Opinions on Low G tuning

People that think (usually beginners) that a lo G setup sounds good strummed bother me. I played a concert scale uke strung up lo G today that sounded awful. But I have one that sounds pretty good, plucking three strings at a time.
 
Would like opinions on Low G tuning compared to High G Tuning.

Totally personal preference. General advice: if it's your first uke, or you are still new to uke, stick with high G as most online tutorials and resources will be with high G in mind. If you are coming from guitar to uke, then consider a baritone uke (easiest transition from guitar to uke) or low g which keeps the linear tuning you would be used to with a guitar.

Ideally, and again personal preference, it's cool to have multiple ukes with different tunings so you can options. I have found that most of my ukes sound great with their standard tuning while some, to me, sound better with alternate tuning.
 
My go to uke is low G still have a high g though. My 8 string is both at the same time. Like low g for picking, extra notes come in handey.
 
People that think (usually beginners) that a lo G setup sounds good strummed bother me. I played a concert scale uke strung up lo G today that sounded awful. But I have one that sounds pretty good, plucking three strings at a time.

It’s not just beginners who think this, and I agree, reentrant sounds better strummed, and is easier to strum as well. You have to have a different attack with low G, too. But I’ve liked both at various times, and I have some low G arrangements I like a lot.
 
Strumming on low G is fun too, just different to play, and different sounding, a bit more guitar-like, IMO. It sounds less like the happy reentrant uke sound that some folks prefer, but nothing wrong with it. Didn't Bruddah Iz strum low G quite often?
https://youtu.be/R0xoMhCT-7A

From what I hear, Iz performed Somewhere Over the Rainbow with low g.
 
Sorry for the double post. I tried to quote someone, and it somehow got all messed up.
 
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I have tried the low G on a uke but always go back to high g. My baritone also has a high d. Makes the baritone sound so much better to me.
I have a background in Classical Guitar but I don't want my ukes to sound like a guitar


My thoughts exactly. Being a guitar player I automatically thought that I'd love a low-G strung tenor.
It did sound good, but if I want to play something that sounds like a guitar I'll play one of my 6 strings.

I am curious how my redwood topped concert would sound strung low-G. I love the way it sounds with high-G, but will probably try a low-G on it someday just to see.
 
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I don't have much more to add then has already been said. I prefer Low G because of the lower range, and like to play chord melody with it. However, I have a friend who plays chord melody on a High G uke. Just what you get used to. The only time I play High G is when I play clawhammer uke or just want to strum chords.
 
What's not to like about low G? It takes a three stringed instrument and turns it into a four stringed instrument. It doubles the amount of scales you can play. I do keep one of my ukes in the re-entrant tuning out of a sense of duty to the tradition but it isn't terribly useful to me.

You have convinced me to get a 5 string!
 
You have convinced me to get a 5 string!

Do you get to choose the order of the strings? I would think most people would like it GgCEA. Of course, I would prefer gGCEA to marginalize that shrill high G. Even though I have very little use for the high G string, I think it would be interesting to use it in turning 4-string chords into 5-string chords. For example E add9 (0422) would become (00422) and those two G strings would, at least in my imagination, function like a octave pedal.
 
I have always thought of low g if you pick a lot because of the extra range and high if you strum more, chords might sound uh uh uh fuller.
 
Both have their place. Re-entrant often sounds better with traditional Hawaiian or old time music and chord melody. Linear low G often better with modern music and jazzy chords and some fingerstyle. With low G you also get five halftones more to play with though most melody is played with higher notes.
 
I had a love/"hate" relationship with low-G until I got a baritone, which satisfied my want for a linear instrument. All my other ukes have been in re-entrant tunings since then. I found that instruments respond very differently to low-G, and that the type of low-G string matters a lot. I liked the wound ones (especially the Fremont Soloist and the wound Aquila Red low-g), but always felt the unwound low-G strings (and often the C strings too) sounded dull and lifeless. But it's really all just preference.
 
Do you get to choose the order of the strings? I would think most people would like it GgCEA. Of course, I would prefer gGCEA to marginalize that shrill high G. Even though I have very little use for the high G string, I think it would be interesting to use it in turning 4-string chords into 5-string chords. For example E add9 (0422) would become (00422) and those two G strings would, at least in my imagination, function like a octave pedal.

I would tune it FFFFA and do some Sonic Youth type stuff!
 
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