6 string baritone anyone?

jcarlos said:

I bought one of those recently too, it should be here in 2-3 weeks, I can post some videos of it when I get it.

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Please do. I'm very curious about it.

notgeorgeformby said:

Is it this one?

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I bought one of the four he initially listed just like this one. They all sold. There is one more currently listed. If they all keep on selling he may keep on listing them but they aren't a regular line from Brucewei. Its kind of normal for Brucewei's special designs to be no longer listed by the time the first ones sold arrive with the buyers. I managed to NOT buy one last time he listed them buy couldn't resist anymore.

Anthony

Yea I will, here is the 8 string tenor guitar, to give an idea of what a paired steel string would sound like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHELSuQDgFE&feature=youtu.be

anthonyg said:

I bought one of the four he initially listed just like this one. They all sold. There is one more currently listed. If they all keep on selling he may keep on listing them but they aren't a regular line from Brucewei. Its kind of normal for Brucewei's special designs to be no longer listed by the time the fist ones sold arrive with the buyers. I managed to NOT buy one last time he listed them buy couldn't resist anymore.

Anthony

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Same here, I just bought a new guitar as well, but these 8 string baris are gonna be rare so I had to grab one.

Well my 8 string came in and Im a bit disappointed, bad strings, strings hit each other, fret buzz and a crack :/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NzsqmfJL10&feature=youtu.be

I am going to mess around with the tuning to try and get the tension correct but that's not really a proper fix...its always a gamble when ordering instruments online, you win sometimes and lose sometimes, contacted Bruce Wei already, gonna see what he says before I consider this a loss :/

Sorry to hear about the problems. I have always wondered about the quality of those instruments. Thanks for the review.

My Brucewei 8 string baritone arrived today as well. Mine arrived in good shape. I think that Carlos's instrument has suffered from impact damage in transit. Mind you I wish brucewei sent his ukulele's in hard cases like Taisamlu. Too much trouble otherwise. The string spacing on mine is a little close to. I expect to need another nut at some point. The strings on mine are fine.

I expect mine is going to be a GREAT instrument in time and I will spend a little money on it. Its cheap. I expect to spend a little money on cheap instruments to make them great. It has a great warm tone already.

Also, these 8 string baritones have adjustable truss rods. Loosen them off and let the neck come up a little. The trouble I sometimes have with these instrument is that the neck pulls back. Let the neck come up for a while and it it does start to come up too much then tighten the truss rod to bring it back down a little.

Anthony

jcarlos said:

Well my 8 string came in and Im a bit disappointed, bad strings, strings hit each other, fret buzz and a crack :/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NzsqmfJL10&feature=youtu.be

I am going to mess around with the tuning to try and get the tension correct but that's not really a proper fix...its always a gamble when ordering instruments online, you win sometimes and lose sometimes, contacted Bruce Wei already, gonna see what he says before I consider this a loss :/

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Sorry to hear this, Carlos. But thanks so much for posting your review, it's very helpful.

Would it be possible to fill the crack before it gets worse? And why are the string tension so loose, do you think?

notgeorgeformby said:

Sorry to hear this, Carlos. But thanks so much for posting your review, it's very helpful.

Would it be possible to fill the crack before it gets worse? And why are the string tension so loose, do you think?

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Yea, Im still bummed out and waiting to see what Bruce says, I also discovered another crack on the back of the body :/. There really wasnt any kind of support in terms of shipping, the uke was wrapped in 1 layer of the soft white paper that comes with new instruments, dont know what its called. But aside from that, no foam/ no peanuts/ nor bubble wrap to protect it from moving inside the box. If the cracks developed from mis-handling I dont know a thing about how to repair them. My local shop will do it, but it will cost as much as the instrument itself :/, and then there isn't a guarantee that it wont continue to crack and then need more work done later on.

The strings are very loose because they're the wrong strings, the basic aquila 8 string dgbe set is meant for a 20" scale instrument, Bruce makes his baritones at 19" scale, so I was hoping that he would have chosen the correct strings for the scale he uses. If this instrument was a 4 string , it wouldn't be such a big deal, because I could find strings with the correct tension and make a solid DGBE, but its a special case where 19" dDgGBBEE would be hard to find, making me mix and match strings to find the proper tension. The wound strings are the more problematic ones. This is where I feel this instrument needs work, the wound strings need more room to vibrate, and as it stands there isnt enough space for that to happen.

I don't agree with the idea that its a "cheap fixer upper" instrument, I've ordered from Bruce before and those instruments were very well made and required zero modifications from me to make them playable and enjoyable. I'm guessing that they are still sorting out how to make 8 strings. Ill keep you posted on what happens.

The string tension is loose because its a 19" scale instrument. I have a couple of 19" baritones already and I like them. The loose tension is just being exacerbated in this case by the LOW action (there is a reason why its good to have a highish action on new instruments) and yes, the double string spacing is a fraction close.

Mele ukulele makes and sells some 19" scale baritones and with the right strings you can either set them up DGBE or GCEA.

Anthony

jcarlos said:

I don't agree with the idea that its a "cheap fixer upper" instrument, I've ordered from Bruce before and those instruments were very well made and required zero modifications from me to make them playable and enjoyable. I'm guessing that they are still sorting out how to make 8 strings. Ill keep you posted on what happens.

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I view them as "gambler's specials". A bit over a year ago, I bought 3 Bruce Wei ukes over a couple of months...a mahogany, an acacia/koa cutaway, and a bell. The first one arrived with a scratch, which sort of surprised me, as it was definitely not from transport. Within about 3 months it had developed a wavy top, and needed fret leveling, which I did. it continues to play well and hasn't deteriorated further. The second, the cutaway koa, developed a high spot at the neck/body joint, to where anything fingered above the 10th fret would play the 15th fret. It took a lot of grinding on the frets, but I was able to get it OK after a couple of tries, and it continues to be OK. The Bell (tenor) developed a twisted neck, after about a month, however we did take it on a trip, and it was in the car in a gig bag crossing the desert (not left in a hot car, but nevertheless dry air), so I really don't know if the uke or the conditions were to blame.

Those were all 'free shipping' ukes from before the high shipping charges. Recently a friend wanted to take a chance on a nice solid wood mahogany uke that no one had bid on, so we got it, knowing the potential as a 'fixer upper'. It arrived with a split seam about an inch long on the back (not from transport), and on further examination I saw that the neck was twisted...not too severely, but enough to make it a wall hanger or beater uke. Bruce refunded most of the money as I requested, and I'm going to fix it, but I really don't see how all these problems are just things that happened. I've ordered many ukes made in all sorts of places, and they're solid and straight, and stay that way, but as much as I think Bruce makes nice looking ukes and is an honest guy that will stand behind any issues, they are definitely gambler's special, and if you can't fix your own, I strongly recommend not ordering them, no matter how nice the price seems.

mds725 said:

I have this Mya-Moe 6 string mahogany baritone. Aaron made a sound sample of it here:



I also have an 8-string Kamaka baritone and an 8-string long-neck Mele tenor tuned as an 8-string baritone. As with 6-string and 8-string tenors, 6-string and 8-string baritones have slightly different sounds. My 8-string baritones have a fuller and somewhat "twangier" sound, which I attribute to the double B and E strings. The 6-string sounds less full but richer, which I attribute to there being a low E string paired with a regular E string.

I've never had or played a Bruce Wei ukulele. Most of the popular manufacturers don't seem to make 6-string baritones. Mya-Moe appears to be an exception, and you might be able to find a Mele or Pono 6-string baritone, but if you've already found a Bruce Wei 6-string baritone, that may be the best way to go..

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How wide is the nut? What are the string spacings between all strings across the nut? I'm trying to do the same thing with a baritone I'm building. Thanks!