Never been so EXCITED over a new set of strings before - YOU GOTTA TRY THIS! :D

Never been so EXCITED over a new set of strings before - Guadalupe Custom octave GCEA

About one year ago, I posted a topic here on UU on what people thought about having an ukulele tuned to GCEA, but one octave lower (ie: making it an octave ukulele).

My new set of Guadalupe Custom Baritone ukulele strings for tuning GCEA one octave low arrived today. Set them up on my Oscar Schmidt acoustic-electric baritone.


I WAS BLOWN AWAY!
The sound is so rich and warm, and the volume is actually pretty decent too considering it's not a loud uke to begin with and we're using a lower tuning on a short scale/small body.
It's about as loud as a typical acoustic bass guitar.

The strings feel very comfortable to play. It also solved the problems I had with this uke. As some of you may know, Oscar Schmidt baritone ukes have a very wide neck. With these thicker, bassy strings, the wide neck feels perfect.

Anyway, I got so excited that within minutes of putting the strings on, I made a brief recording to give you an idea of how it sounds.

First 1 minute is played acoustically.
Then after that, I play it plugged into my Roland Microcube.
http://www.4shared.com/audio/FoMrEzCn/Guadalupe_Custom_Baritone_GCEA.html
(note: Strings were put on the uke just 10 minutes ago. They're still stretching, so they have yet to sound their best).


In some ways, this is the true "bass ukulele", as it retains that GCEA tuning, and is one octave lower. It is sort of in that range between a true bass, and standard guitar (ie: top 4 strings of a baritone guitar). Absolutely a pleasure to play, both for some bassy rhythm as well as solo.

If you have a baritone uke that you want to spice up the relationship with, find these strings (I got mine on eBay) and give them a shot!
I didn't have to make any adjustments or changes to get the strings to work on this uke.
It's a new favourite tuning that I will continue to use from now on I hope that it catches on and becomes more popular, so the strings become easier to purchase.




EDIT: I bought mine from here:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370520712210&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

No affiliations whatsoever, just happy customer.

Sounds great! I kinda tried this on my tenor with some guitar strings I had laying around but it was a bit sloppy. Have been thinking about getting a cheap Baritone to try it on. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for posting up info about these strings. This will be helpful im sure to many who want a baritone but dont want to learn new chord formations. well its certainly insprired me to buy a baritone.

So will we see this make a debut in one of your videos?

Wow, that is a really impressive sound. I never had a desire for a Baritone until I just heard this. Could be that your playing is quite good too.

Great sound!!! So mellow and smooth! I wonder if you could make them work on a Tenor?
Cheers,
Skottoman


EDIT: Ok, I just had to do something to get close to that sound, so I tuned my Lehua Tenor (dreadnaught shape) to as low I as I could without it sounding horrible, and played it through an amp with reverb. Wow, a lower sounding uke is kind of magical. Not as low as your Baritone, but I never thought of tuning as low as possible. Thanks for the inspiration. Sounds lovely!

So here's the $64K question...

At what point is it possible to use phosphor bronze acoustic guitar strings? (This may be a luthier question)

If, by frequency, you are tuning to G(98.0), C(130.8), E(164.8), A(220), there may be a point at which the tension is low enough and the strings still retain their sizzle.

John

There is NO point on a regular ukulele when acoustic guitar strings should be used.
Ukes are built to take nylon strings (ie: classical guitar strings).

As there is no truss rod, and the nut/saddle/bridge are designed to take nylon strings, attempting to put metal strings on them that are for acoustic guitars will prove to be quite damaging.

If you wanted a 4-string 'guitar' like instrument, consider Tenor Guitars. I have an Ozark Tenor guitar tuned DGBE with regular acoustic guitar strings ( I think they're phosphur bronze). It can take it, because it is built the same as a guitar.

Great timing on this thread. I sent a request to Guadalupe Custom Strings last month enquiring about some strings to set up my baritone with E A C F# tuning. They sent me an e-mail yesterday saying they could do it, but I'd have to buy at least 5 sets. Hearing how impressed you are with the strings, I think I will pull the trigger and drop $40 to give them a try.

I posted a thread about Quadalupe custom strings on my Fluke. I had to have people try it and most people had that "wow" look.

I love my FLuke with my LOw G Guadalupe strings . It is my go to uke and I'm putting Guadalupes on other ukes too.

kissing said:

There is NO point on a regular ukulele when acoustic guitar strings should be used.
Ukes are built to take nylon strings (ie: classical guitar strings).

Click to expand...

I'm only asking because the ukulele doesn't know if the strings are nylon or steel as long as the overall tension is within the the instrument's limits. It is a calculated amount based on scale length, string diameter, and note freqeuncy.

For example... if a tenor ukulele can withstand 35-39 lbs then there may a point at when tuning down enough that a light guage D through E strings may work without tearing the bridge off and folding the neck. I'm not proposing just slapping on bluegrass strings and crank 'em up.

John

where can these be purchased at?

And they all laughed when I recommended them and lo and behold. They are great strings, I'm glad someone else has the same enthusiasm for them. Nice playing as well.

mustacheukuleles said:

where can these be purchased at?

Click to expand...

Do a google search for Guadalupe strings. You can call and speak to them if you wish. Nice fellas working over there.

so are these the baritone brass wound custom guage for $10?

Love that deep sound. Not quite ready to ditch my tenors, but a new Bari may be on the list.

Skottoman said:

EDIT: Ok, I just had to do something to get close to that sound, so I tuned my Lehua Tenor (dreadnaught shape) to as low I as I could without it sounding horrible, and played it through an amp with reverb. Wow, a lower sounding uke is kind of magical. Not as low as your Baritone, but I never thought of tuning as low as possible. Thanks for the inspiration. Sounds lovely!

Click to expand...

I've been tuning down my tenors to Bflat (FBbDG) on the rec of Dirk at Southcoast as an experiment. Does sound good.

@skottoman: I noticed you have a Pineapple Sunday too. I found it really made it nice, warm and mellow for me using Worth Browns. I never have gelled with the native sound of the PS. Can't really describe it other than it was too forward and kinda punchy for my tastes. I love playing it though, very comfortable and at Bb, something I enjoy more.

bdukes said:

@skottoman: I noticed you have a Pineapple Sunday too. I found it really made it nice, warm and mellow for me using Worth Browns. I never have gelled with the native sound of the PS. Can't really describe it other than it was too forward and kinda punchy for my tastes. I love playing it though, very comfortable and at Bb, something I enjoy more.

Click to expand...

I'm going to try tuning my PS down to see how it sounds. I may have to take your advice and try the Worth Browns sometime. I like the sound of the PS as is, and your description is pretty good, but I always like to see how things change with strings. Now I'm trying tuning!
Cheers,
Skottoman

purchasing direct from guadalupe might be a bit costly since they require u to buy in bulk. I got a SINGLE set of them from an ebay store. Im on my phone at the moment so cant find the link. I will post the ebay seller when i get on a computer later

mustacheukuleles said:

where can these be purchased at?

Click to expand...

I got mine here:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370520712210&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

kissing said:

purchasing direct from guadalupe might be a bit costly since they require u to buy in bulk.

Click to expand...

I was able to buy the custom fibre core strings in individual packages direct from them. Maybe international purchases are different?

didgeridoo2 said:

I was able to buy the custom fibre core strings in individual packages direct from them. Maybe international purchases are different?

Click to expand...

That's what I did. I ordered about `10 various sets.