soprano tuning

chuck in ny

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is there a successful way to string a soprano low G or are they always best in reentrant tuning?
 
Sure thing.

Aquila's red low G works pretty well, and Worth makes linear sets for sopranos as well (they sell them sop/con if I remember right).

If it's any help, I tried low G on a few sopranos, but it never sounded good; the tension was slack, and the bass notes were boomy.

Let us know how it works out.
 
Ohta-San plays his Martin soprano in low G. I'm not sure what strings he uses (they may be Kamaka strings), but it sounds good to me.
 
is there a successful way to string a soprano low G or are they always best in reentrant tuning?

No.

But not from any empirical testing I've done. Never even put a low g on a soprano though I've still got a brand new 2-year old set in a drawer. Everything I've ever read regarding the technicalities of why it is not a good thing made sense.

From string tension, to boomy bass notes, to the volume of air contained by the body for proper response... I believe it. That doesn't mean you can't try it. You might like it!

Now, everyone who has done it - please tell us why I'm wrong. And I may well be.
 
is there a successful way to string a soprano low G or are they always best in reentrant tuning?

As Connor mentions, yes, it can be done on a soprano.

Is it successful, and are they (and any uke) best in reentrant tuning? No and yes, respectively.
 
We have a new linear set for Sopranos. It's in the (one line) key of G: d' g' b' e", or an octave above traditional tuning for a Baritone.

It's our XLL set; it gives a light, lively tone & excellent tension. It's a great fit for a Soprano, as it's only one note off the original Machete tuning which was d' g' b' d" (open G). If you want to take a fling at the Machete style, you can slack your first string, we have an option to add an additional "Machete" 1st with a bit more tension to the 4 linear strings and we have a dedicated Machete set.

Playing it up in the one line G changes everything. The Soprano efectively becomes a lead instrument to the rhythm of a standard C tuned Concert or Tenor Ukulele. The bright sound cuts over the C tuning perfectly. This is how the Machete and Rajao (the two Portugese instruments that ammalgamated to form the Ukulele) worked together. Here's traditional Machete tuning together with the d' g' c' e' a' of the Rajao. Take a look & listen:


 
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My Paulele (bamboo soprano uke) sounds much better strung with low G (the Ko'olau Gold low G soprano set) than it did strung with high G.
 
No.

But not from any empirical testing I've done. Never even put a low g on a soprano though I've still got a brand new 2-year old set in a drawer. Everything I've ever read regarding the technicalities of why it is not a good thing made sense.

From string tension, to boomy bass notes, to the volume of air contained by the body for proper response... I believe it. That doesn't mean you can't try it. You might like it!

Now, everyone who has done it - please tell us why I'm wrong. And I may well be.
I see absolutely no reason why you couldn't put low g on a soprano, although I have to tend to agree with why would you want to?

To me, soprano is all about high g. That's what it was made for.

And tenor is ideal for low g, it will sound a lot fuller, which is presumably what most people want out of low g. Low g on my Mainland red cedar tenor just sounds amazing. :)
 
There are lots of opinions out there. Some people say you can't play low G on a concert. You'll hear it's "technically" out of the question, but others have no qualms about it. Ask David Hurd, Gordon Meyer... Nothing technical about it. It's all determined by what you like.

Low G on a soprano? Hey, they make the strings, don't they! If you don't try it because of someone else's opinion, you're the one who'll never know. You might have hated it, but....

I say let's use the forum to expand our experiences. Please, try it out and give us your opinion. Then, I'll try it and give you mine.
 
is there a successful way to string a soprano low G or are they always best in reentrant tuning?[/QUOTEE]

I've not tried low G on any soprano, Chuck, but if you try and don't like it you could always tune up a step to low A, D, F#, B and see how that sounds.
 
It's amped. It can sound fine if you do it like that.

Yes, but I've heard it acoustically. I think a lot of why it sounds fine is attributable to his playing style, both type of music and technique. I've tried low G on a few sopranos. Strumming sounds kind of bad. Picking is okay.
 
I have used Low G on a couple of Tenors and
once,for laughs ,on a Concert scale.Tried it once
on a Soprano and it was terrible! For all the
reasons already discussed above!
 
Wrong again Dirk about David and Gordon.

Steve, did you look at the link I posted? Don't think I'm wrong about Kawika. That is unless you somehow want to make the argument that while he finds tuning "at the resonance" problematic, tuning waaaay below it is somehow O.K.

As for Gordon, please reread my post. I simply said that an opinion by him to that effect would surprise me and asked you to post something about it. I can't be wrong about my own surprise either.

Could you post something about either of those references?
 
I tried a wound low G on my Kiwaya longneck (concert scale) soprano. It's different. Not particularly good, not particularly bad. It's still on there because I've been waiting to change strings until I am ready to install a pickup - but I pretty much never play it.

John
 
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