Help me choose a new baritone ukulele up to $300

glennerd said:
Since you mentioned cedar, I really like my Cordoba 24B. Looks great too with the red padauk binding, but the cedar top Kala has the slotted headstock.
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Those cedar top ukes really have some nice style with the spalted maple on the Cordoba and acacia on the Kala.
But I think since I scored the old Giannini yesterday, I'm just going to play it and hold out until something special falls in my lap. Or maybe it already has.

Still going to keep looking for something like the bamboo that I might could be a little more carefree with also.
 
I've been thinking about a Mainland Baritone. I really like the looks and tone of the Red Cedar/Rosewood model but I have a perfectly good Kala Cedar top so I'm resisting the buy impulse.
 
I had a Kala solid acacia slothead baritone and it was gorgeous in every way.
 
BBegall said:
I've been thinking about a Mainland Baritone. I really like the looks and tone of the Red Cedar/Rosewood model but I have a perfectly good Kala Cedar top so I'm resisting the buy impulse.
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Oh man, I forgot about Mainlands. You can't go wrong with a Mainland ukulele, and I bet the Cedar/RW Baritone sounds awesome!
 
I was thinkin’ about gitten a new, better baritone uke, but I’m leanin’ towards another, better tenor guitar now. I use picks, so I like the steel strings lots better. The TG is more versatile and more like (to me) a real instrument. One can even tune one to to GCEA or DGBE!

I hardly ever play my little ukes any more, except I fingerpick my baritone sometimes. :eek:ld:
 
Down Up Dick said:
I was thinkinÂ’ about gitten a new, better baritone uke, but IÂ’m leaninÂ’ towards another, better tenor guitar now. I use picks, so I like the steel strings lots better. The TG is more versatile and more like (to me) a real instrument. One can even tune one to to GCEA or DGBE!

I hardly ever play my little ukes any more, except I fingerpick my baritone sometimes. :eek:ld:
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That's an interesting point of view. I too feel more comfortable with a pick in my hand.
And as a total beginner in the field of string instruments, I feel I have done myself some justice by giving a variety of instruments a chance, to see what feels and sounds right to me. And my gut tells me I would like a deep mellow tone in a small guitar with a wide neck. Maybe a variant of a tenor guitar fashioned from a small classical.

I am drawn to a slightly deeper tone. I really like the tone of my full size/thin body Dean Exhibition mahogany acoustic electric, but it's big and cumbersome. And I really like the idea of acoustic electric in a smaller bodied guitar with a shorter scale, maybe a 4-string tuned low, as a one and only-take anywhere instrument of choice.

Not that I'd likely sell my bari uke(or my little mandolin). But nearly immediately after restringing my new to me baritone uke in the conventional DGBE, I started thinking I might like ADBG(I think?) better. As most of the songs I would like to learn have a deeper, lower tone. And as an beginner, making sounds more similar to what I hear is more encouraging and pleasing to me.

But my baritone uke, having a narrow 1 5/16" nut and short 19" scale, is probably more similar in dimensions to a super tenor.
 
I like the low pitches too, old and slow (I am too). I have, at one time or another, played all the brass instruments. I like my cello banjo and my tuba a lot though the tuba weighs a lot more than it usta.

When I play uke at all, I mostly pick my baritone. I find a Dunlap .38 or .46 mm on Aquilas works pretty well, and I never use more than a .50 mm.

Where ya from in Texas? I’ve spent a lotta time in San Antonio and San Angelo (Air Force). I’d like to go back there now, but it’s too much of a hassle.

Anyway, I’m mostly a tenor guitar or baritone uke guy now. :eek:ld:
 
Down Up Dick said:
I like the low pitches too, old and slow (I am too). I have, at one time or another, played all the brass instruments. I like my cello banjo and my tuba a lot though the tuba weighs a lot more than it usta.

When I play uke at all, I mostly pick my baritone. I find a Dunlap .38 or .46 mm on Aquilas works pretty well, and I never use more than a .50 mm.

Where ya from in Texas? I’ve spent a lotta time in San Antonio and San Angelo (Air Force). I’d like to go back there now, but it’s too much of a hassle.

Anyway, I’m mostly a tenor guitar or baritone uke guy now. :eek:ld:
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I'm south of Dallas a bit. Not quite as nice of weather as San Antonio here. But it's alright.

I'm hoping to get to a point where I can just pick up and play all three guitar, uke, and mandolin. I have a feeling it's going to take me a while. I'm just trying to key in on where my quickest progress can be made and am hoping that the baritone uke is my gateway. But I may need a slightly larger instrument with a wider fretboard to help my fingers find where they belong.
 
old and slow said:
That's an interesting point of view. I too feel more comfortable with a pick in my hand.
And as a total beginner in the field of string instruments, I feel I have done myself some justice by giving a variety of instruments a chance, to see what feels and sounds right to me. And my gut tells me I would like a deep mellow tone in a small guitar with a wide neck. Maybe a variant of a tenor guitar fashioned from a small classical.

I am drawn to a slightly deeper tone. I really like the tone of my full size/thin body Dean Exhibition mahogany acoustic electric, but it's big and cumbersome. And I really like the idea of acoustic electric in a smaller bodied guitar with a shorter scale, maybe a 4-string tuned low, as a one and only-take anywhere instrument of choice.

Not that I'd likely sell my bari uke(or my little mandolin). But nearly immediately after restringing my new to me baritone uke in the conventional DGBE, I started thinking I might like ADBG(I think?) better. As most of the songs I would like to learn have a deeper, lower tone. And as an beginner, making sounds more similar to what I hear is more encouraging and pleasing to me.

But my baritone uke, having a narrow 1 5/16" nut and short 19" scale, is probably more similar in dimensions to a super tenor.
Click to expand...

I just got a kala super tenor, the KA-ASZCT-ST All Solid Spruce Top with ziricote. I love how it's so different in sound from the Kala KA-B that I used to own. If you can test something like that at a local shop, it might be worth your time. Having a 19" scale with a slightly different sound than the Giannini might round out your collection nicely.
 
ukeanixi said:
I just got a kala super tenor, the KA-ASZCT-ST All Solid Spruce Top with ziricote. I love how it's so different in sound from the Kala KA-B that I used to own. If you can test something like that at a local shop, it might be worth your time. Having a 19" scale with a slightly different sound than the Giannini might round out your collection nicely.
Click to expand...

For now, I'm just going to try and learn to play what I have that'll most easilly cross over. My baritone uke. My Rover converted to tenor guitar. And the Sqier Mini soon to be converted to tenor guitar. All tuned DGBE for now, for simplicity.
 
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old and slow said:
And as a total beginner in the field of string instruments, I feel I have done myself some justice by giving a variety of instruments a chance, to see what feels and sounds right to me. And my gut tells me I would like a deep mellow tone in a small guitar with a wide neck. Maybe a variant of a tenor guitar fashioned from a small classical
Not that I'd likely sell my bari uke(or my little mandolin). But nearly immediately after restringing my new to me baritone uke in the conventional DGBE, I started thinking I might like ADBG(I think?) better. As most of the songs I would like to learn have a deeper, lower tone.
Click to expand...

I have been thinking along similar lines and thought that GCEA but down an octave from standard ukulele (“octave ukulele”) is almost exactly the same pitch as ADGB without having to learn weird middle of the guitar Fingerings. I think i have almost talked myself into GDAE (octave mandolin) as i want a nice low bass string to thumb but slightly higher pitch on the number one string.
 
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