Uke's-Baritone, tenor.

[buchanan6694]

I'Ve been thinking about picking up a decent uke. I don't know much about them as far as the difference betweeen the models. If anyone who has experience with them could let me know I'd appreciate it.

[Kauai808]

I am a tenor guy myself but also own a concert and soprano. I would suggest you look for a Tenor uke. A baritone uke won't give you that traditional ukulele sound.

size goes like this
soprano-smallest
concert
tenor
baritone-largest

there are also super concerts and super sopranos
a super concert is a concert body uke with a tenor scaled neck

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by buchanan6694

I'Ve been thinking about picking up a decent uke. I don't know much about them as far as the difference betweeen the models. If anyone who has experience with them could let me know I'd appreciate it.

HI buchanan...

They are strung with Nylon strings (like classical guitars).

Soprano uke is tuned A-D-F#-B and concert & tenor ukes are tuned G C E A in what is called reentrant tuning (the 4th string is tuned a fifth higher than the 3rd string...my-dog-has-fleas tuning).

The Baritone uke is tuned like the top 4 strings of a guitar (D-G-B-E). In the case of the baritone uke the 4th string is lower than the 3rd by the same interval as a standard tuned guitar. The bottom 2 strings on a baritone uke are also wound (like wound on a classical guitar), and the others are usually strung with all nylon strings...at least the soprano and concert ukes. Tenor ukes are strung lots of ways and tuned variously.

I prefer Baritone Ukes because the fingerings translate across to guitar chords easily. I've been working on one I'm sharing with a grandson this summer during vacation. If he likes it, I think I know what he's going to get for Christmas.

[Neal]

Rarely do you find soprano players tuning aDF#B, it was the popular tuning back in the tin-pan-alley days, but most soprano uke players tune in gCEA. All of the old '20s music from folks like Mary Singhi Breen, and Roy Smeck were aDF#B, and the sheets of that time will reflect it. Nowadays it's all gCEA. The ukes just sound better.

I was a tenor guy for a few years, until I picked up a sweet '20s Gibson Uke-3 about 6 years ago, now strictly soprano. But whichever uke you choose, have fun learning, you have a leg up in that the chord shapes are the same, just different names.

And definitely give the reentrant tuning, explained above, a whirl.

[Matt McGriff]

The tenor is a great place to start. I highly recommend the Makala tenor.

http://www.amazon.com/Kala-Makala-MK.../dp/B001731R6A

The kala brand ukes are very well respected low end Asian made brand. I bought a set of Aquila strings and when I did the string change, I sanded the saddle down for better playability and the thing is great. I am very pleased considering my total investment was $79. As an extremely proficient purchaser of guitars (GAS) I figured the makala would be a nice holdover until I bought one of the "K brand" Hawaiian made beauties that start at over $500. But I have to say that I am pretty happy and won't be buying any other ukes anytime soon.

[Neal]

Any size is a great place to start. Just sayin...

Kala ukes are a pretty secure bet for a decent starter.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Matt McGriff

...The kala brand ukes are very well respected low end Asian made brand. I bought a set of Aquila strings and when I did the string change, I sanded the saddle down for better playability and the thing is great. I am very pleased considering my total investment was $79.

Hi Matt...
I did the same only with their Baritone uke...and lowered the saddle, and changed to the Aquila strings.

Do you tune your tenor gCEA then? I've seen them tuned dGBE...

[Neal]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Matt...
I did the same only with their Baritone uke...and lowered the saddle, and changed to the Aquila strings.

Do you tune your tenor gCEA then? I've seen them tuned dGBE...

Hi Larry,

I'm curious about this as well.

I tune one of my ukes fCFA, so very many tunings are possible. (the small letter designates the "high" tuning, btw..) Presently I know of no uke players that use baritone tuning on their tenors, I'm sure a few do. The strings available would render the playability fairly floppy though. Tried it early on, to be more in tune with the guitar before I learned the chords, and it was really poor, so I learned the chords, and now it's like a bicycle.

All sorts of ways to tune a uke, the important thing is to get into the musicality of the uke. It's not just for "kicks" to some of us, it's a serious instrument, as serious as a mandolin or guitar. Many different uses, it's got the "chop" of a mandolin, so can be used for drums like bluegrassers use the mandolin,or melody, blues..... and just kickin' around relaxing and not taking anything too serious. Especially with the reentrant tuning, it's a very interesting diversion from what we are "wired" to hear.

[Neal]

An aside about strings- Aquila are fine strings, they will offer the guitar player the tactile feel of different sizes, and they're loud as well. Excellent strings. A good Fluorocarbon string though, like Worth, Fremont, or the new Martin strings are more stable, with the Worth "CD" for soprano/concert giving great tone, great stability, and good volume. Just one man's opinion on the string issue...

I stay away from regular nylon, as my style of play may be different than others, and they don't maintain stability in tuning. Heat 'em up, and they go sharp. I have not found that to be an issue with Aquila, but prefer the thinner strings.

[buchanan6694]

Thanks for all the great advice. That helped a ton. Sure didn't know about all the tuning choices, sounds like fun exploring all of them. One more question though. Is there a size difference in the models. It won't play a role in what I decide to go with, but I was just courious. Thanls again, Dave.

[Neal]

soprano is roughly 13" scale
Concert-------------15"
Tenor----------------17"
Baritone-------------6 feet.

Concert and tenor should have a bit wider fretboard.

[icuker]

Bottom line is: you'll end up with more than one uke most likely and in different sizes anyway. So, start with what appeals to you at first and then go from there.

[buchanan6694]

Thanks again, I think I'll go with a tenor for now. I've been hittin youtube, and checking out the different brands and styles. This should be fun.

[john bange]

the Pono line of solid wood ukes is very good...almost anything begining with K, made in Hawaii is top notch. The tenor can even be tuned dgbe with the right strings

[Neal]

And this one is at a very good price. No shillin' here either. Have had a few Pono ukes, and with the exception of a baritone about 5 years back, all have been outstanding.
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=255620