best tenors for Low G tuning?

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Any advice on best tenor ukuleles for low G tuning? I'm assuming that some have bigger bodies, and can better handle the resonance of a low G than others, and I'm wondering if anyone's had any experience to that effect?

Also interested to hear what people think makes an instrument deeper/more suited to lower tuning. For example, which woods might be better for lower-tuned tenors? And does the pineapple shape make a tenor more or less suited to deeper tuning?

Wish I could test this out more easily on my own, but ukes in stores are almost never tuned that way. I've tried tuning the C string down, and that gives somewhat of an idea, but often the floppiness of that tuned-down C makes it a poor gauge. Since most some stocked with Aquila strings with an unwound G... with higher gauge strings, I think that test would work better.
 
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If I set out to buy a dedicated low-G tenor, I think I'd strongly consider a Kanile'a super tenor. It has a wider lower bout, but the scale length is regular. My Kanile'a GL6 uses the same body, and the low-G on there sounds fantastic. No boom, no droning, no thumping. I'll add, though, that I feel it also depends heavily on your choice of strings. Some low-G strings just boom and drone more than others, depending on the uke and its wood and construction.
 
If I had bigger hands and could play tenor, I'd go with a Kamaka HF-3. I've never heard a bad one and they sound great strung low G.

As for woods - I think I've only every played koa, and mahogany, low G ukes. Between those two, I'd go with koa all the way.

As for testing them out on your own - a good shop might let you swap out the reentrant G for a low G, especially if you're considering a higher end uke. I can't speak for other stores, but my local shop has no problem doing this for a serious customer.

And I'll second Mivo's comment about choice of strings. I play low G concert, and wouldn't consider putting anything but a wound string on it - non-wound strings boom and thud.
 
Don't know your budget. Pono tenors can be luscious in low G. My ATD is. Choose strings well. I prefer wound low G.
 
Thanks to all 3 of you, very intriguing advice so far.

I owned (I sold it) was a Clearwater roundback one, with a spruce top. It didn't seem to hold low notes that well to my ears.

I also owned & sold a Godin cedar tenor. I also didn't love how it handled low notes, though it was much better than the Clearwater. More to the point, both of them are electro ukes, not necessarily meant to have the best unplugged sound.

My current budget is definitely the Pono range (considering regular and deluxe, not the more expensive Pro models though).
 
Thanks for that suggestion! HMS has low G in their video for it and damn it sounds good!!!
 
Low G tenors are pretty much all I play.........linear tuned baritones also. Most quality instruments will sound good in low G regardless of wood choice, if you like the low G sound. Currently I have ukes with spruce rosewood, spruce cocobolo, redwood walnut and cedar macassar ebony tenors all strung low G. They all have wound G and C strings with florocarbon E and A strings. If Pono is in your price range their tenors are big bodied and really sound good in low G.
 
I have a Kala solid mahogany tenor with a mellow low g set, and I had a Cordoba solid mahogany topped tenor with the same strings. Both were very "guitar like" for tenor ukes, which is what I was going for. They were my surrogate "blues guitar."
 
Honestly, the best bang for your buck under $400usd are the satin series Pono MGT, MT or AT.
I had an MGT and it was a great player. I had a deluxe hog and didn't like the gloss finish as much as the satin, on the Pono's, at least.
 
Pono for sure work really well in my experience. I have a Kanile'a super tenor that seems like it was built for low G, and I also have a Kamaka HF-3L that sounds great with the low G. It all depends on your budget.
 
I totally agree with DownupDave. A well built uke will sound just as good with either low or high g. 80% of my ukes are strung low g and I personally find that some low g strings sound/feel/last longer than others but its all subjective.

I have tried a bunch of low g strings and have noticed that ( for me ) , its more luthier/brand specific than material specific, i.e., I tend to use Fremont soloist on my Kamakas, I have tried other strings but Fremonts sound best on all my Kamakas to my ears. For Kala, Im using PHD. Ko'olau and Pono, I'm on southcoast etc... I also have some Vietnamese ukes and whilst they are mostly not extremely bad, no amount of string changes can make it sound any where close to the "top shelf" ones, however, worth CTs make them sound as good as a mid priced "mainstream branded" factory made uke.

If I were to pick 1 Uke for low G in a sensible price range bracket, Pono it is.
 
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I just tried an experiment with a Lehua solid Acacia melanoxylan (blackwood) and a Les Stansell 1/4 scale flamenco guitar(flamenculele) for sound differences. BOTH of them sound noticeably different in how they are held. When they were held with their back against my body (typical position of something with the strap up at the tuners, and it slung across the shoulder and down to the belt line and attached to the bottom of the body) as opposed to a strap attached to the heel of the neck and looped behind the neck and around to the front of one's neck and down to the tail button.. The second way allows the neck to be pushed away from the player's body so the back is exposed and allowed to vibrate and produce sound. The Lehua with the back away from the body sounds much better than the Stansell with the back against me. The Stansell held away is as good as it gets! What ever you have...get it on a strap....or at least its back not jammed up against yours or someone else's stomach
 
I totally agree with DownupDave. A well built uke will sound just as good with either low or high g. 80% of my ukes are strung low g and I personally find that some low g strings sound/feel/last longer than others but its all subjective.

I have tried a bunch of low g strings and have noticed that ( for me ) , its more luthier/brand specific than material specific, i.e., I tend to use Fremont soloist on my Kamakas,
me too. I have 3 tenors in low G. My beater [Islander AT-4], my best all around [Koaloha w/ Baggs], My best sounding[Collings mahog]In my experience a good tenor or bari will sound good reentrant or low g. Sometimes you will have to adjust the uke going to low g, but most times it's an easy swap. If you leave the ends long you can swap back and forth. I think a lot of the sound preference is what you get used to. If you only play high G it make take a few days to let your "ears/brain" adjust. you can always swap back if you don't like it. I like low G for the increased range when fingerpicking, especially if there's no bass/guitar handy to pick up the low notes.I must admit some songs sound beter accompanied by high g. +1 on the freemont soloist.
 
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