Baritone string advice please

Hi everyone I'm a beginner of 5 months and I just bought a Lanakai LU21 Baritone which is strung DGBE
My intention is to string it GCEA as I'm not ready to start learning new chord shapes yet but someone suggested I try playing it with the chord shapes I know while I wait for my new strings and it sounds rather low but quite mellow and full to me with my untrained ear. I like the deep tones and the guitar like sound of the wound strings but my nails are way too soft for wound strings so it's definitely got to be nylon for me.
Is it common to play a baritone uke strung DGBE as if it were GCEA?

Now my actual question is
When I re string to GCEA should I use a Low G?

Thanks
Ed

camperman said:

Hi everyone I'm a beginner of 5 months and I just bought a Lanakai LU21 Baritone which is strung DGBE
My intention is to string it GCEA as I'm not ready to start learning new chord shapes yet but someone suggested I try playing it with the chord shapes I know while I wait for my new strings and it sounds rather low but quite mellow and full to me with my untrained ear. I like the deep tones and the guitar like sound of the wound strings but my nails are way too soft for wound strings so it's definitely got to be nylon for me.
Is it common to play a baritone uke strung DGBE as if it were GCEA?

Now my actual question is
When I re string to GCEA should I use a Low G?

Thanks
Ed

Click to expand...

The chord shapes aren't new on a baritone. They are exactly the same as on any other ukulele. It is just the names that change.

My advice would be to stick to baritone tuning. I feel that baritone ukes sound best with G tuning (low or high D). However, if you really must tune it to C, then I would probably go for linear (low G). It will sound fine.

linear is fine, Cuatro is interesting if you only strum and don't pick.

http://www.southcoastukes.com/cuatro.htm LMC-NW strings for gCEa

Ken Middleton said:

The chord shapes aren't new on a baritone. They are exactly the same as on any other ukulele. It is just the names that change.

My advice would be to stick to baritone tuning. I feel that baritone ukes sound best with G tuning (low or high D). However, if you really must tune it to C, then I would probably go for linear (low G). It will sound fine.

Click to expand...

Thanks Ken,
As a novice and a lone uke player (I really want to join a club) I'm pleased to hear I'm not doing it all wrong.
I might go with the DGBE tuning but I think I'll need to swap the wound for nylon strings as the nail on my forefinger has been sanded to nothing with just a few sessions.

I'm glad I've bitten the bullet and stopped being shy about asking questions on this forum. I'm sure I'll come up with a really daft one before long though lol

Ed

camperman said:

Thanks Ken,
As a novice and a lone uke player (I really want to join a club) I'm pleased to hear I'm not doing it all wrong.
I might go with the DGBE tuning but I think I'll need to swap the wound for nylon strings as the nail on my forefinger has been sanded to nothing with just a few sessions.

I'm glad I've bitten the bullet and stopped being shy about asking questions on this forum. I'm sure I'll come up with a really daft one before long though lol

Ed

Click to expand...

I would suggest you don't use nylon. thick nylon strings will have an incredibly dead sound. I suspect you mean plastic though. Go with a fluorocarbon set. Whether it is my brand or someone else's, fluorocarbon will give you a much better sound on those low strings.

Ken Middleton said:

.......... fluorocarbon will give you a much better sound on those low strings.

Click to expand...

Is there a difference in sound between fluro and wound? And further, between round wound and flat wound???

Southcoast ukes has an interesting article on tunings and why a particular tuning is best suited for the sized instrument. I play linear baritones. http://www.southcoastukes.com/004.htm Dirk states the baritone resonantes best in a Bb key.

It's thought the baritone was first designed for kids to learn the top four strings of a guitar with a smaller sized instrument, Bb was the key used by most musicians of the day hence the resonant factor. The G tuning was introduced for the learning of the top 4 strings of a guitar. (Favilla website)

For a flurocarbon (non wound) linear G tuning I use Ken's Living Waters String. I hear you on the low sound so I suggest trying a set of Southcoast ML-RW: Medium Gauge Linear Set w/ round wound and tuning it to Bb. The wear on the fingernail is more your technique than the wound string or it may be you're using a really cheap wound string.



For me, a C tuned bari sounds washed out. I tried the cuatros in C tuning and liked it but missed the high A for finger pickin so changed back. On my baritones, I use wound strings as too me, they seem to bring out the resonance better. I found non-wound to soft for the style of playing I do. If needed when playing with others who have a C tuned instrument, I just play my Bb bari. with a capo on the 2nd fret and I'm playing in the key of C.
,
Finding the right string is a continuing journey. I have three sets of different string makers sitting on my desk waiting to be tried, just for the sake of finding the perfect string. So far my favorites are the Living Waters and Southcoast. For my G tuned wound string setup, I'm trying a set of the Diaddario Titanium 2's. Sounds good so far but am anxious to try a few others.

With the strings you have on now, just use a capo to up the sound and use the same shapes you're using. A chord shape is a chord shape, it's where the shape is played on the fretboard that determines the key.

Yes.
Sorry, I'm a noob too, but if there wasn't a difference, they wouldn't make them, um, different.
Ok, stepping aside for someone who actually knows something.

Loads of great advice. As a beginner it'll no doubt take a while for it all to sink in and become apparent.
I've seen the term "Linear" used a couple of times and although I understand the general definition of the term I'm not sure what in means when applied to strings.

Thanks again everyone
Ed

Maybe you want to try dGBE. I just switched over to that from DGBE, and I'm really enjoying it.

"Linear" refers to the sequence of pitches from 4th string to 1st string. Linear just means each string is higher in pitch than the next, so 4th string is the lowest, 3rd is next lowest, 2nd is next lowest, and 1st is highest. The "opposite" of linear (at least for ukes) is "reentrant". This could be any tuning where the pitches are "out of order", most commonly the standard gCEA uku tuning.

Linear, for me, means using a 4th string That is the low octave; renetrant 4th string is the high octave of the 4th string. With your DGBE tuning the D string is either a low pitched D (linear) or a high pitched d(rentrant).

I thought I just said that.

I think you did Jim, lol.

First off thanks to everyone who's given me advice. It's much appreciated.

Now to let you know I've got it out of my system. Someone gave me some GCEA strings they decided not to use and I tried them. My opinion is that I didn't like the different sound. All the range and deep warm sound had gone and it just sounded dull to me. I'm wondering if that's because the strings were Aquilas? Just my opinion and I know lots of people like that tuning. It's just not to my taste for the baritone.

I'm going to keep the original tuning but I'd still like to change from wound strings for now until my technique improves.

Thanks again everyone. You're all helping me learn a lot and I'm really grateful.

Ed

Since my last post about this in March I've done some learning and thinking and experimenting and this is what happened.

I tried the Aquilas with re entrant tuning and I didn't like the loss of warmth and depth of the baritone body.
Then I tried some Living Water DGBE and it was better but I felt that tuning sounded better with wound strings.
So I put the wound strings back for a while but was still unsure.
Then I decided I'd give C tuning another try and put the Aquilas back on. I wanted to try a Low G and I definitely don't like the Red Aquila Low G so I took the old wound G from the original strings and added it as a low G and I felt it sounded better but I wanted to get away from the wound strings.
My plan was to order a set of Living Water Low GCEA and give those a try but my curiosity got the better of me so I kept the Aquilas and used the G from the Living Water DGBE set as a low G and I love it!

I'm sure some people will think it's a strange mixture but I like the sound. A set of nut files arrived today and I lowered the nut and it's now very comfortable to play and the intonation is spot on so I've gone from liking this uke to loving it

Just a side note, Aquila makes a set of baritone strings that are designed for GCEA tuning. I've tried them on several different baritone ukes, and they are not at all bad sounding. The biggest difference is the tighter string tension due to the longer scale length of the instrument. That makes the strings a little tougher to push down and fret.

I do think that baritone scale length is a little too long for GCEA to be the "ideal" tuning, but its certainly worth a try if you are interested in it! Just make sure you have the right set of strings.

Here is a link to that string set: Just a side note, Aquila makes a set of baritone strings that are designed for GCEA tuning. I've tried them on several different baritone ukes, and they are not at all bad sounding. The biggest difference is the tighter string tension due to the longer scale length of the instrument. That makes the strings a little tougher to push down and fret.

I do think that baritone scale length is a little too long for GCEA to be the "ideal" tuning, but its certainly worth a try if you are interested in it! Just make sure you have the right set of strings because it will have a big impact on the sound.

Here is a link to that string set:

http://tinyurl.com/aquila-baritone-GCEA

Johnny GDS said:

Just a side note, Aquila makes a set of baritone strings that are designed for GCEA tuning. I've tried them on several different baritone ukes, and they are not at all bad sounding. The biggest difference is the tighter string tension due to the longer scale length of the instrument. That makes the strings a little tougher to push down and fret.

I do think that baritone scale length is a little too long for GCEA to be the "ideal" tuning, but its certainly worth a try if you are interested in it! Just make sure you have the right set of strings.

Here is a link to that string set: Just a side note, Aquila makes a set of baritone strings that are designed for GCEA tuning. I've tried them on several different baritone ukes, and they are not at all bad sounding. The biggest difference is the tighter string tension due to the longer scale length of the instrument. That makes the strings a little tougher to push down and fret.

I do think that baritone scale length is a little too long for GCEA to be the "ideal" tuning, but its certainly worth a try if you are interested in it! Just make sure you have the right set of strings because it will have a big impact on the sound.

Here is a link to that string set:

http://tinyurl.com/aquila-baritone-GCEA

Click to expand...

Is this a set with Low G without being wound or a red one? If so do you know the Aquila code number of these strings so i can see if I can get them over here?
Thanks
Ed

@camperman, Aquila Baritone GCEA are to be tuned to reentrant C. MPN is 23U.

I've had the same dilemma as you. I've tried so many strings on my baritones. I've got 4 different sets sitting in front of me to try out. I've found nylon strings are all about the same; really couldn't tell the difference between the Di'addario T2 and Ko'Olau Golds I have on now. I liked the Living Waters but like you, have a preference for a wound string. The next set I'll be trying is the Di'Addario J68's. Also am going to try a combination of the Worth brown 1&2 with Hilo 3&4.

For me, a linear C tuning on a baritone really takes the ummph out of a baritone. Dirk from Southcoast ukes discusses why certain tunings sound better with certain sized instruments. The baritone, according to Dirk, was set for a resonance of Bb which is why a C tuning sounds washed out. I received an email from a friend who just put on a set of Dirks new Ml-Sw's and tuned down to the key of A. He feels he may have found the Nirvana string and tuning for his baritone. I had a set of S/C ML-Rw's tuned to a Bb on my old Martin and it sounded wonderful..

I plan on putting my Martin in A or Bb tuning with S/C strings for the blues and jazz stuff with my Webber tuned to linear G. Just have to find that Nirvana set for it. I agree about the Red Aquillas being faunky; the old pre "New Nylguts" were much better for a bari.