Dads Cordoba off ebay for about 1 C-note, slightly used. It is in almost mint condition. I am gonna get it set-up by Dick Young, the local luthier and new strings as well before I give it to him for his B-Day present. I think they sound great, it looks good and has a solid mahogany top to boot. It's deffinitely a great starter uke for me instead of the 30$ one Dad got, which I do hope sounds better with new strings on it.

Whichever one you get, make sure to get it set-up because it makes a world of difference. The Cordobas are not real high action like Dads Rogue is, they also have narrower fret boards which make it easier to get to the strings, (i reckon it could go the other way too if you are used to a wide fret board) and seems fairly well made. It's not a super expensive uke, but if I stay with it, as they say, Ah grasshopper, one of those will come in due time, when you are ready!!!
 
I have one and once I had the action adjusted it plays well. A great buy for the price. I have Southcoast flat wounds on it and it's tuned to Bb.
i BOUGHT ONE WITH A POPPED BRIDGE OFF EBAY. gluing back the bridge was no problem, then the action needed to be adjusted. once i got that right the frets needed to be leveled. finally got that done[I did it myself with a diamond knife sharpening stone] and I really like it. a real looker with one of the prettiest necks I''ve ever seen. A great bargain if you can do the work yourself.
 
i BOUGHT ONE WITH A POPPED BRIDGE OFF EBAY. gluing back the bridge was no problem, then the action needed to be adjusted. once i got that right the frets needed to be leveled. finally got that done[I did it myself with a diamond knife sharpening stone] and I really like it. a real looker with one of the prettiest necks I''ve ever seen. A great bargain if you can do the work yourself.

YIKES! I'll have to keep an eye on the bridge. So far, so good! I'm fortunate to have three excellent repairmen who take care of my instruments. I'd love to learn the craft. I can clean fingerboards and other minor adjustments, but I leave the rest to the professionals.

I just tried my first baking soda and super glue nut refill on another baritone with marginal success. I need better files, but what I did improved it some. It needs more attention. I had to raise the saddle too. More super glue with strips of business cards and some sanding. That actually worked. Even plugged in. I'll have them both redone eventually. The treble side of the saddle was down to the bridge. ???? I like low action, but that was unplayable.
 
YIKES! I'll have to keep an eye on the bridge. So far, so good! I'm fortunate to have three excellent repairmen who take care of my instruments. I'd love to learn the craft. I can clean fingerboards and other minor adjustments, but I leave the rest to the professionals.

I just tried my first baking soda and super glue nut refill on another baritone with marginal success. I need better files, but what I did improved it some. It needs more attention. I had to raise the saddle too. More super glue with strips of business cards and some sanding. That actually worked. Even plugged in. I'll have them both redone eventually. The treble side of the saddle was down to the bridge. ???? I like low action, but that was unplayable.
I use a couple of small hacksaw blades [the mini kind, one had the sides ground down for the thinner strings. then I finish them off with the cheapie welding tip cleaner files, for rounding the bottom of the slots . If I did it every day I;d invest in some nice ones, but for once in a while they work fine. Ive had good luck with thin strips of credit card for raising the saddles. harder than buisness cards, so it probably transfers the sound better. I've not noticed any diff in sound afterwards.
 
I use a couple of small hacksaw blades [the mini kind, one had the sides ground down for the thinner strings. then I finish them off with the cheapie welding tip cleaner files, for rounding the bottom of the slots . If I did it every day I;d invest in some nice ones, but for once in a while they work fine. Ive had good luck with thin strips of credit card for raising the saddles. harder than buisness cards, so it probably transfers the sound better. I've not noticed any diff in sound afterwards.

I used some round jeweler's files my wife had here. I need to pick up a set of those welding tip cleaner files. The super glue and baking soda sets up VERY fast? Super gluing the card stock strips to the bottom of the saddle was the best solution I had at hand and believe it or not when that stuff dries it's hard enough to sand. I will have someone redo the nut and saddle with bone, but, in the meantime, I get to play the instrument since my other two baritones are out having pickups installed. I'll drop this one off when i pick up the other two. I'll pick up a nicer baritone ($600-$1400 range) somewhere down the line, but an all myrtle long neck soprano or concert is up next. UAS never ends. (At least I hope not!)
 
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