Best strings for dGBE on tenor ???
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jollyboy
Well-known member
You could try a custom Living Water set.
I have tried the dGBE tenor sets from Aquila and Living Water, and personally, my two tenors did not sound good with either. I love Living Water and Aquila strings on other ukes and other tunings (LW in C, Aquila in D), so it may simply be the combination of the tuning and my two instruments that didn't mesh.
Doc_J
Well-known member
I'd check to see what Dirk has at South Coast Strings.
Croaky Keith
Well-known member
You could use new tenor or concert strings & only take them up to dGBE, works quite well.
Sometimes you can get away with just down tuning the strings already on it, but they might have less tension than using new ones, I think, because they've been stretched.
Sometimes you can get away with just down tuning the strings already on it, but they might have less tension than using new ones, I think, because they've been stretched.
UncleMoon
Well-known member
+1 on the Living Waters, I've been playing them one of my baritones for a long time.
I think that Craig uses these strings on a tenor to get baritone tuning.
http://www.ghsstrings.com/products/11424-6-string-baritone?category_id=1964772-ukulele
CU-BTR
http://www.ghsstrings.com/products/11424-6-string-baritone?category_id=1964772-ukulele
CU-BTR
bluesuke
Well-known member
The GHS are great
JackLuis
Well-known member
I've been testing dGBE strings on my tenors for several months now. I've found that Fremont black line Tenor and D'Addario Carbons ( Hi-Gs) work well and have acceptable tension. They are still looser than GCEA tuning but play well.
I tried a set of the GHS Bari-tenors and found them to be less than acceptable on a spruce topped tenor. Not sure if everyone would feel the same but they had no ring to them. It may be that I'm used to fluorocarbons strings though? I think the GHS are rectified nylon.
Elderly Instruments has Fremont Blacklines for dGBE on a tenor, I just ordered some today.
I tried a set of the GHS Bari-tenors and found them to be less than acceptable on a spruce topped tenor. Not sure if everyone would feel the same but they had no ring to them. It may be that I'm used to fluorocarbons strings though? I think the GHS are rectified nylon.
Elderly Instruments has Fremont Blacklines for dGBE on a tenor, I just ordered some today.
Jim Hanks
Well-known member
Please report back on those. I think I asked about those 6 months(?) ago and nobody had tried them yet.
I had good results with the Southcoast HU-NW set on a tenor banjo uke. I'd probably try the LHU-NW set too.
Thanks again for all the replies. For now, I've just tuned down the Aquilas on my new-to-me tenor fluke. Very sloppy sounding but I like it. If I get hooked I might need to get a real tenor so maybe I shouldn't spend too much on strings.
This is what got me interested:
This is what got me interested:
Estudiante
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Looks like you've gotten plenty of advice on this already...I put an Aquila dGBE set on my tenor for a week just for fun....liked the relaxed feel of lower tension, didn't care for the sound, felt like I was asking my uke to do something it wasn't made for somehow...
If you have a tenor low-g set lying around, you could just place the G-C-E strings in the 3-2-1 string slots and tune the C string (now in the 2nd string position) down to B... For the 4th string you could grab whatever E string you have lying around and tune it up to D.
If you have a tenor low-g set lying around, you could just place the G-C-E strings in the 3-2-1 string slots and tune the C string (now in the 2nd string position) down to B... For the 4th string you could grab whatever E string you have lying around and tune it up to D.
JackLuis
Well-known member
I plan on doing a review of my experiments. I did a review of the Aquila's 11U's on a Spruce topped Caramel in June.
(http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...mel-CT-301-Spruce-Top-tenor-dGBE-Aquila-11U-s) and will add to it with the GHS Bari-Tenor and three or four others sets. My Uke Buddy Gary, who's Caramel CT-301 I am using for the tests wasn't pleased with the GHS set or the Aquilas but got pretty excited with some Low G PhD's I put on to see if a DGBE would work on the CT-301.
I ordered two sets of the Fremonts and a Soloist low G, to try a low D on his uke. I like the dGBE but Gary is a guitar payer and re-entrant tunings don't excite him. I loaned him my baritone (dGBE) and a low D string to play while I fooled around with the CT-310. Now he's just about ready to order one.
I've been pretty pleased with Fremont Blacks (hi G) tenors on my travel tenor and D'Addraio Carbons (EJ99 hi G) on my fat tenor, they have more tension than the PhDs, when detuned to dGBE. I have a set of EJ99 Low G in reserve and after hearing the PHDs will try those too. I did notice that the low D string wasn't as balanced on the CT-301, but they have only been on it for a day or so and are still setting up.
It may take a while for me to finish the review, though perhaps I should do several videos , one for each string set as one of my vid's I put together is 14 min long and people might not have the attention span to watch it.
Perfect description of how I felt about the tuning on my two tenors, with the strings I tried! Very well put.
Django
Well-known member
I have not done this yet, but it seems that you could use a linear set of tenor strings with a wound low G and an extra E string. The low G is the third string, the C becomes the second string dropped to a B, the E string becomes the first and the fourth dropped down to a high d.
This is what I did before Living Waters and GHS had sets available.
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drbekken
Well-known member
I play dGBE tenor exclusively. My strings are Aquila, because they were available. I just posted a video in the Links & Video section. Gretsch tenor with dGBE tuning. Check it out.
Be aware: You MUST use strings especially designed for this tuning. Otherwise, it won't work. Just tuning regular gcea strings up or down is useless.
Until I started using the low tuning, I could not stand the tenor uke. Now, I play it a lot, and I will never go back to C tuning. That's for sopranoes and concerts, as far as I'm concerned.
Be aware: You MUST use strings especially designed for this tuning. Otherwise, it won't work. Just tuning regular gcea strings up or down is useless.
Until I started using the low tuning, I could not stand the tenor uke. Now, I play it a lot, and I will never go back to C tuning. That's for sopranoes and concerts, as far as I'm concerned.
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JackLuis
Well-known member
I agree with you that dGBE is better for tenors, but why MUST I use strings especially designed for this tuning? I've found the Carbons and Blacklines very acceptable, however I only play first position now. Tension is lower but they work, the PHd's are very loose. Am I missing something that my first position playing is masking? I can't play as well as you Doc, I've only been playing less than two years and am a slow learner. I tried the Aquila 11U's and the red G broke in a week, the GHS set is blah sounding to me. I'm looking forward to a 'proper' set with the Fremonts on order.
Can you expand a bit on why Tenor sets won't work?
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