Guitlele vs 1/2 size Guitar?

Is there a technical difference between these two things? With the assumption the guitar is classical style with the mix of steel and nylon strings.

The 1/2 size guitar will be a little bigger...guitaleles are commonly tenor scale (17"), more rarely baritone (19"), and 1/2 guitars are typically 21" or 22" scale. And the nut (and therefore the neck) might be a touch wider.

The other thing is that classical guitars are NOT steel strung - just wound nylon on the bass strings, like the C or low G strings common to some uke string sets.

river_driver said:

The 1/2 size guitar will be a little bigger...guitaleles are commonly tenor scale (17"), more rarely baritone (19"), and 1/2 guitars are typically 21" or 22" scale. And the nut (and therefore the neck) might be a touch wider.

The other thing is that classical guitars are NOT steel strung - just wound nylon on the bass strings, like the C or low G strings common to some uke string sets.

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ah okay cool, good to know. So basically its just a bit bigger. I held a guiltilele and the neck felt so thick.. but when I hold a regular guitar the neck doesn't feel thick. So weird. I have been thinking about a half sized guitar would be fun! not sure if I would like it though.

I should add, the baritone guitarlele would be closer to a 1/4 size classical guitar - but the guitar's body would probably be a little bigger.

For comparison, here is Cordoba's Guilele:
http://www.cordobaguitars.com/p/guilele

and their 1/2 guitar:
http://www.cordobaguitars.com/p/c1-12-size

and their 1/4 guitar:
https://www.cordobaguitars.com/p/c1-14-size

They're very similar, but the setup feels somewhat different.

Guitar is designed for the lower EADGBE tuning, so thicker nut slots and the neck is generally wider.

kissing said:

They're very similar, but the setup feels somewhat different.

Guitar is designed for the lower EADGBE tuning, so thicker nut slots and the neck is generally wider.

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You can get away with EADGBE tuning on a 3/4 guitar, but ADGCEA is better on a 1/2 or smaller.

The neck is wider as said above. Most fractional sized guitars are only ever laminates as well so wood can be considered a difference.

pixiepurls said:

Is there a technical difference between these two things? With the assumption the guitar is classical style with the mix of steel and nylon strings.

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Guitarlele will be smaller, tuned like a small guitar with a capo on the fifth fret. Apparently they make 'baritone' guitareles now, which i guess is just a childs guitar able to withstand a higher tuning, i dont get the point really of it. I have a baritone ukulele, or i would just play a guitar or get one of those martin travel sized guitars.

river_driver said:

I should add, the baritone guitarlele would be closer to a 1/4 size classical guitar - but the guitar's body would probably be a little bigger.

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can someone actually make a sample video of the 'baritone guitarlele' ?
id like to hear it. Honestly the idea of a string or eight string baritone (in octaves)
appeals to me, but basically a baritone uke with the 2 strings added back to it, doesn't
really seem worth it to me. I'd still like to hear if there is a difference in sound between it
and a guitar vs the smaller guitarele and compared to ukes of all sizes. just trying to decide
if there is a point to this instrument. I play guitar and ukulele, and i like the baritone uke the best
because its a mix of both guitar and uke and if you add a high D in reentrant G it really mixes
both sounds perfectly. But since this is played like a guitar just a little bit higher pitch i feel for me
id rather save for a smaller sized classical guitar or travel acoustic. But thats just me.

It's all in what you call it. The guitaleles are made by various uke makers and marketed to uke players.

To clarify there are Guitalele style instruments - the Islander and Kanilea - made on Baritone uke bodies with wider necks. Most Guitaleles are built on Tenor uke bodies. They are all designed to be tuned A to A which makes the voicing the same as standard linear uke tuning. For some time I had a Yamaha Guitalele built on the Tenor scale. In my opinion the neck was too narrow and too short. Even tuned A to A there was just not sufficient tension on the strings. The neck was too narrow to chord cleanly. I now have the GL6 built on the baritone body, still tuned A to A. It seems to me the neck is pretty much the same width as a classical guitar neck. Unlike the Yamaha I had, the intonation is excellent, the string tension is sufficient and it is possible to play cleanly. The reason for using a Baritone body and neck size is to get enough string tension and get good intonation.

Previously I had a Mexican Requinto. That had more of a full sized guitar body but was built to play on A to A scale. I think it is based on a 3/4 sized guitar. The difference primarily was in how it was set up. It was basically a shrunken classical guitar with open headstock and tie bridge. It's all in what you call it. A Requinto is a Mexican folk instrument, but if you told me the same instrument was a 3/4 sized guitar, I wouldn't know the difference.

katysax said:

It's all in what you call it. The guitaleles are made by various uke makers and marketed to uke players.

To clarify there are Guitalele style instruments - the Islander and Kanilea - made on Baritone uke bodies with wider necks. Most Guitaleles are built on Tenor uke bodies. They are all designed to be tuned A to A which makes the voicing the same as standard linear uke tuning. For some time I had a Yamaha Guitalele built on the Tenor scale. In my opinion the neck was too narrow and too short. Even tuned A to A there was just not sufficient tension on the strings. The neck was too narrow to chord cleanly. I now have the GL6 built on the baritone body, still tuned A to A. It seems to me the neck is pretty much the same width as a classical guitar neck. Unlike the Yamaha I had, the intonation is excellent, the string tension is sufficient and it is possible to play cleanly. The reason for using a Baritone body and neck size is to get enough string tension and get good intonation.

Previously I had a Mexican Requinto. That had more of a full sized guitar body but was built to play on A to A scale. I think it is based on a 3/4 sized guitar. The difference primarily was in how it was set up. It was basically a shrunken classical guitar with open headstock and tie bridge. It's all in what you call it. A Requinto is a Mexican folk instrument, but if you told me the same instrument was a 3/4 sized guitar, I wouldn't know the difference.

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sounds cool, i think id be more inclined to purchase the baritone one (if i ever did). I tried the yamaha
and just didn't like the feel of it. If anyone has any youtube clips of a decent 'baritone guitarele' it would be
helpful it may be something i would actually consider at some point as a take a long jamming tool to bring
to jam with guitarists who are confused by the ukulele (but know what a capo is).

katysax said:

It's all in what you call it. The guitaleles are made by various uke makers and marketed to uke players.

To clarify there are Guitalele style instruments - the Islander and Kanilea - made on Baritone uke bodies with wider necks. Most Guitaleles are built on Tenor uke bodies. They are all designed to be tuned A to A which makes the voicing the same as standard linear uke tuning. For some time I had a Yamaha Guitalele built on the Tenor scale. In my opinion the neck was too narrow and too short. Even tuned A to A there was just not sufficient tension on the strings. The neck was too narrow to chord cleanly. I now have the GL6 built on the baritone body, still tuned A to A. It seems to me the neck is pretty much the same width as a classical guitar neck. Unlike the Yamaha I had, the intonation is excellent, the string tension is sufficient and it is possible to play cleanly. The reason for using a Baritone body and neck size is to get enough string tension and get good intonation.

Previously I had a Mexican Requinto. That had more of a full sized guitar body but was built to play on A to A scale. I think it is based on a 3/4 sized guitar. The difference primarily was in how it was set up. It was basically a shrunken classical guitar with open headstock and tie bridge. It's all in what you call it. A Requinto is a Mexican folk instrument, but if you told me the same instrument was a 3/4 sized guitar, I wouldn't know the difference.

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id be lying if i said i wasn't interested in this
http://www.theukulelesite.com/islander-gl6-guilele-w-uke-crazy-gig-bag.html

iamesperambient said:

id be lying if i said i wasn't interested in this
http://www.theukulelesite.com/islander-gl6-guilele-w-uke-crazy-gig-bag.html

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdkM-pBKRKw wow this guy alone makes me want one (not that i could ever play like this)

As a couple of posters mentioned, the requinto guitar is similar in size to the 1/2-size guitar and usually tuned ADGCEA. It's commonly used as the lead instrument in mariachi bands, but there are some nice classical demos on requinto if you check Youtube. They have a 20.5" - 21.5" scale (slightly longer than the typical 19" scale on bari uke).

The big difference I can see between requinto and 1/2 guitar in the examples I've shopped is that instruments advertised as 1/2-size guitar are usually (not always) inexpensive instruments intended for children, while most of the requinto instruments have a higher level of craftsmanship, fit/finish, etc. and are intended to be played as regular instruments rather than learning tools. Plus, 1/2-sized guitars may be modeled after steel-strung guitars, and intended to be strung with steel (with a tapered neck), while the requintos I've looked at are classical-style, with non-tapered necks and intended to be strung with nylon.

I'm also learning that "parlor guitars" vary considerably in size and range from 1/2-size to 3/4-size instruments. I've started looking for exact specs on scale length and nut width to compare.

Here's a nice requinto demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=032Mv4s2JkM with a medley of classical, folk, and jazz styles. This is a custom handcrafted instrument, which he starts playing around 3:21. I think he's dropped the tuning to somewhere between traditional guitar tuning (lowest string E) and traditional requinto (lowest string A). I'm thinking about getting one of these and tuning the lowest note to G, because that's equivalent to capo at 3rd fret -- which 75% of pop songs call for, and puts stuff like the Daily Uke books in a nice key for tenor voice (most of the songs are keyed really low for me!)

pixiepurls said:

I held a guiltilele and the neck felt so thick.. but when I hold a regular guitar the neck doesn't feel thick.

Click to expand...

It depends on the Guilele.

I own a Gretsch, it's neck is HUGE, SUPER thick.

The cordoba is more like a regular thickness for a guitar neck width.

The KoAloha D-VI has a SUPER THIN neck, it feels amazing. It's a bit surprising that they're able to make it so thin. Amazing.

I haven't played a mele, yamaha, or islander, so I don't know what their necks are like. I played a Kanilea years ago, but I don't recall what the neck felt like.

iamesperambient said:

id be lying if i said i wasn't interested in this
http://www.theukulelesite.com/islander-gl6-guilele-w-uke-crazy-gig-bag.html

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They stock D-VI as well, it's just hiding in the "Tenor" section. Tenor scale.

Also they often have Kanilea of various varieties:
http://www.theukulelesite.com/kanilea-k1-koa-guitarlele-gl6.html
http://www.theukulelesite.com/kanilea-gl6-s-spruce-koa-guitarlele.html
http://www.theukulelesite.com/kanilea-gl6-d-deluxe-koa-guitarlele.html

The islander and kanilea guitarlele are baritone sized, I think. Youtube and HMS will have samples of them. I'll upload a short video and photo of my Alulu tenor sized and baritone sized guitarleles. The video quality will be bad since I'm recording during night time but the audio is at least adequate. It's a raw recording with my ipod as well. While it uploads, what I CAN say about them is that tone wise, the tenor guitarlele actually sounds like a tenor ukulele with extra bass notes. Whereas the baritone guitarlele sounds more like a guitar.

My reason for getting the baritone guitarlele was for playability reasons. It's really tough playing on a tenor guitarlele as many have probably noticed.
Here is a picture of my two guitarleles. I'm sure you can notice the size difference. The neck width isn't as noticeable but I assure you that the baritone is a lot wider.

pixiepurls said:

I have been thinking about a half sized guitar would be fun! not sure if I would like it though.

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Try a tenor guitar: four strings, narrow neck. Most are 23" but a few are as short as 21". I have a Goldtone tenor and it's a beautiful sound and plays extremely well. I also have a Soares all-metal tenor reso...

Bao said:

My reason for getting the baritone guitarlele was for playability reasons. It's really tough playing on a tenor guitarlele as many have probably noticed.
Here is a picture of my two guitarleles. I'm sure you can notice the size difference. The neck width isn't as noticeable but I assure you that the baritone is a lot wider.

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Btw a link to the ebay store for your Taisamlu guitaleles.

The tenor guitalele has a 41mm nut, the baritone has a 50mm nut.

http://stores.ebay.com/Taisamlu-Musical/Guitarlele-/_i.html?_fsub=3903358011

iamesperambient said:

id be lying if i said i wasn't interested in this
http://www.theukulelesite.com/islander-gl6-guilele-w-uke-crazy-gig-bag.html

Click to expand...

Try searching UU for threads on the subject. There are several guitarlele threads, including a recent one with a discussion of my own Islander GL6, along with some videos of Corey playing the Islander and Kanile'a version.