6 string: baritone uke, guitelele, 1/4 sized guitar, mini guitar????

I've been playing classical guitar for more than 50 years. I'm not a great player, but I have had a long time passion for guitars and been through more than 50 of them.

Recently I purchased a ukulele for my daughter and happened to run across a Caramel 6 string baritone that looked interesting--I bought it, was amazed and now I find myself looking at small versions of the classical guitar.

I'm not sure what the difference is between the baritone uke, the guitelele, the 1/4 sized and mini guitars. I want an instrument with the normal e to e tuning and it looks to me like any of the mentioned instruments might work depending on the scale.

I would appreciate any information regarding my search.

Well, to start, baritone uke almost always refers to a 4-course instrument, so a 5 or 6 string baritone uke will have 1 or 2 doubled strings.

Guitalele is more commonly used to refer to a 17" scale 6-course instrument but you will also see guilele and guitarlele and sometimes they will be used on a 19" or 20" scale 6-course instrument. There's really no standard.

1/4-size typically means a 19" scale instrument with a larger body than a uke-inspired guilele. Mini guitar can mean anything.

If you want e to e tuning, your best bet is going to a longer scale (like 20") with higher tension classical strings. There are also some sets from Cordoba and Aquila that claim this tuning.

Or another option is to go with one of several reentrant tunings. By taking the bottom 2 or 3 strings up a octave, that can give you more options.

I think there is also an Aquila set for an e to e tuning up an entire octave for 17" scale.

If you treat the tuning as a kind of capo, you increase your options even more.

There really is a lot to consider and explore.

Jim;

Thank you for weighing in the subject. And you're absolutely right, there is a lot to explore. I've seen the double-stringed baritones, but there seems to be a lot of single sixes out there which leads to more consideration and exploration. And you're right about mini guitar meaning just about anything--I've seem some that 1/4 sized and others that are 1/2 sized. And from what I've seen, a 20 inch scale is probably what I should have for normal e to e tuning.

You may be interested in the Romero Creations 6 nylon (there's a steel string version too, with pin bridge instead of thru).

https://www.romerocreations.com/baritone-6string

https://theukulelesite.com/romero-creations-baritone-6-string-spruce-mahogany.html
be sure to watch embedded vimeo link.

This is one of the creators... ambient noise is terrible but gives a sense of it's capabilities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2nBjUEQ8PU

Custom, same player, THE Pepe Romero Sr. https://vimeo.com/160854657

If you want a small bodied classical guitar with a full scale for e tuning checkout the Godin Motif. I just got one myself and it is lovely. It’s essentially a parlor guitar braced for nylon strings with a classical guitar neck.

If you want something somewhat smaller with a shorter scale but that still is long enough to tune to e checkout the Cordoba Mini II models.

Wukulele: the Romero is very nice, but a bit more than I am willing to spend at this point

CPG: I've owned a number of Godin instruments and they've all been good. The Motif looks like it may be more along a 3/4 size--a bit larger than I'm looking for.

Bill: I tried the Yamaha several years ago and thought it was a great instrument for the price. But I want something that tunes e to e like a regular guitar--the Yamaha did not.

I appreciate your various contributions and they help enlarge my search and standards. Thank you.

If you have been playing classical guitar and like the wider neck profile there is the cordoba mini

https://youtu.be/Pn9hUa9qHa4

It’s tuned A to A but you can get E to E strings from Pepe Romero or Kanilea. The mini is a 20 inch scale. If u don’t mind a bit bigger there is the mini II (22 inch if memory serves me right). The mini II are tuned E to E. But the neck width is a bit slimmer.

Anuenue has a 20 inch scale as well but if you are in the US then you will have to find some way to buy online from overseas. I don’t know why it is not sold there. (As far as I know to date)

Romero Creations has 2 20 inch scale tuned G to G(sounds much better) or A to A. Baritone 6 and Dho6. They also have strings to tune them to E to E. They make 21 inch scale models for steel strings as well with a pin bridge.

Going up the Budget there is a Kanilea. I am not sure if their more Budget friendly company Islander makes one too.

If you really want a 6 string small guitar those 17 inch scale ones are very cramp and if you have big hands you might not like it. Most of the 17 inch ones are tuned A to A.

So often people, especialy uke-centric ones, interested in "researching instruments" focus on price. then price. Then price. They want the best sound for the money without actually examining the sound differences among models, why they exist & then talk about "standards". I get working backwards from ones budget, but it doesn't' preclude taking a logical approach of understanding what goes into the sound to give it the qualities one is looking for. There is also the issue of how humane the labor that went into an instrument construction is, as weel as how sustainable the materials. Cheap brands rarely take this into account as they are also after how little they can spend on cost of production.....And then after the actual body of the instrument, there is string selection.

Aside from final cost/sustainability, one can approach things by size. A baritone uke generally corresponds with a 1/4 size guitar. Lots of these on the market.

Without a set up, all these points are generally moot, especially with extremely cheap brands with poor QC at the factory level. Bricks & mortar stores send a lot of these back to the manufacturer, who likely put them for sale online..

One bari-uke sized guitar I'd happily get (if it weren't for space storage issues) that's very low maintenance, humanely produced in the USA is the Outdoor Guitar https://www.outdoorukulele.com/collections/guitars/products/outdoor-guitar-carbon-nickel. Their ukes are solid.
There's also Cordoba, whose vision for existing is to "bring the nylon string guitar to as many people as I possibly can" ~Tim Miklaucic, founder.

Set up is still important.

I think Pepe Romero Jr. has done a some collaboration with Cordoba, & appears around 4:10. Pepe Sr has collaborated with the luthier Cordoba mentions in this video (Blochinger).

EvanB said:

Wukulele: the Romero is very nice, but a bit more than I am willing to spend at this point

CPG: I've owned a number of Godin instruments and they've all been good. The Motif looks like it may be more along a 3/4 size--a bit larger than I'm looking for.

Bill: I tried the Yamaha several years ago and thought it was a great instrument for the price. But I want something that tunes e to e like a regular guitar--the Yamaha did not.

I appreciate your various contributions and they help enlarge my search and standards. Thank you.

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EvanB said:

Wukulele: the Romero is very nice, but a bit more than I am willing to spend at this point

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I'm going to make this very simple for you. You are a fool if you don't get that Mini in the Marketplace. :nana:

Contrails: Thanks for the point to the Anvenue instruments, they are good looking. The Cordoba Mini is on my list.

Wukulele: I think price is important, particularly at the beginning of a search. My first classical guitars were cheap as I worked my way through various features. And then I started spending. Thank you for the point to Outdoor Guitar. My recent guitar purchases have been carbon fiber and Outdoor Guitar has received attention on the Carbon Fiber Guitar thread on the Acoustic guitar Forum.

Jim: Simplicity is a virtue. Thank you for your persistence.

CPG said:

If you want a small bodied classical guitar with a full scale for e tuning checkout the Godin Motif. I just got one myself and it is lovely. It’s essentially a parlor guitar braced for nylon strings with a classical guitar neck.

If you want something somewhat smaller with a shorter scale but that still is long enough to tune to e checkout the Cordoba Mini II models.

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I think the two options recommended here (Godin Motif and Cordoba) are some of the best given what you are looking for.
Though for the Godin Motif, you would be lucky to find one. They've been out of stock (and highly sought after) for a while!

I recently tried a 'travel size' classical guitar called the Valencia VC 350 at a music store the other day. Very affordable and decent quality.

I appreciate the experience and advice coming through this forum and have decided to go for the Mini on this forum's marketplace.

The information on this forum and on-line has also led to some confusion. As the title to this thread indicates, I thought the instruments mentioned were all the same approximate size. However, I've run across references to the mini as being a 1/4 and a 1/2 sized guitar and I don't see how it can be both. I was thinking that if the mini turns out to be smaller than I'd like then maybe I'd move up a size. What would that size be called if not 1/2 sized?

Just to test the waters I purchased a Caramel 6 string baritone and was quite surprised at its quality and play. I sold the ebony model and purchased the zebrawood model and it is just as good. I think the Caramel 6 string acoustic/electric baritone is a good buy. I'm thinking that the Cordoba Mini will be a step up.

Note that there is a Mini (what you're buying) and a Mini II. The Mini II is a very different beast at almost 23" scale so that probably qualifies it as 1/2 size.

Jim;

The Mini II EB-CE has been on my radar. If the Mini on this site sold the Mini II would have been my next option. The only problem I had in deciding for the Mini II was it's size. One Amazon reviewer notes that the bag for the Mini is a perfect fit for the Mini II--in which case I decided I might as get the Mini. Also, I had a hard finding the exact specs for the II (One of the things I've really liked about Kremona guitars is that when you go to their site every offering comes with complete visual specifications).

I see that the Mini II EB-CE is a common listing on Reverb and can be had for about the same price I'm willing to pay for the Mini on this site.

kissing said:

I think the two options recommended here (Godin Motif and Cordoba) are some of the best given what you are looking for.
Though for the Godin Motif, you would be lucky to find one. They've been out of stock (and highly sought after) for a while!

I recently tried a 'travel size' classical guitar called the Valencia VC 350 at a music store the other day. Very affordable and decent quality.

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Guitar center has the Motif. It says call for condition and availability but you can add it to your cart. I just got mine from there like three weeks ago.

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Godin/Motif-Nylon-String-Guitar.gc

Though I wish I had called first because mine had a couple (tiny) blems in the top so I think it might of been a floor model or return but I paid full price for it. The blems were tiny tiny little things that most folks wouldn’t notice and it is perfect otherwise, but I bet if I had ordered by phone I could have saved a little money. My hunch is that all they have left are returns and floor models.

They also make a nylon string “Roadhouse” guitar under their Art and Lutherie brand but I couldn’t find one in stock anywhere. As far as can tell it’s the same guitar as the Motif but with a maple neck instead of mahogany and with a cool brown burst finish...and it costs $100 less.

I love the Motif though. I know it’s not what is being looked for in this thread but it’s pretty awesome.

The Motif is, indeed, a beautiful, and by all reports, a great instrument. I've had acoustic and electric Godins and they've all been great instruments.

I've been thinking about dipping my toe into both guitar-leles, and classical guitars. Is the mini II more useful for the latter, and mini I the former? I've read this thread but still not sure. I do prefer a smaller instrument, but not sure where to try either of these in person.

A green; I wasn't sure either, so I ordered both the Mini and the Mini IIEB-CE. I first spotted the mini and thought it would provide what I wanted but then I worried that it might be a bit small, hence the Mini II order. Good luck with your decision making.

Jim; I finally found the dimensions of the Mini II and it is clearly bigger than the Mini (and I still don't understand how the II could fit in the smaller instrument's bag???)

EvanB said:

A green; I wasn't sure either, so I ordered both the Mini and the Mini IIEB-CE. I first spotted the mini and thought it would provide what I wanted but then I worried that it might be a bit small, hence the Mini II order. Good luck with your decision making.

Jim; I finally found the dimensions of the Mini II and it is clearly bigger than the Mini (and I still don't understand how the II could fit in the smaller instrument's bag???)

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I saw this quote on a review page:
The Mini II is the successor to Cordoba’s popular Mini. More ukulele-like in character, the Mini has a short-scale fretboard of 20 inches and is tuned a perfect fourth higher than a standard guitar, from A to A. The standard-tuned Mini II has a slightly bigger and deeper body than the Mini, along with a longer, 22-7/8“-scale neck. It’s obviously closer to the guitar end of the spectrum than its predecessor.

I think Jim basically made this point earlier too

A Green; Have you made any decisions?