Recommend a Guitalele!

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KevinTJH

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I’m a newbie in the ukulele world, but guitars are up in my alley so I thought it’d be fun to learn a new instrument - Guitalele.

I did a quick google search on some of the best options out there:
https://ukuleleworld.com/best-guitalele/

I’m considering the Yamaha but I’m heavily leaning towards this particular one because I really like the unique look:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Caramel-Electric-Guitalele-Beginner-Guitarlele/dp/B07RJQTBG3

However, Guitaleles aren’t common at all where I am so I’ll have to buy one online based off reviews and non of that “try before you buy” luxury.

Are there any Guitalele players out here who can recommend one?
In terms of tone, I’m specifically looking one that’s bright and poppy, and one that resembles more of a ukulele tone than a nylon classical guitar.
Unique look would be a huge bonus.

Spruce top vs Ebony laminate?
 
First thing to try to determine is what ergonomics you think you'd be comfortable with. The biggest considerations here are scale length and nut width. You can get guitaleles between 17" tenor and 20" baritone scales. Nut width varies between 44mm to 50mm and can make a big difference to some people.

All the models in that article are on the low end of the market. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing depending on your needs
 
Bear in mind, there are different nut widths brand to brand.
I've owned the Yamaha one, and found that the nut width is a bit cramped for my liking.

I've played some Cordoba guitaleles in store and found that they are a lot more ergonomic.
They typically have a wider nut width.
 
kissing said:
Bear in mind, there are different nut widths brand to brand.
I've owned the Yamaha one, and found that the nut width is a bit cramped for my liking.

I've played some Cordoba guitaleles in store and found that they are a lot more ergonomic.
They typically have a wider nut width.
Click to expand...
That's what I was getting at. The Yamaha is 48mm and some find too narrow but I personally don't want anything wider than that and even 1-3/4" (44.5mm :eek: ) I find comfortable.

The Cordoba Mini is 50mm baritone scale that I find too big for my liking but if those ergos work for you, I agree it is an excellent choice. Note that the tenor scale Cordoba Guilele has a narrow width about 46mm.
 
I have a Cordoba Mini R and I believe it has the 50mm nut. I like it a lot and bought it when I was looking for something that was easier to play when switching from playing a ukulele to a guitar. It seemed like less of a transition than switching to a guitar with a 14" to 15" lower bout. I have since purchased a vintage parlor guitar. If you decide the Cordoba Mini R would be a good choice for you PM me since I would be willing to sell it. They are hard to find and it took me awhile to find mine. It would also be a great travel guitar.
If you go to Camsuke on YouTube you can hear him play the same model.
 
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I'm both a guitar and uke player. You may already know this, but you can put a capo on the 5th fret of your guitar and you essentially have a big guitalele. It's the same tuning that most use at that point. So the learning curve would be very low. You could also measure from that 5th fret on your guitar to the saddle to see what scale length that would compare to. That could be helpful in selecting the size you want.
 
Hi,
I am also a lifelong classical guitarist and recent (4 years) Uke player.
I have a dozen concert classical and 7 high end tenor uses. I have tried a few guitareles and were not happy. The difference in the scale lengths, the nut widths, were not comfortable for me, as your hand develops 'memory' on the stretches between frets. I could not play classical guitar music on the guitarlele, or Uke music, so sold them very quickly, So GOOD LUCK!
Ron
 
Thanks for all the responses, guys.

Sorry I should’ve clarified that I’m looking for something on the lower end range since it’s more of a fun instrument for me at the moment.
I have fairly small hands with short fingers so I almost usually prefer narrower nuts/necks.

The Cardoba looks gorgeous but I think it might be out of my price range.

Maybe I’ll go for the Yamaha?

Also, are there any other types of Guitalele strings out there like Nylgut or Fluorocarbon?

What are these strings? By Standard E, is it literally tuned to the standard guitar tuning with a scale that short?
https://www.stringsbymail.com/aquil...ndard-e-tuning-red-series-full-set-18570.html
 
I think the Yamaha would be a good choice then. It's not expensive and it will give you some experience to see if you like the format.

There are a few different guitalele-specific string sets out there. That set is indeed standard tuning. I haven't tried it, but I have to say I'm not a big fan of standard tuning even on baritone scale which I have tried. I prefer A-to-A tuning on tenor scale which you can get with any standard nylon classical set. But since you said you wanted bright, I'd recommend the Romero UG1 set: https://www.stringsbymail.com/pepe-romero-guilele-fluorocarbon-strings-ug1-17520.html
 
I like my Yamaha gl1 with daddario classical strings tuned a to a if you find the nut width a bit tight you could make a new nut with wider string spacing .
 
I really like my Kanile’a GL6. Great instrument! Sweet punchy high end with rich mids and thumps low end. Check one out if you can
 
I know it isn't labelled as a guitalele but I've been curious about the Ibanez piccolo guitars. They have a scale of 17" with tenor size uke body too and are tuned like a lot of guitaleles. Of course one big difference is it has steel strings instead of nylon. It seems to fit nicely into this category of instruments though, regardless of what it is called. I've never played one, but it'd be fun to try.
 
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After much consideration, I ended up ordering the Caramel 30" because I just couldn't resist how it looks.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Caramel-Electric-Guitalele-Beginner-Guitarlele/dp/B07RJQTBG3

Also, the Guitalele that I ordered has bridge pins. Does that limit the set of strings I can get to ball-end ones only? What if I tied a knot in place of a ball?

Jim Hanks said:
There are a few different guitalele-specific string sets out there. That set is indeed standard tuning. I haven't tried it, but I have to say I'm not a big fan of standard tuning even on baritone scale which I have tried. I prefer A-to-A tuning on tenor scale which you can get with any standard nylon classical set. But since you said you wanted bright, I'd recommend the Romero UG1 set: https://www.stringsbymail.com/pepe-romero-guilele-fluorocarbon-strings-ug1-17520.html
Click to expand...
These set of strings are really starting to confuse me, so any advice would be very helpful.
These are the UG1 that states: "Fluorocarbon trebles and Low tension basses for tenor Guilele (guitalele or guitarlele) tuned A to A or Baritone Guilele tuned E to E".
If my particular Guitalele is 30", I'm assuming that's in the Baritone range, so I'll be tuning E to E with those set of strings?

And then there's also the UG2, which is for Baritone E to E as well:
https://www.stringsbymail.com/pepe-romero-baritone-guilele-fluorocarbon-strings-ug2-21114.html

In that case, what is the difference between using the UG1 and UG2 for a Baritone E to E?
Are Guitalele 4th-6th strings always wound strings or are they sometimes not?

I find Guitar/Bass strings very easy to choose because I have sound knowledge of different gauges as reference points, but with Guitalele strings (or Ukulele strings in general), it's not easy to find out what the gauges are with each set!
 
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For guitalele strings, use literally any Classical guitar strings.

They automatically tune up to ADGCEA on a shorter scale.
If you want normal tension, use normal tension.


If you want to tune like a guitar (EADGBE), don't bother looking much at guitalele.
Just get a classical guitar. 3/4 size Classical guitar is about as small as you can get without being impractical.
 
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KevinTJH said:
After much consideration, I ended up ordering the Caramel 30" because I just couldn't resist how it looks.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Caramel-Electric-Guitalele-Beginner-Guitarlele/dp/B07RJQTBG3

Also, the Guitalele that I ordered has bridge pins. Does that limit the set of strings I can get to ball-end ones only? What if I tied a knot in place of a ball?
Click to expand...
That is a nice looking instrument. It looks like they took the Ovation guitars design for the top.

Yeah, you should be able to tie a big ball end OR find an appropriate size bead to tie onto as the ball end. I know at least one uke manufacturer, Kanile'a uses a pin bridge on ukes. So standard nylon strings should be fine.
 
so the specs on that say scale length is 20", i.e. baritione uke scale - 3" longer than the GL1 you were also considering. That does change your string selection - or the tuning you'll get with a particular set.

I'm guessing the UG2 set is a little thicker gauge to give a higher tension for E-to-E. The UG1 set will work but if you don't like the tension, you could always tune up 2 or 3 semitones. I find G-to-G to be the sweet spot for baritone scale guitalele.

The 3 bass strings are generally wound, just like classical sets are. It is possible to do all unwound if you are willing to do a reentrant tuning. (I can help with that but you probably shouldn't start there so I'll leave out details for now. :) )

You can tie a knot on the ball ends from your old set to use regular strings.
 
ukeanixi said:
I'm loving the sound of that, playing the lottery tomorrow!!!
Click to expand...
That is beyond beautiful! And...beyond affordable too.

I've been searching everywhere on Australian stores to see if I can source the Pepe Romero strings but it seems I can only get them shipped from overseas, which will cost me a fair amount.
I'm considering just settling with the Aquila Reds since I'm just starting out and they're available where I am. The description says that it's E to E (which is what I want at the moment), but it doesn't mention anything about scale length. What would happen if these went on a Baritone Scale guitalele?
https://www.promusicaustralia.com.au/aquila-red-series-6-string-guitalele-string-set-e
 
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