Low G... and Low A?

LorenFL

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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)
 
Go ahead and give it a try. The worst that happens is you decide you don't like it.

Intonation shouldn't be a critical issue - you should have enough room in a typical 1/8" thick saddle to move the witness point back far enough if you're handy enough to make/modify a saddle yourself.
 
I strung up an old C string (at least, I think it's a C string) in the G slot and tuned it to A. (back to AGCE tuning with Low A and Low G) Intonation is surprisingly good. I need to deepen my nut slots just a tiny bit more in places. (I took a little out when I changed the strings a while back) I have to tune a couple strings like 10c low when open to get the intonation right throughout the rest of the scale, but it works.

I'm still not sure. Need to rearrange the strings to really know. Definitely different not having the high A. It works for some things... maybe won't work for other things.

I was just strumming randomly with all 4 strings fretted switching between the 3rd, 2nd and 1st frets and my wife walked in and said "that sounds pretty". So, there's that.

I guess if I dish out my A slot to fit a C string and don't like it, I can always either fill it in or replace the nut. It's only a $40 uke!
 
There is a tuning that goes: low G / C / E / low A
So your chord shapes are the same as usual but you get a different sound due to the differing chord "inversion". This is called "low reentrant" or "cuatro" tuning. You will likely need a different setup especially at the nut to accommodate the larger 1st string.

As you say, this system is good for some things and not so good for others. I find it useful enough that I keep one uke in this system (though mine is tuned higher - key of Eb)
 
I searched yeserday, but did not find. As is often the case, sometimes you have to know what to search for!

Cuatro tuning. Thanks! I'll be heading down this rabbit hole now...
 
Well, I put together a reasonable set of strings and strung the uke with Low G and A. (in the proper order) Turns out my A nut slot was plenty wide enough to fit a standard C string, so that was good.

Definitely a different sound, and I mostly liked it. But, I guess I plunk around on the A string when I play scales a lot more than I thought I did, and that just sounds weird. A more talented musician who knows their way around the fret board far better than I do could probably work around it, but I couldn't.

So, this tuning, while a fun experience, and a great learning experience, isn't it for me. I definitely prefer linear tuning.

I'm still tweaking around in search of "low tension" Low G tuning. Currently, my G string is too slack and my A string is too tight. I'll get there eventually.

Thanks for the feedback, guys! I never knew Cuatro tuning was a thing.
 
There are different versions of cuatro in different countries. I think that the one with two low strings is the Venezuelan type that is tuned one note higher than uke ADF#B. Will have to find something on YouTube to see how that sounds.
 
There are different versions of cuatro in different countries. I think that the one with two low strings is the Venezuelan type that is tuned one note higher than uke ADF#B. Will have to find something on YouTube to see how that sounds.
Yes, D tuning is more traditional. Mine is in Eb on tenor scale using a Southcoast string set. That set is no longer available but I feel confident I can recreate something similar when the time comes to replace.
 
Did some more digging and ended up ordering a set of super-thin soprano Low G strings (Worth something or other, I believe, with like a .019 A string) for my concert. That might quench my desire for lighter tension.

As for the Low A Cuatro tuning... I just might revisit that with my "beater" tenor at some point. Never thought I'd be one of those people with different ukes for different tunings. Go figure! But, I expect that tuning would sound great on the tenor.
 
I just came across this demo of a cuatro string set. Sounds interesting, but definitely not like ukulele to my ears:

[video]https://www.instagram.com/tv/CFAFr53jLFC/[/video]
 
I just came across this demo of a cuatro string set. Sounds interesting, but definitely not like ukulele to my ears:

[video]https://www.instagram.com/tv/CFAFr53jLFC/[/video]

I lot of that is technique. Those real cuatro players really give the instrument a beating. :eek:

Here are some examples I posted a couple years ago:
https://soundcloud.com/jim-hanks/ukulele-cuatro-tuning-test
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy6w9hLqaVA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2lrUQKEG24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX1sg4dd0cA
 
Merlin, is he playing a baritone? Playing that far up the neck sort of defeats the purpose of tuning low, I think. Ends up sounding like a fairly normal uke except for the technique. I don't think I can strum anywhere near that fast! I'm constantly amazed at the various ways people find to play this instrument!

Jim, that's some cool stuff! I like the combo of low flute with the uke. Sort of a Far East sound.
 
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