10 string harp ukulele

bigdai

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Hi folks,

I’ve just bought a 10 string harp uke from eBay. It arrives tomorrow so I will post photos then. It is small risk in that there was little information and the photos were poor. Apparently no makers mark to be seen. I saw it and bought within five minutes and even as a curiosity got it at a good price. It looks like a restoration job: possibly has a crack, complete refinish and fret dress, possibly new tuners. Anyway, that is all easy enough.

My question is around strings and tuning, even though it will be weeks before I get that far. I’ve not seen any six bass-string harp ukes. I’m wondering about tuning the uke with a low G and descending the bass from there. Alternatively going for a high G and some sort of re-entrant tuning but not sure what this would be. From the little research I’ve done, there seem to be very few six bass-string harp ukes out there and I can’t find anything on the subject of tuning. Lastly, I presume nylon classical guitar strings?

Thanks for any thoughts. If there is interest in the project I’ll update with photos and other questions at each stage. Not sure if I will keep or sell in the long term. Depends on the level of fun.
 
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Don’t know what happened to my post, Miguel. Will try again!
 
How about a photo?

Hello Pete. Will post one tomorrow when it arrives. Hope you are keeping well. You kindly agreed to build one for me about 7 years ago but then another child arrived and I ran out of money. Still loving my PH paddle and korina tenors though!
 
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So it arrived today. Hardly built by a master and certainly rustic in places. My skills are good enough to transform the finish. The top appears to be solid with laminate sides and back. It is solid in construction with a bolt on neck. Bass strings seemed to be tuned EADGBE given that they were all flat of this guitar tuning. I don’t want this tuning in the end. Three wound strings and three nylon.
 
Did anyone have any thoughts on a potential tuning? Thanks in advance if you can share. I appreciate that it could be anything I want it to be.
 
Hmm nice, looks like Walnut
 
If you tell me the string length and pitches I could send you some wound strings.

Thanks, Pete, that is very kind. I’m going to fit some Aquila’s with some nylon guitar strings I have lying around and play with tunings for a while. All repairs now done and grain filled so will start the finish this weekend. Ten days from being finished with luck. Definitely a walnut top and mahogany laminate on the side.
 
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Having never seen a harp uke I was expecting them to have bass notes from the common uke chords so they could be used to fill the root notes of the chords on the major and minor chords. The tuning could also be adjusted for different keys.
 
Having never seen a harp uke I was expecting them to have bass notes from the common uke chords so they could be used to fill the root notes of the chords on the major and minor chords. The tuning could also be adjusted for different keys.

So it is is quite fun to play now that the strings have settled over night. With six sub bases I have a root note for all except B. It is not as resonant as my better ukes but that is probably down to all the additional bracing, laminate back and sides and the thick walnut top. I think I’ll play it for a few weeks and then sell. It is good fun.
 
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