Four Guitalele Quick Comparo

Jim Hanks

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 13, 2013
Messages
5,823
Reaction score
594
Location
JoCo, NC (near Raleigh)
Quick comparison of 4 guitaleles, mainly so I could see how the new Kala compared to the others.

Kala KA-GL-Koa w/ Aquila strings
Cordoba C1M 1/4-size guitar w/ Thomastik Infeld strings
Jupiter Ukuleles #47 w/ Thomastik Infeld strings
Cordoba Mini M w/ Southcoast strings

All in Terz tuning (G to G), Mini is reentrant

 
Quick comparison of 4 guitaleles, mainly so I could see how the new Kala compared to the others.

Kala KA-GL-Koa w/ Aquila strings
Cordoba C1M 1/4-size guitar w/ Thomastik Infeld strings
Jupiter Ukuleles #47 w/ Thomastik Infeld strings
Cordoba Mini M w/ Southcoast strings

All in Terz tuning (G to G), Mini is reentrant



Hi Jim, Never heard of Jupiter Ukuleles but it sounds the best by far tonally. The third string from the top sounds louder than the others on the video.....! Not sure if that is the case in reality!
Mike
 
Persona opinion, after having a bunch of guiteles, i got a romero creations signature parlor. baritone body, full guitar neck, eadgbe correct tuning. no looking back, this is so much better than any guitele.
 
Hi Jim, Never heard of Jupiter Ukuleles but it sounds the best by far tonally. The third string from the top sounds louder than the others on the video.....! Not sure if that is the case in reality
It should. :p That's a custom by PA luthier Jonathan Dale. I haven't noticed the 3rd string being louder from my perspective but you could be right. That's a rather fat nylon string. T-I also makes a set with a wound string in that spot so there must be a lot of folks that don't like the nylon 3rd.

Persona opinion, after having a bunch of guiteles, i got a romero creations signature parlor. baritone body, full guitar neck, eadgbe correct tuning. no looking back, this is so much better than any guitele.
Different strokes. I don't want a neck bigger (in either dimension) than the Jupiter. I don't mind losing E tuning in the process. There's enough geetar pickers anyway. :p
 
Persona opinion, after having a bunch of guiteles, i got a romero creations signature parlor. baritone body, full guitar neck, eadgbe correct tuning. no looking back, this is so much better than any guitele.

uketanzon- I hear a romero creations baritone guilele is coming out in January 2019. A few people have them already (there was another thread on this but I can't find it). Also a guilele built from the tiny tenor body. Do you have any idea how the parlor guitar is different from the baritone coming out? I think the body is a bit bigger and the neck on yours is a standard classical guitar width??

My journey into the world of ukes started in March, basically because I wanted a smaller guitar- but most of the guilele's had necks too wide for me and the mini guitars still felt too big. My acoustic guitar neck is only 1.5" at the nut. Margie
 
Why are these instruments called "guitaleles"? There is already a Spanish or Portuguese instrument called a requinto guitar that seems to be the exact same instrument.

From Wiki: A Requinto guitar is a smaller version of a classical guitar, with a scale length between 52-54cm.
It is tuned a fourth higher than a standard classical guitar, to A2-D3-G3-C4-E4-A4.


Here's Stu Fuchs playing a requinto guitar/guitalele

 
Requinto is certainly related but even at 52cm scale (20.47") is bigger in every dimension than any of these. "Guitalele" is admittedly a fuzzy category.
 
in what ways do you find the Romero so much better?
Persona opinion, after having a bunch of guiteles, i got a romero creations signature parlor. baritone body, full guitar neck, eadgbe correct tuning. no looking back, this is so much better than any guitele.
 
I hear a romero creations baritone guilele is coming out in January 2019. A few people have them already (there was another thread on this but I can't find it). Also a guilele built from the tiny tenor body. Do you have any idea how the parlor guitar is different from the baritone coming out? I think the body is a bit bigger and the neck on yours is a standard classical guitar width??

My journey into the world of ukes started in March, basically because I wanted a smaller guitar- but most of the guilele's had necks too wide for me and the mini guitars still felt too big. My acoustic guitar neck is only 1.5" at the nut.

Yes, the Romero Creations guileles should be in stores very soon (here is that other thread about them). I have one of the first Tiny Tenor six strings and love it. You are right about the differences: The Parlor (or Pepe Senior) model has more of a regular classical guitar neck, including a wider nut and a flat fretboard. The new baritone and tiny tenor guileles have a nut width of about 48mm and a radius fretboard. I find it perfect. The scale length of the baritone is 20", the Tiny Tenor's is 17".
 
Yes, the Romero Creations guileles should be in stores very soon... I have one of the first Tiny Tenor six strings and love it.
Did you notice there have been none available anywhere since that first batch? At least not listed on HMS which is the only place I've ever seen any listed for sale. I'm still considering having Bruce Wei make me something similar.
 
Pepe said the next batch of Romero Creations will be available in January, so I wouldn't have expected them to show up any sooner. My guess is that he will present them at the NAMM show at the end of the month. As a matter of fact, he has just posted a video on Instagram of each model:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsOY6zdA4bQ/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsM0KDEAPdc/

Very nice comparison video you did there, Jim. This will be tremendously helpful for others who are interested in a guilele.
 
Pepe said the next batch of Romero Creations will be available in January, so I wouldn't have expected them to show up any sooner.
Ah, I see. Maybe I'll wait a while longer and see what pops out. Bruce offered to make me a mango guilele for about the same price as the TT6. Hmmm......
 
If the Baritone is tuned DGBE then why are Baritone Guileles / 1/4 size guitars tuned the same as the guilele ? ADGCEA ? Can they be tuned to standard guitar ? Do they require specialty strings? Is the baritone uke a different scale length to bar guil ? I like the short scale length, but I hate getting my chords muddled .
 
Baritone guileles come in both 19" and 20" scales same as baritone uke. They can be tuned EADGBE or ADGCEA depending on the string set. My favorite tuning is Terz, GCFBbDG, right in between but a great feel and tone with standard tension guitar string sets.
 
Baritone guileles come in both 19" and 20" scales same as baritone uke. They can be tuned EADGBE or ADGCEA depending on the string set. My favorite tuning is Terz, GCFBbDG, right in between but a great feel and tone with standard tension guitar string sets.

Okay thanks for that, the Terz is a no no for me because I play the guitar, and the uke and ukeguilele so I am starting to get the chord shapes mixed up in playing sop and the six stringers, so another tuning ( like cfad on my Greek Bouzouki lol) is starting to mess with what is my ageing mind. LOL I may get a cheapy 1/4 guitar and the appropriate strings and try it out before going all "Pepe Romero" . Cheers.
 
Terz is just like play guitar with a capo at the 3rd fret - use your standard chord shapes. FWIW, I have "1/4 size" guitar for sale - the Cordoba C1M. It has Terz strings but came with standard E tuning so it is possible. PM me for details if interested. $120 shipped to US.
 
Terz is just like play guitar with a capo at the 3rd fret - use your standard chord shapes. FWIW, I have "1/4 size" guitar for sale - the Cordoba C1M. It has Terz strings but came with standard E tuning so it is possible. PM me for details if interested. $120 shipped to US.

I'm in the UK or I would have been interested in that. Thanks for the info .
CJ
 
Top Bottom