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  #1  
Old 06-15-2021, 09:21 PM
chrislongAgain chrislongAgain is offline
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Default HELP! uke feedback needed

hi, all.
my latest notion, given my neuritis, arthritis, and psoriasis (NO guitar, anymore!) is maybe BUY A UKE.
but i'm baffled.
i get the different sizes, and expect i'll go TENOR.
but what about different tunings, strings, etc?
seems like there are many options available! which is good.
without ANY regard to tradition, what can anyone tell me about these different tunings and strings? sounds, tensions, playability, etc …
any offbeat and unusual strings that might really change sounds?
just me, solo, at home.
i should mention i have nearly 50 years behind me as guitarist.
feedback? i'd love to hear anything you have to offer, truly.
thanks, folks! i TRUST your judments.

Last edited by chrislongAgain; 06-15-2021 at 09:29 PM.
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  #2  
Old 06-15-2021, 11:41 PM
frankmcr frankmcr is offline
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https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=617571
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  #3  
Old 06-15-2021, 11:46 PM
chrislongAgain chrislongAgain is offline
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THANKS, frankmcr.
if you look, you'll see that i already posted to that thread (twice) on page 2.
i'm clueless about ukes but I KNOW guitars, so i figure i have a fighting chance here. LOL.
appreciate your response!
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  #4  
Old 06-16-2021, 09:36 AM
Playguitar Playguitar is offline
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A baritone is going to be easiest for you because it is tuned the same as the four highest strings of a guitar. You will still want to make sure the action is low and you are using light gauge strings.

Generally a tenor is tuned gCEA with the g higher than the C string (high g tuning) the other standard tuning is where the G is tuned lower than the C (low G tuning). The same as a guitar capoed at the 5th fret.
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Old 06-16-2021, 10:57 AM
jricc jricc is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chrislongAgain View Post
hi, all.
my latest notion, given my neuritis, arthritis, and psoriasis (NO guitar, anymore!) is maybe BUY A UKE.
but i'm baffled.
i get the different sizes, and expect i'll go TENOR.
but what about different tunings, strings, etc?
seems like there are many options available! which is good.
without ANY regard to tradition, what can anyone tell me about these different tunings and strings? sounds, tensions, playability, etc …
any offbeat and unusual strings that might really change sounds?
just me, solo, at home.
i should mention i have nearly 50 years behind me as guitarist.
feedback? i'd love to hear anything you have to offer, truly.
thanks, folks! i TRUST your judments.
Hi chrislong. First off, ukes are fun! You being a guitarist, should have no problem adapting what you know to the uke. On the uke, they will sound a 4th up from the guitar. Like Playguitar said, there are gCEA and GCEA high and low g tunings. Most of your guitar shapes will work on the uke. Getting a tenor brings you closer to traditional ukes because of the tuning and the baritone closer to a guitar. One thing that may work for your arthritis is to use nylon strings which have a lower tension then most flourocarbon strings, like on a classical nylon string guitar. As far as brands go, Kala and Ohana make nice ukes for not a lot of money. I personally prefer Ohana.
Hope this helps. Wish the u best.
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  #6  
Old 06-16-2021, 11:13 AM
Caddy Caddy is offline
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A tenor may be a good fit for you as to size. I have a soprano, a concert and a tenor. My favorite is the concert, still retains the typical uke sound with a little more room than the soprano. The baritone uke to me sounds too much like a nylon string guitar capoed up. Doesn’t sound enough like you would expect a uke to sound. Ukes are very fun to play.

The strings I like the best are the Aquila Nylagut strings.

Kala makes some nice ukes.

Have you considered a steel string tenor guitar? Four strings and slim neck. I have a nice Kala tenor guitar that is fun to play and sounds very good. Solid spruce top, smaller body and tunes just like a tenor banjo (CGDA).
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  #7  
Old 06-16-2021, 11:42 AM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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If you're looking for something that's the most guitar like, definitely a baritone.

If you're looing for a "new adventure," so to speak, a Tenor will be a good bet. Make no mistake, they're still TINY compared to a guitar, but it won't as big of an adjustment.

Tenors can be tuned with a low G or a high G. To me, the heart and soul of a Uke's sound is in the reentrant tuning.

Some Tenors can even handle DGBE tuning, like a Baritone. So you can definitely experiment the most with a Tenor.

There's 5 string Tenors now too, which use a low and a high G (double course, like a 12 string guitar) That's pretty dang cool, and might be a great option for a guitar player.

Re: strings-- I'm using the Aquila Lava strings right now on my Martin tenor, and I really like the feel, and they definitely had a shorter "break in" time than other strings I've used, but they are not quite as loud as the Martin uke strings I had on it before.
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  #8  
Old 06-16-2021, 01:10 PM
Dave Hicks Dave Hicks is offline
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A Lanikai tenor laminated mahogany, with Aquila strings, high-g tuning, fills my modest uke requirements.

D.H.
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  #9  
Old 06-16-2021, 06:30 PM
chrislongAgain chrislongAgain is offline
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good info, insights, and advice from you all.
thanks so much!
i'm leaning toward that NEW ADVENTURE notion right now, maybe going with a tenor uke and low G tuning.
i'm going to do more research before i jump in, though.
thanks again, and new/more info is welcome from anyone here!
c
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  #10  
Old 06-16-2021, 08:50 PM
mjh42 mjh42 is offline
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My KoAloha tenor with low g really sounds great, at least to my ear.

Lots of good advice offered here.

Try Mim's Ukes for a well set up uke. If you can get Mim on the phone she really knows her stuff and can give some good direction to help make your choices.

My other two tenors are GCEA, I do think about changing them, just haven't gotten around to it. I suppose I do like both tunings so having tenors with both tunings is a good option.
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  #11  
Old 06-26-2021, 04:28 PM
FranK_S FranK_S is offline
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I bought a Gretsch Tenor Koa Uke (G9120-SK) about 5 years ago, really enjoy playing it, mainly bought it to teach my niece how to play.

I bought another Uke for my Daughter in law (Kala Concert) so she could play lullabies to her little one's.
After that I bought another Tenor Uke to leave at their house (Cordoba 20TM) so I wouldn't have to leave my Gretsch there.

They are really a lot of fun. Little kids love them too. You can get them dancing right away and upbeat melodies are plentiful and easy to play. I've been playing my Uke to my Grandson since he was only a few months old and he loves the sound of it, gets him dancing every time and he's been strumming it now while I hold chord shapes for him.

All of the Uke's I bought are Hi-G tuning. Aquila Nylgut strings on all of them.
I prefer the Tenor model but I have to say the Concert models are probably more popular. I wouldn't go with anything larger than a Tenor. You lose that familiar Uke tone, if that's what you're going for.
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