iamesperambient
Well-known member
I have PM'd you .
received and responded.
Now all continue on your normal discussion.
I have PM'd you .
Would recommend starting with CGDA with Aquila 31U. Aquila sells this Nygut CGDA set for concerts, but they should fit well enough on tenors What I did on my concerts to tune GDAE was take the GDA strings from the CGDA set, install them and then use 20-pound test (0.018") monofilament fishing line for the E. It all works well and sounds remarkably well.
The Aquila strings have always been available from Elderly Music. Southcoastukes.com just recently started stocking a GDAE set (#EFS17-RW) for tenors that's a bit pricy ($16 range), but the retailer's reputation is good. Either way, I'd get a $3 150-yard spool of 20-pound test from Walmart or equivalent for backup. If there is any problem, it's always with the durned high-E being too weak a string and potentially popping. By the way, have never had a problem with the Aquila Nygut CGDA strings popping.
See ...I knew I would be wrong LOL
-ach what do I know? I'll stick to soprano and try that out at GDAE...Mandolele here we go...Cheers.
There is no wrong way when you're having fun.....
I will head over and have a look... maybe low-G would just be easier! I love Dirk's constant effort to get people to use the strings that make their instrument sound as good as it should, despite us all insisting that stringing them with shoelaces or electrical wire and tuning them to AAAA sounds just fine
Have to admit to enjoy experimenting. GDAE with a low-G and high-E creates a unique sound on a ukulele.I second that.
Have to admit to enjoy experimenting. GDAE with a low-G and high-E creates a unique sound on a ukulele.
I'd hung back replying to this thread as I only found it after it had appeared to have degenerated into a bit of a mud-slinginging session. That all seems behind us now, so I'll post my tuppence-worth
I've had a set of Aquila 5th's on a soprano ukulele for some months and am thoroughly enjoying the experience. As a trainee-wannabe mandolin player it gives me an instrument to practice my fingerings on without the volume of my mandolin (who wants to hear mistakes repeated loudly ?)
I'll disagree with many other posters in that I still feel it "sounds like" a ukulele, but a ukulele that is being played as a melody instrument. This being a characteristic of the small wooden body and "nylon" strings. The bonuses are the much wider range of notes available, there's over two octaves available in the first position, and the wide range of sheet music and tabs that were originally designed for mandolin or fiddle
I'll not promote a ukulele tuned in fifths as a strumming instrument, perfectly possible but that's certainly not the "ukulele sound", nor for finger-picking, bluegrass or playing with a bow!! ... as a melody instrument, it's great!
I feel like a 5th's tuning maybe be nice on a baritone uke, just because of its size and resonance i feel
the baritone is the best uke for trying different tunings. Do they make 5th sets for baritone?
if i could get kind of an 'octave mandolin' sound out of my baritone i may try it just to get
comfortable with the sound and feel to see if i'd like to actually get an actual octave mandolin.
I do like how larger mandolin family instruments sound but standard smaller mandolin i'm not a big
fan of the sound.
The closest I've got to a baritone ukulele is a 1/4-size guitar, with a 19" scale. Just out of interest, I'd re-grooved the nut to take four strings and shuffled the existing nylon (guitar) strings around to give me a GDAE tuning an octave below my mandolin/soprano ukulele. It works, the instrument sounds just like it always did (when used for melody), but with the advantages of having just 4 strings to contend with. The chords sound "different" to a normal guitar, inevitablyI feel like a 5th's tuning maybe be nice on a baritone uke, just because of its size and resonance i feel
the baritone is the best uke for trying different tunings. Do they make 5th sets for baritone?
actually i just said i would like to try it on my baritone and was wondering if they made baritone 5th's tuning strings...wasn't doing anything other than that.The last time you waded into this thread with nothing but a negative opinion, the thread deteriorated. The thread started by looking for folk who do GDAE so experiences could be shared. Having folk ask questions about the topic is a normal expectation. It's called information-sharing.
We get it. You don't like it. Now that the world has been told a couple of times in this thread what your opinion regarding GDAE and 5ths is, how about the courtesy of letting folk share and enjoy without "your opinion" why you don't approve?
The closest I've got to a baritone ukulele is a 1/4-size guitar, with a 19" scale. Just out of interest, I'd re-grooved the nut to take four strings and shuffled the existing nylon (guitar) strings around to give me a GDAE tuning an octave below my mandolin/soprano ukulele. It works, the instrument sounds just like it always did (when used for melody), but with the advantages of having just 4 strings to contend with. The chords sound "different" to a normal guitar, inevitably
So, in answer to your question, you'll probably be able to use a set of standard nylon guitar strings if you can't find a set of "5th's" specifically for a baritone ukulele.
actually i just said i would like to try it on my baritone and was wondering if they made baritone 5th's tuning strings...wasn't doing anything other than that.