Hi everyone,
Here to share my joy of getting my hand on this. After owning a few Tenors, concerts and sopranos I decided that I wanted to get a baritone for a fuller sound and have it tuned A to A. As I already have a couple of guitars and mini guitars tuned E to E, my aim was to find one tuned like a uke. So that I can play 4 strings like a uke or if I feel like it play it as a guitar.
I got this off from someone in my local area and was pleasantly surprised that it was in such mint condition. No dings, scratches or any user marks. It was as if it was brand new. It was definitely babied. The strings were changed and the 3 bass strings squeak a lot. I really need some of your advise on strings as I am totally unfamiliar with 6 strings 20” scale A to A tuning. As far as I can find only Aquila makes a set for the cordoba mini.
What really amazes me is the playability of this instrument. It is so smooth and easy to play. Fretting is effortless. Only the slightest of touches is required. The action is spot on. I think it only had a factory setup as the original receipt was included in the gig bag and I know this local uke store doesn’t do set ups. So if this is The factory setup I am truly truly impressed. Just to give u an idea, It plays smoother and easier than my Pono Tenor which was set up by the guys at HMS. And my Pono is already so easy to play. And HMS really know how to do a great set up. After playing it I was even more impressed. The sound and sustain is unparalleled to any uke I have played with. It literally just rings. And rings. And it rings all the way up the fretboard until you run out of frets. Truly amazing. In fact right now I am thinking of selling away my KoAloha opio concert with tenor neck as I find the sustain drastically falling off a lot passed the 7th fret and the fretting needing so much more effort. I have played about 10 koalohas (mostly the silvers as I was searching for one) and none come close to playability compared to this. I play mostly finger style picking. My playing ain’t that great (No Talent!) and so with my mistake ridden playing and inaccurate fingering I find the Romero very forgiving whilst the Opio needs very accurate finger placement. Don’t get me wrong I am not trying to discredit the opio but rather highlight what a joy and ease this B6 is to play. The string placement on this is a little narrower than a uke due to the 6 strings. This is also my first baritone and I am still trying to get use to the adjustment to fret width and string placement. For a good sample of how it sounds like do Google Peter Frary. He did a review with a lot of sound samples and it convinced me on buying this. I hope he doesn’t mind me mentioning his name here as he is also in this forum. For the record I don’t know him and never met him before.
I am using my phone and have no idea how to upload pictures here. Instead I took some photos on my iPhone, used the voice memo to record my playing and put the 2 together in iMovie for a short clip. I noticed that the built in mic in the phone doesn’t do this instrument any justice. There are a few notes that I played a little louder(due to lack of skill) and it came out rather harsh sounding. Including the higher notes. So do pardon my poor playing. Some missed notes and inconsistent tempo. I realised I don’t do this instrument any justice at all!
https://youtu.be/ZGKn8nCP9BM
If any of you have suggestions for strings (A to A tuning) please do share. I hope to find some that don’t squeak too! I have been searching for info online and haven’t found much. Thank you.
Here to share my joy of getting my hand on this. After owning a few Tenors, concerts and sopranos I decided that I wanted to get a baritone for a fuller sound and have it tuned A to A. As I already have a couple of guitars and mini guitars tuned E to E, my aim was to find one tuned like a uke. So that I can play 4 strings like a uke or if I feel like it play it as a guitar.
I got this off from someone in my local area and was pleasantly surprised that it was in such mint condition. No dings, scratches or any user marks. It was as if it was brand new. It was definitely babied. The strings were changed and the 3 bass strings squeak a lot. I really need some of your advise on strings as I am totally unfamiliar with 6 strings 20” scale A to A tuning. As far as I can find only Aquila makes a set for the cordoba mini.
What really amazes me is the playability of this instrument. It is so smooth and easy to play. Fretting is effortless. Only the slightest of touches is required. The action is spot on. I think it only had a factory setup as the original receipt was included in the gig bag and I know this local uke store doesn’t do set ups. So if this is The factory setup I am truly truly impressed. Just to give u an idea, It plays smoother and easier than my Pono Tenor which was set up by the guys at HMS. And my Pono is already so easy to play. And HMS really know how to do a great set up. After playing it I was even more impressed. The sound and sustain is unparalleled to any uke I have played with. It literally just rings. And rings. And it rings all the way up the fretboard until you run out of frets. Truly amazing. In fact right now I am thinking of selling away my KoAloha opio concert with tenor neck as I find the sustain drastically falling off a lot passed the 7th fret and the fretting needing so much more effort. I have played about 10 koalohas (mostly the silvers as I was searching for one) and none come close to playability compared to this. I play mostly finger style picking. My playing ain’t that great (No Talent!) and so with my mistake ridden playing and inaccurate fingering I find the Romero very forgiving whilst the Opio needs very accurate finger placement. Don’t get me wrong I am not trying to discredit the opio but rather highlight what a joy and ease this B6 is to play. The string placement on this is a little narrower than a uke due to the 6 strings. This is also my first baritone and I am still trying to get use to the adjustment to fret width and string placement. For a good sample of how it sounds like do Google Peter Frary. He did a review with a lot of sound samples and it convinced me on buying this. I hope he doesn’t mind me mentioning his name here as he is also in this forum. For the record I don’t know him and never met him before.
I am using my phone and have no idea how to upload pictures here. Instead I took some photos on my iPhone, used the voice memo to record my playing and put the 2 together in iMovie for a short clip. I noticed that the built in mic in the phone doesn’t do this instrument any justice. There are a few notes that I played a little louder(due to lack of skill) and it came out rather harsh sounding. Including the higher notes. So do pardon my poor playing. Some missed notes and inconsistent tempo. I realised I don’t do this instrument any justice at all!
https://youtu.be/ZGKn8nCP9BM
If any of you have suggestions for strings (A to A tuning) please do share. I hope to find some that don’t squeak too! I have been searching for info online and haven’t found much. Thank you.
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