5 string ukes?

Has anyone built any 5 string ukes that utilize an extra bass string,with the high g still on the bottom,kind of like a 5 string banjo setup?
its an idea that appeals to me,as a banjo player.
It might suit a tenor better than a smaller size however.
any experience in this field would be of great interest to me.
cheers,skip

I recently built a 5 string concert for a mate and we had the same thought. Tried it out but the sound didn't seem quite right to the ear when strumming. As well, he does a lot of finger picking and it felt more natural to be able to pick out the low G as the 4th string and not hit the high G. Whereas the other way around made it near on impossible.

This was the first concert I built that had a low G, and it did seem to work, though I would lean towards the tenor for that combination.

5-string Iriguchi Ukulele



This is a 5-string tenor with high and low-G that we recently built. This has actually become a very popular instrument for us. When we want to emphasize the low-G we use a flat wound Fremont string. When we want to emphasize the high-G we use fluorocarbon for both. I play one of these myself now because I like the way it sounds when strummed.

Dave Iriguchi
www.iriguchiukuleles.com