LorenFL
Well-known member
Was plunking around on my new concert uke last night. I'm not a terribly traditional (or good) uke player, so I play Low G. Presently, I have a set of Low G Fremont Black strings on because the rearranged Aquila High G set that it came with made the G sound "thunky". (the Fremont Blacks did help with that a little... I may have also adjusted my playing style)
So, anyhow... I feel like the tension of the Fremont strings is a bit much. And also, whatever material they're made of tends to squeak across the frets when I bend notes (rather than silently gliding, as Aquilas do), which annoys me to no end. I thought maybe they'd break in and quit doing that, but they haven't.
None of this really has anything to do with the topic at hand, it's just what led me to experimenting last night...
Tuned down a half-step. That was kinda cool. Tuned down another half step. Still cool. Less tension, nice sound. No buzzing or booming issues. But, I've been down this road before. If I don't transpose the chords (and I won't), everything I play from tab just sounds a little off. It might often still sound "good", but it's just not right. I want to stick with a tuning that gives me the correct chords for all the shapes that I've learned.
What if... I tune the CEA strings down to GCE? Okay. That's kinda cool. Low, mellow sound. Easily bent notes. Intonation might be (further) off. But, it seems kinda fun. I could move those strings to their proper places and see where it goes.
But, what to do about an A string? Well, this Low G string is still here, let me tune it up to A. Whoa! That sounds COOL! So, I have Low A, Low G, C and E. Strings are in the wrong order, but for a straight bar chord, it sounds cool, as does a standard "D7" chord shape. I did some mental gymnastics to get to a D and G and A, and maybe a couple others, and... it has potential.
What I don't like (aside from the strings being out of order presently) is that that G-string cranked up to an A tension is way too tight relative to the other strings.
I don't really want to file out the A slot in my nut on my new uke to fit a fat string. And even if I did, the Low G string wouldn't work for a low-tension A. Maybe another C string? Or something slightly thicker than that?
Or, maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree? Thinner than a normal A string (like a soprano A string) for the A, and just keep it at A4?
The burning question is this: Surely I'm not the only person to have these thoughts? Has anyone played with the notion of a "Low A" string?
It loses a lot of that "traditional ukulele" sound. But, I think I'm okay with that. Sounds more guitar-like.
I just tried tuning the G string down rather than up. It won't go to the basement level A. But, it would go to E. Thinking about stringing up another old C string in the G position and tuning it down to A just to see what it sounds/feels like.
The more I play with it, the more I think it would take a custom string set to pull it off. I've got things a bit TOO detuned (as much as 5 half-steps).
I'm still intrigued with the notion of lower tension and "Low A" (in conjunction with Low G).
Now, you can all tell me all the reasons that this is a bad idea. (I'm thinking intonation problems, in addition to the resonance of the instrument not being correct)
So, anyhow... I feel like the tension of the Fremont strings is a bit much. And also, whatever material they're made of tends to squeak across the frets when I bend notes (rather than silently gliding, as Aquilas do), which annoys me to no end. I thought maybe they'd break in and quit doing that, but they haven't.
None of this really has anything to do with the topic at hand, it's just what led me to experimenting last night...
Tuned down a half-step. That was kinda cool. Tuned down another half step. Still cool. Less tension, nice sound. No buzzing or booming issues. But, I've been down this road before. If I don't transpose the chords (and I won't), everything I play from tab just sounds a little off. It might often still sound "good", but it's just not right. I want to stick with a tuning that gives me the correct chords for all the shapes that I've learned.
What if... I tune the CEA strings down to GCE? Okay. That's kinda cool. Low, mellow sound. Easily bent notes. Intonation might be (further) off. But, it seems kinda fun. I could move those strings to their proper places and see where it goes.
But, what to do about an A string? Well, this Low G string is still here, let me tune it up to A. Whoa! That sounds COOL! So, I have Low A, Low G, C and E. Strings are in the wrong order, but for a straight bar chord, it sounds cool, as does a standard "D7" chord shape. I did some mental gymnastics to get to a D and G and A, and maybe a couple others, and... it has potential.
What I don't like (aside from the strings being out of order presently) is that that G-string cranked up to an A tension is way too tight relative to the other strings.
I don't really want to file out the A slot in my nut on my new uke to fit a fat string. And even if I did, the Low G string wouldn't work for a low-tension A. Maybe another C string? Or something slightly thicker than that?
Or, maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree? Thinner than a normal A string (like a soprano A string) for the A, and just keep it at A4?
The burning question is this: Surely I'm not the only person to have these thoughts? Has anyone played with the notion of a "Low A" string?
It loses a lot of that "traditional ukulele" sound. But, I think I'm okay with that. Sounds more guitar-like.
I just tried tuning the G string down rather than up. It won't go to the basement level A. But, it would go to E. Thinking about stringing up another old C string in the G position and tuning it down to A just to see what it sounds/feels like.
The more I play with it, the more I think it would take a custom string set to pull it off. I've got things a bit TOO detuned (as much as 5 half-steps).
I'm still intrigued with the notion of lower tension and "Low A" (in conjunction with Low G).
Now, you can all tell me all the reasons that this is a bad idea. (I'm thinking intonation problems, in addition to the resonance of the instrument not being correct)