Going from Tenor to Baritone

greatone88

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I have been playing a Tenor Uke for a few years now and looking to try out a baritone. Other than the different tuning (same chord shapes, but they play different chords) anything I should look out for when making this change ?? I am currently looking at the Kala KA-BE. Any advice would be appreciated ! :)

Jimbo
 
My suggestion is to purchase some Pepe Romero Baby Baritone strings or a set by Guadalupe Strings designed to allow a tenor uke to be tuned as a Bari (DGBE). Both are really good. If you have an extra tenor, a set of these strings is an inexpensive way to get your feet wet.
 
I enjoyed the difference is sound and resonance when I went from a tenor to baritone. I think it is a very worthwhile move if you like a warm mellow tone.

One suggestion is nut width, try and keep it the same if you not experienced with different instruments and different nut widths. Most tenors are 1-3/8” wide, baritones can be that or 1-1/2” is fairly common.
 
this is very particular to me, but I wouldn't even consider a baritone without a cutaway...but, as I said, that's me and how I play
 
There's really nothing unexpected to look out for. It'll just feel like a slightly larger tenor, but with baritone tuning.
It adds a nice variety of sounds.

Just be careful, as it can be a gateway drug to guitars !
 
My suggestion is to purchase some Pepe Romero Baby Baritone strings or a set by Guadalupe Strings designed to allow a tenor uke to be tuned as a Bari (DGBE). Both are really good. If you have an extra tenor, a set of these strings is an inexpensive way to get your feet wet.

Over the years I've tried the DGBE tuning on tenor several times and never been satisfied. The tenor scale length and body size doesn't seem to handle DGBE tuning very well (muddy, thuddy, strings too thick).

I find playing a Baritone and a tenor tuned like a baritone to be very different experiences.

But sure, if you don't have a baritone ukulele but simply need something that's tuned like a baritone out of necessity (such as for a recording) the string set option would be helpful in a pinch. However, I don't think it's a really representative experience of an actual baritone.
 
The jump in scale length is bigger than any of the other ukes, (3"), & I found it rather awkward, but the extra resonance kept me trying. :D
 
Thanks for the advice everyone!!! I actually got wife approval yesterday to get one, so I am all over it now :)

I had thought about getting the DGBE strings for my Tenor, but I only have one Uke right now and like playing that just the way it is now and don't want to be changing strings back and forth.

I play bass too, so not too worried about the nut width :)

I do like deeper richer sounds and I am not really interested in learning guitar. Plus I think a baritone will open up more tabs for me as I will now be able to look at guitar tabs too and play most of them.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone!!! I actually got wife approval yesterday to get one, so I am all over it now :)

I had thought about getting the DGBE strings for my Tenor, but I only have one Uke right now and like playing that just the way it is now and don't want to be changing strings back and forth.

I play bass too, so not too worried about the nut width :)

I do like deeper richer sounds and I am not really interested in learning guitar. Plus I think a baritone will open up more tabs for me as I will now be able to look at guitar tabs too and play most of them.

Good to know you are comfortable with a 1-1/2” nut width as that is common on baritone. Because of the low tension tuning due to the short scale length some baritones can sound dull or muddy, especially an all laminate wood. What is your budget, do you already have a tone wood preference?
 
Yes, I just made the switch too and the baritone is great! The one I got, the nut width is the same as a tenor so it's not too hard to play. One thing to note is that a tenor is fairly common with a 17" scale length but it seems like baritone has more flexibility from 19" to 21" so depending on which one you get, it could make a big difference if you want to play the same songs.

Good luck in your search
 
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