I restore a lot of older baritones(harmonys/Silvertones-19" scale) and string about 50% of them to low-GCEA for clients that want to play the same chords/patterns/music sheets with their ukulele groups and have found that using the DG from an Aquila wound baritone set and pair that up with the EA from an Aquila Nylgut soprano set..gives you a good set of strings with decent tension across the board and not too tight.(put the strings in the same position they are intended for..meaning the DGBE set D string for the first G and the G string in the C position,when stringing/tuning to GCEA.The soprano E as E and the soprano A as A).I DON'T use the Aquila Baritone set made for GCEA. Those nylgut strings are the same size as concert set strings in the upper half..and have WAY TOO MUCH TENSION(Aquila..If you are reading this..PLEASE make up a special GCEA two wound set with the smaller soprano EA strings..and no reds..it'll be a hot seller!..thank you!).The smaller soprano A string(around .020-.022?..don't go above the .022A for A,you'll break it!) takes a little time to settle in so take your time going up a bit at a time to reach the A..you may want to lightly prestretch it while putting it on...and it'll tune/play nicely once it reaches that level with good tone and volume.I use the soprano E because it feels more like the A and they play well as a pair..
I do have one friend that does break an occasional A string...but he does a lot of string stretching while playing..but also does get people asking him "Wow..is that a Martin?" at the same time..on a 1950s Silvertone that I modified slightly( handsanded/thinned the top about 20%,dropped the action,bridge,saddle,recut the head to that shape,new tuners,and refinished the thing,removing the Silvertone label in the process.He asked if I could replace the label after I did it..but now is happy I removed it due to all the compliments about how it plays.
Someone brought me a couple of string sets to put on his new baritone(the baritone was a Mele..or Pono?).. and a brochure about their string sets from the company(not Mele or Pono) he bought them from online..where EVERY GCEA set listed on there said "High Tension" in the "features" sections of the string set description..They weren't kidding..unplayable in my opinion!I told him what to expect if I did put them on for him and put them on ..no charge.The guy agreed about the tension,but wouldn't listen to what I told him to use,returned his baritone to the store, and went back to a tenor..playing right alongside one I restored that is playing GCEA at the local meets.Some people don't want to learn,I guess.