HARD to find it -- 6 string a/e baritone (NOT guitarlele)

bellgamin

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Help me find it: I'm want to buy a 6-string barry (unison pair at #1, octave pair at #3) but they are hard to find. One reason for the difficulty is that searching for "6-string baritone uke" gets me a whole bunch of guitarleles and not much else except for a mango Mele that isn't a/e (acoustic-electric).

By the way, the most I'll pay is ~$500, but hopefully under $250. A $500 uke would have to be solid top & a real grabber for me to go that high because I just bought a Takamine guitar & I gotta slow down for a while.

As to the Takamine -- while searching online for the 6-string barry, I got so many hits on guitarlele that I decided to try one at a music store. Uh oh -- next to the guitarlele there was a bee-yoo-ti-ful Takamine GX18CE-NS G-Series Mini guitar, with grrreat electronics and a sweet sweet sound, so I bought it. BUT I still want the Barry 6-string.

Any & all suggestions or links or whatever for a 6-string a/e Barry will be muchly appreciated.
 
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Hmm, yeah, not having much luck either. Tenor 6 string is much easier to find. I did find this 8 string:
https://ukerepublic.bigcartel.com/p...-solid-cedar-acacia-8-string-baritone-ukulele

Get a pickup put in it and it should come in close to your max.
10Q to the nth, Jim! Howsome-ever, I already have an 8-string barry. I had the electronics added. I love & kiss it with great aplomb! :rolleyes:

The ONLY 6 string barry I have found anywhere is the Mele, but no pre-amp. It's priced at $849 but they accept offers. Too rich for my budget -- otherwise I would buy it & have my tech guy add the pre-amp.

I already have a plethora of ukes so I don't really need another -- but when has "needing it" ever made a difference? Release the hounds, the hunt is on! :drool:
 
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I don't want to be rude but honestly your asking too much for such a niche Instrument.

Buy the Mele and have them fit a pickup.
Brucewei will custom make one for you buy even he will charge you more than your proposed budget and it won't have a pickup either.

I'd love to buy a Kamaka for $500 too but its just not happening.
 
... ... niche Instrument... ...
Niche? Not long ago, 8-string ukes were "niche" -- now they are rather easy to locate, and at very friendly prices. When I bought my 8-string Kala barry, nobody in my group had one, or had even heard of it. Since then, at least 4 of my compadres have bought them. They really have caught on around here & probably elsewhere.

As for a 6-string barry, I played a friend's Mele. It's got a very unique & fascinating sound, sort of like a zither. That's why I seek one. But why pay that high a price? I will eventually find just what I want, a nice one, & it will be well within the budget I stated in #1 post. I always have been able to get it done. All it takes is a bit of patience. This time won't be any different. I enjoy the hunt. I have several ukes & guitars to play in the meantime, so there's no rush. There's no fun in hunting if I just throw money at the search. Not for me, any how -- maybe for you.
I'd love to buy a Kamaka for $500 too but its just not happening.
My wife loved to go to Las Vegas & Reno to bet on the horses. Me, I didn't hang much in the casinos. I preferred to go to pawn shops all over the map in Nevada. Several years ago, in a PS in Pahrump, Nev, I picked up an "acceptable" condition Martin D-28, circa 1937 vintage, for just over $400. My tech friend got it up to "good" & we sold it for a nice profit. So you never know -- a Kamaka for $500 might be very difficult to find, but not necessarily impossible -- if one puts his or her mind to doing the searching.
 
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Yes, Niche instruments.

I own a Brucewei 8 string baritone. Unique sound. Yet Brucewei is going to charge you more than your budget and that's without a pickup.

Could you get lucky? Maybe yet as far as I'm concerned the Mele 6 string baritone is cheap. It's a solid wood instrument. Nothing expensive about it.
 
Yes, Niche instruments.

I own a Brucewei 8 string baritone. Unique sound. Yet Brucewei is going to charge you more than your budget and that's without a pickup.

Could you get lucky? Maybe yet as far as I'm concerned the Mele 6 string baritone is cheap. It's a solid wood instrument. Nothing expensive about it.
I have a buddy with a Wei-made all-mahog tenor. It's way overbuilt. Dead sound, no matter which strings. Maybe he got unlucky but there are several excellent luthiers right here on Oahu. Why go on a blind date with Wei?

As to the Mele -- I'm not enamored of mango. Mele has a good reputation for quality stuff. Maybe you should buy it.

By the way, I see you're an Aussie. There's a line of guitars called Caraya, coming out Australia. VERY inexpensive. I saw them on EBAY when I was shopping for a Parlor-size guitar (I ended up buying a Takamine). Have you heard anything about the quality of Caraya's instruments?
 
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I have a buddy with a Wei-made all-mahog tenor. It's way overbuilt. Dead sound, no matter which strings. Maybe he got unlucky but there are several excellent luthiers right here on Oahu. Why go on a blind date with Wei?

Well that was somewhat my point. If even Brucewei is going to charge you more for the instrument than you want to pay then your expectations price wise are way out of order.
 
There is a beautiful MUST 6 string baritone on Reverb. Asking price is higher than what is budgeted but you might want to just look at it for grins. The hunt is a important part of the process.
 
There is a beautiful MUST 6 string baritone on Reverb. Asking price is higher than what is budgeted but you might want to just look at it for grins. The hunt is a important part of the process.
I searched Reverb for your suggestion. The only hits I got were for a solid body electrc (but I want acoustic-electric) and for 6 string tenors (I seek a baritone). If you're a better searcher than I am, please give me link to the instrument you're talking about.
 
Since you are looking for a relatively rare instrument,
Since a baritone-scale guitarlele is not very difficult to find, and can be relatively inexpensive,
Since strings are cheap,
Since replacement nuts and saddle bones are cheap,
...why not buy a 20" scale guitarlele and replace the nut and saddle (and strings) to create the string spacing you are looking for? You'll have six tuning pegs on the headstock. You'll have six places to affix the strings at the bridge. You'll save a lot of money. You'll probably come in under budget.

You could even try writing someone like Caramel, to see if they will create the nut and bridge you are looking for and send them on one of their A/E Guitarleles. They responded quickly when I had questions. Shipping took a lot longer.

If they can't do it, and if you don't want to try filing a nut blank, a luthier should not charge too much for that service.
 
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Hi Bellgamin,

While both of these are above your budgeted range, the hunt was fun! Now I want one!

Here is the Reverb link: https://reverb.com/item/15842426-must-guitars-six-string-baritone-ukulele-guitar-2017-cedar-maple

There is one at Elderly as well, just came in on consignment. Island brand... I know you enjoy the hunt, but let me know if you want the link.

For better or worse this instrument is a Guitarlele even if its called a six string baritone ukulele.

The instrument that was requested only has 4 courses of strings with 2 doubles.
6 string tenor ukuleles are rare enough and 6 string baritone ukuleles really are like hens teeth.

Bellgamin had actually found himself a 6 string Baritone ukulele but wanted to spend less money even though the price was completely reasonable. He's bought himself a 6 string tenor ukulele now anyway.
 
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Bellgamin had actually found himself a 6 string Baritone ukulele but wanted to spend less money even though the price was completely reasonable. He's bought himself a 6 string tenor ukulele now anyway.
BUT the 6-string tenor does not erase the fact that I am seeking a 6-string, non-guitarlele, baritone uke.

By the way, I'm considering a brief trip to Maui to play the Mele 6-string barry. If its sound sends me somewhere over the rainbow, I may buy it. Should that eventuality actually eventuate, perhaps my troubles will truly melt like lemon drops.
 
BUT the 6-string tenor does not erase the fact that I am seeking a 6-string, non-guitarlele, baritone uke.

By the way, I'm considering a brief trip to Maui to play the Mele 6-string barry. If its sound sends me somewhere over the rainbow, I may buy it. Should that eventuality actually eventuate, perhaps my troubles will truly melt like lemon drops.

I just had a quick look at Mele's website for the fun of it and they also have a solid Mahogany 6 string Baritone for a starting price of $800.

Bargain. No one is going to do better.
 
... One reason for the difficulty is that searching for "6-string baritone uke" gets me a whole bunch of guitarleles and not much else except for a mango Mele that isn't a/e (acoustic-electric).

Well there's your problem solved right there.
Buy the Mele and have a pickup fitted.

Acoustic electrics are just acoustics with a pickup fitted.
Any decent luthier, perhaps even at your local music store, can fit one for you.
Acoustic-electric units are easily found on eBay, etc.

y the way, I see you're an Aussie. There's a line of guitars called Caraya, coming out Australia. VERY inexpensive. I saw them on EBAY when I was shopping for a Parlor-size guitar (I ended up buying a Takamine). Have you heard anything about the quality of Caraya's instruments?

I owned 1 Caraya instrument before - a mini guitalele-sized steel string guitar.
While it wasn't completely horrible, it was a pretty bad design. It had no truss rod, so having the steel strings gave too much relief at the neck, so I had to sand the saddle down til it was nearly non-existent.

Otherwise, on their instruments that don't require a truss rod, or those that do come with truss rods fitted, they would be the level of quality you'd expect from a bottom-line, cheap, generic instrument from China. Playable, but not fantastic.

Personally I regretted my Caraya purchase, I'd recommend sticking to more reputable makers.
 
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