String recommendation for warm, soft DGBE Baritone strings

[UkeKiddinMe]

I am about to jump into the baritone world, and I want to string it like the last 4 strings of a guitar DGBE. However, I want all the strings the same synthetic material - no wounds.

My apologies - I know there are lots of string threads, and I have read much of it, but it wasn't clear to me. Could someone recommend
a warm, soft DGBE Baritone set that is all synthetic with no wounds?

Thank you.

 

[jackwhale]

I'm looking forward to the impressions of others. I'm a fan of the baritone tuned in DGBE.

I've tried many over the past two years--Aquila, Worth brown, Worth Clear, Living Water, and others but the 4th string is always muddy sounding or sloppy feeling. I have ended up with Worth clear 1st, 2nd, adn 3rd with a wound 4th guitar string as my favorite for my style of playing.

 

[J'Ukebox]

If U are sure U don't want any wounds, in my experience Worth browns are the best ya can get for warm & soft. However, for my playing style, i find that i too need the wounds, which has meant switching to Martins. Good luck!

 

[ralphk]

Of those I have tried, Worth Browns all fluorcarbon strings sounded best but the tension seemed low. I prefer the high D version in the Southcoast set. Not as low a tone as a low D, but still nice.

 

[mm stan]

Martin 630 or Alohi strings...

 

[Ben_H]

Living Water Strings - fantastic for low D

Molten Chocolate on my Pono

 

[Hippie Dribble]

try a standard set of aquilas and replace the low D with a wound Jim Dunlop classical guitar string. I agree with jackwhale, that's usually the one that needs taming and tweaking

 

[Patrick Madsen]

I suggest you read Southcoast bulletin #4 on baritone tunings,http://www.southcoastukes.com/004.htm. It's really a good read on certain tunings and why. I found most linear G tuning from my baris that were non-wound, too soft and not enough umm ummph to the sound. The only linear G strings I've found that do that so far are the Martin 630's. Not a big fan of them but for the Favilla bari, the only ones that gave it the sound it needed.

On my Martin, I have Southcoast with a linear Bb tuning. It was the one most jazz players used due to most brass instruments are tuned to a Bb. I'm waiting for a set of Cuatro C strings to try next on the Martin.

 

[OldePhart]

I haven't really found non-wound strings I'm happy with in linear DGBE (for reentrant I use Seaguar fishing leaders for all for strings and they're great).

What I've found that I like is a couple of seaguar leaders on the trebles and Thomastik-Infeld flat-wound chromium steel classical guitar strings on the basses (the .035 on the D and the .030 on the G). These strings are not as noisy as most wound strings, so fast pattern picking doesn't sound like a scratch-fest.

Note, if you are picking you can also use three seaguar leaders and only use the Thomastic-Infeld guitar string on the D - but if you're strumming you'll be happier with two wound strings. You have to adjust your attack slightly to make the non-wound third string transition smoothly to the wound fourth string - it's less of an issue between a non-wound second and a wound third. I found that after running scales back and forth through the transition I was able to make it sound smooth when pattern picking but not so easy to do when strumming.

Edit to add: re Martin 630 strings - Just goes to show how tastes differ. I tried a set of those on my Mainland and couldn't get them off fast enough. So I tried them on the Pono and couldn't get them off fast enough. I found them to be very squeaky with poor wound to unwound balance.

John

 

[pdxuke]

I have Southcoast strings for re-entrant dGBE. No wound. I like them. Going to try Bb next in search of the Holy Grail of baritone tuning--haha!

 

[Patrick Madsen]

John, the Infields,being a steel string, doesn't put too much tension on the bridge does it? Sounds like something to try.

 

[OldePhart]

John, the Infields,being a steel string, doesn't put too much tension on the bridge does it? Sounds like something to try.

They aren't a "steel string" as such. All of the wound "nylon" or "classical" guitar strings are metal wound over a soft (usually rope or nylon) core. In this case the metal winding happens to be a chromium-steel blend.

They aren't truly flat wound the way my bass flat-wound strings are (yeah, I got out a magnifier) - but they have less pronounced "ribs" than do most wound strings. So, they are less squeaky or scratchy than most wound strings, but a little more than unwound strings.

They do seem to be slightly higher tension than some bari wound strings, but not dangerously so. In fact, the tension matches very nicely with the Seaguar leaders I'm using on the trebles.

John

 

[UkeKiddinMe]

I have Southcoast strings for re-entrant dGBE. No wound. I like them. Going to try Bb next in search of the Holy Grail of baritone tuning--haha!

First of all - wow - this forum is active. I am Very grateful to have found it.

Second - somebody has to school me on what re-entrant DGBE means.

I'm looking for the DGBE of a guitar - or lower - without metal in my strings.

 

[OldePhart]

First of all - wow - this forum is active. I am Very grateful to have found it.

Second - somebody has to school me on what re-entrant DGBE means.

I'm looking for the DGBE of a guitar - or lower - without metal in my strings.

Reentrant means the D string is higher than the G.

You probably won't find a satisfactory linear (D is lower than the G) set using an unwound D, and even the G is iffy for the linear tuning because of the balance problems between the unwound G and wound D. WIth a reentrant set that isn't an issue, and then an unwound G string is okay.

Even most guitar sets (with much longer scales) use a wound D string, and some even a wound G. You can only go so thick with an unwound string before it becomes to stiff to vibrate properly.


John

 

[OldePhart]

...work much better than the lengths of fluorocarbon and fishing line material...

The key is that you have to order fat 'nuff fishing line. Seriously, if you're trying to get by with the stuff that may have worked fine for you on a concert or even a tenor it ain't going to cut it when you move up to baritone...

The stuff I use for the B string on a baritone, for example, is the same gage as the unwound low-G in a Worth low-G set (where it is inadequate for the low G tenor but works superbly for the B on a baritone). For the E string I'm using leader equivalent to the C string in a Worth CH (hard) set. On reentrant sets I'm using that same thing on the D and using 130 lb (.041) leader on the G. Tension and volume balance is very good with these, though the G string can get just a little "snappy" if you pluck it really hard.

For linear sets I'm using the same B and E strings as above, and the previously mentioned Thomastik-Infeld wound strings on the basses - the tension is maybe a fraction higher than typical baritone sets and the string-to-string volume balance is better than any of the commercial baritone sets I've tried (Aquila, Martin, and Ko'Olau). I'm a big enough believer in these sets that I ordered ten each of the Thomastik-Infeld strings because they aren't commonly available at local stores and often are backordered even at the online suppliers - as I discovered when I ordered and neither stringsbymail.com or juststrings.com could fill my order for five of each.

John

 

[luckyduck]

On my Mainland Mohogany baritone my favorite set up is the Aquilla red strings on the D and G, with regular Aquilla on the B and E for an unwound set. They sound good and are super easy on the fingers. My next favorite is the GHS blacks. Although the 2 bass strings are wound on the GHS, it was a nice set to play and the blacks would probably be super mellow with the red Aquilla's.

The disclaimer is that I play mostly with a pick (blue grass and rockabilly) , so there is that.

Paul

 

[pdxuke]

I have my 6 Barry Tones tuned differently. I report on it here, if it interests you:
http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?77850-My-Baritone-Stringing-Report