Getting more tonal spread from the uke

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OK, so I started off playing Bass - got really into funk/soul music, then since you can't reasonably play a whole song on a bass... I hit a roadblock and it went in the closet for 5 years.

So now my wife and I have bought ukuleles. She has a tenor and a concert, I have a concert and baritone, which I promptly re-strung as low-g GCEA so we can learn together.

We've been playing for several months now and I'm gaining proficiency, but I want to add a little more 'thump' to my instrument.

Low-G (G3 C4 E4 A4) is nice, but I was playing around with tuning it down a whole octave (G2 C3 E3 A3). It's rather interesting, but I've lost the brightness, and it's next to worthless for doing the solo melodies I also like. Part of the problem of course is the very low string tension which reduces volume a lot.

What I'm considering now is a compromise (G2 C3 E4 A4)
G is now an octave lower than low-g and 2 lower than re-entrant.
C is also an octave lower
but E and A are the same

I've ordered 7 different diameters of Worth fluorocarbon strings to see what I can come up with.

I'm curious to know if anyone else has done some experiments like this.
 
What sort of saddle do you have on them? Some materials are better for transmitting higher-end frequencies. If it's not bone, try bone or even Corian. Another suggestion is ebony. You can usually get a small bit of ebony from almost any luthier or piano repair/tuner person.

Also, use wound strings for the 3rd and 4th strings...

And of course a simple answer is to use an octaver pedal and drop the tones (assuming you have a pickup or a mic you play through)...
 
I think that one of the charms of ukulele's is their tonal focus. If you want a deeper sound then buy a baritone of string the instrument low G. My standard setup is, tenor, low bass string (linear) tuned E, A, C#, F#.

Anthony
 
Not really an answer to the question you asked, but nw that you've developed some proficiency with the instrument, you could try restring it to DGBE tuning. The chord shapes are the same, but they're in a different key, so that when you use what you know as the C chord shape on a GCEA instrument, you're actually playing a G on a DGBE instrument. The F shape is C, the Bb shape is F, the G shape is D, and so on. It requires memorizing new names for the chord shapes and teaching your brain to make a different chord shape for each visual cue on the music sheet, but it sounds like conventional GCEA tuning on your baritone is too high for you and octave-lower GCEA tuning is too low. DGBE is somewhere in the middle. I hope you can provide a sound sample after stringing it G2 C3 E4 A4. The idea seems really interesting and I'm curious to hear what that would sound like.
 
I wish I had made a recording before the A string snapped. :p
It was already frayed and a couple more down-up tuning cycles killed it.

I did actually play around with the baritone tuning D G B E, E F C# F#, E A D G (like a bass) and even open C tuning! (G C E G)

The one I thought sounded the "fullest" was open-C with a lowered G,C&E so G2 C3 E3 G4. the doubled G, 2 octaves apart is something to be heard. But a few minutes of that made me realize I had zero melodic capability with just one high string, and the chord shapes were different enough to put me off it.

What I really mean by increasing the "spread" is the distance between low and high strings. Low G and baritone tunings are identical in that respect. Even a 4 string bass has just one more note of spread over the uke. Yeah, there's always the guitar, but I can't manage 6 strings, I just want to spice up the 4 I have. :)
I actually played with an 8 string uke at Elderly Instruments and that's more of the sound I'm after. The sound is just "fuller" because of the doubled strings, some of which are in different octaves.
I want to stick with GCEA because of the chord shapes, and I was hoping to avoid wound strings because of the "squeak". I find it annoying. I don't think Even the fattest fluorocarbon string will provide much volume at G2 but its an experiment. Maybe a solid steel will do the job, with proper string tension calculations, of course.

--Steve "can't just leave it alone, can ya?"
 
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I checked out the Cuatro, and the sound samples are great! I do like the additional low top string but the key of D throws me off and then you've lost the high range entirely.
*anxiously awaiting my new strings*

For a strong G2 with no squeak, maybe I'll have to look for a flat wound string.

Gonna go play my concert I guess. :)
 
About the simplest fix I can think of is what Donna LoPrinzi did....she placed a G string and a g string next to each other, so they can be fretted together, but with enough distance to keep them from bangning aganist each other....
 
@Nickie - Doubling strings - this has been done on the 6 and 8 string ukes, and to a massive degree on the tiple (10 strings in all). That's something I want to explore, but I'd probably need to just buy a new instrument at that point.

@Rick Turner - Tuning in 5ths sounds like a good idea too, but all the chord shapes would be different - something I'd like to avoid if possible.

I'll try to get a sound sample when I get the new strings on - should be interesting.

Slightly off-topic - last night I messed with my electric bass (E A D G). I lowered the top two strings (E A C# F#) then capo'ed the 3rd (G C E A). I've got a Bass-ulele!
It's kinda fun to play with as I know where all the notes are a little bit better than the standard bass tuning - I haven't played bass for ~5 years and wasn't very good to begin with.
The high string (G2) on a bass is the same note I want on the uke - so if the fat fluorocarbon string is still too loose, I may be able to use an old bass string.

Question - is there a tool/device for measuring the ACTUAL tension in a string? Like a calibrated spring scale that measures deflection? Some quick googling reveals they exist for tennis raquets.
 
You could order low-octave baritone strings from Guadalupe Custom Strings. They make it an interesting (new) instrument, but it gets muddy pretty fast if you're playing more than one low string at a time, and really is most effective in an ensemble situation. And the little body of a Bari uke doesn't give it much projection.

It should be possible to accomplish the same result with nylon guitar strings. I'll let you do the math on that!

That puts you an octave below Low G, so I think that means the Low G is the same as the high string in standard bass tuning..

Here it is in action, playing the same part as a re-entrant soprano, except for the parts where I mess up, and the end sections.
http://youtu.be/koEJMiEV2iw
It works best in a piece like this where there is plenty of space between the notes.

here's what it sounds like as an accompanying instrument
http://youtu.be/1FT6OvCRz-Y

I'd like to hear the result of your hybrid hi-lo tuning, please share when you figure it out.
 
Southcoast has quatro strings for key of C. LMC-NW and LMC-WB. I can vouch for the fact that the WB set sounds great and brings a whole new sound to the baritone.

http://www.southcoastukes.com/cuatro.htm

2nds on checking with Southcoast strings about what you are looking for. Each string requires proper tension at a given scale length to achieve a given result. That's their specialty.
 
There's a formula for calculating string tension at a given note and scale length. You need to know or calculate the 'unit weight' of the string. D'Addario lists the unit weights for all their strings in pounds per linear inch of string.

Also, if you start with a given string and tension at a 25 1/2" scale length (guitar) and put that string on a baritone (20" scale length), it can be tuned two semitones higher at a slightly lower tension overall.

I found a ton of wound D'Addario strings at between 14-17lb tension that would work for my low low G2. They're all right around .042-.045" diameter. I think the .042 fluorocarbon string I ordered will be too slack - but we'll see. I can always pick up a wound string later.

I'll hopefully get the strings tonight or tomorrow.
 
I actually already took the low C off because it made my intro to Margaritaville sound terrible. ;)
The double-low G is interesting though, and I think I'm going to keep it for a little while longer.

Probably the ultimate solution is to get an 8 string uke. That'll have enough 'big sound' to satisfy me for a while. Or maybe an electric. ;)
I might play with a cuatro tuning in the future - that looks interesting. Another option I'm looking more into is a slack key 'taro patch' tuning (G2 C3 E4 G4). I really like Hawaiian slack key guitar and it makes major chords pretty simple.
 
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