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da_joka
Lokahi
361 Posts |
 Posted - 07/19/2007 : 11:23:43 AM
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Howzit, I was wondering if anybody knew of a way to simply tune the G string of my tenor to high or low G without changing strings? Right now I have a wound low-G string on my tenor and I am planning on changing it out for high G nylon strings as soon as they come in. Just FYI I am using Ko`olau Gold strings. Tanks eh.
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If can, can. If no can, no can. |
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Sil da Trill
Akahai
USA
66 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2007 : 1:40:49 PM
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Unless someone really knows, I doubt it can be done 'cause the string diameters are different. It might be possible to go low G and tune to hi G but I would imagine there may be way to much stress and tension. Best way to go, buy a second ukulele and have one with high G and the other with low G.
Guke on bruddah Tril's computer |
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da_joka
Lokahi
361 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2007 : 2:03:01 PM
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| gotcha. i kinda figgahed dat da octave was too far apart fo jus tune um up, and da tension eiddah goin be way to high or too low eh? I read someplace on da internet about using high G strings fo low G tuning, someting like tuning da C to low G, da E to C, G to E, and keeping da A string fo A. Anybody try dis? I jus curious. |
If can, can. If no can, no can. |
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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2007 : 4:09:38 PM
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Raising low G string up to high G:
Your intonation will be off -- the notes as you progress up the fetboard will become sharp/flat vice the note you expect. It will put undue tension on the neck and might cause permanent damage. The string might not break right away but it will eventually due to the much higher tension.
NOT RECOMMENDED until you get the high G string. |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
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bbenzel
Lokahi
USA
130 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2007 : 11:13:45 AM
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Get yerself an 8 string -- dat way you got one high one, one low one. You can get different sounds depending on which way you pluck the pair.
Bill |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2165 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2007 : 3:56:22 PM
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| A friend told me that he has 2 ukuleles, one high G and one low G for different uses. Good excuse toi have 2. Treat them as different instruments. |
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da_joka
Lokahi
361 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2007 : 5:21:48 PM
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| Tanks eh, fo all da good suggestions. Thumbstruck, you can try talk to my wife o wat??? ;-) |
If can, can. If no can, no can. |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2007 : 6:10:48 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by da_joka
Thumbstruck, you can try talk to my wife o wat??? ;-)
It's easy - just get HER to play as well! My sweetie has two ukes, I have three. And she plays a LOT better than I do (well, duh - she's been playing years longer, too.) |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2007 : 03:47:13 AM
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I just tuned my birdhouse ukulele "C" string to low G to test a hypothesis experimentally. Hyp.: "Will tuning the C string to low G induce a shift in pitch that will throw it off progressively as one frets up the fingerboard of a 12 fret ukulele?"
Equipment: One, homemade, birdhouse ukulele. One standard GCEA Aquila string set. A computer with a microphone and a copy of "Music Masterworks" equipped with a tone analyzer function that identifies tones as notes.
To the twelfth fret, there was no consistent or substantial shift in the notes based upon a computer analysis of each plucked string's tone performed using "Music Masterworks". The fundamental problem that develops when one substantially slackens a ukulele string's tension is, in my opinion, the amount of "slop" in the strings that can develop below the normal tuning's tension level. It can cause the string with substantially diminished tension to get in the way of adjacent strings due to its much greater lateral motion when plucked because the string is much looser than it should be. (I tried some pretty loose tunings during my early, slack key ukulele experiments.) If you tune all of your strings low, or most of them, you run a greater risk of encountering problems due to this greater lateral motion when fretting on adjacent strings. (The slackened strings tend to hit the finger you are fretting with, and kill the strings resonating sound; at least they tend to hit my relatively wide fingers - or is this just a result of a combination of finger width and technique?) I think the "low G" string is a great idea that significantly extends the range of the instrument for fingerstyle playing. I am inclined to believe that at some point I will make the permanent transition to a low G string on my ukulele as an evolutionary step when my playing reaches a level that jusifies the transition. The lower note option can make the base line more prominent in slack key style pieces. I wouldn't bother if I were focusing just on rhythmic chord style playing. (I understand the "low G" pheonomenon was started by Herb Ohta, Sr., but that was from an interview with his son.)
Hope this helps. |
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da_joka
Lokahi
361 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2007 : 11:29:37 AM
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| Tanks eh, fo da great analysis. If tuning da C-string down to G slackens it up a bunch, den tuning it up to high-G must create a problem too eh, by being too tense? I not goin even try dis, since getting good strings up hea is already hard enough. :-) |
If can, can. If no can, no can. |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2007 : 6:32:48 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by da_joka
Tanks eh, fo da great analysis. If tuning da C-string down to G slackens it up a bunch, den tuning it up to high-G must create a problem too eh, by being too tense? I not goin even try dis, since getting good strings up hea is already hard enough. :-)
I like the low G because it lets you be more versitile - finger picking, chord moving, melody playing. I have it on my Kamaka tenor and a Greg Burnett concert I just got today. That's what a lot of the ukulele whizzes use. I mostly play steel, but I do a few tunes (Mele of My Tutu e, eg) and I like to play fills and end tags. |
keaka |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2007 : 06:44:54 AM
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| I have to order my ukulele strings from the internet. No guitar stores in this Indiana town seem to know what a ukulele is. They certainly don't carry strings (except one music shop that had a set of D'Addario's meant for the old, higher tuning.) There was someone selling Aquila's without rip-off shipping charges at E-bay. I hate to pay $5.00 for strings and $6.00 for someone to put them in an evelope with a stamp. If I ever finish making all the adjustments to my birdhouse ukuleles to get them where I want them, I may try to build a more serious version. If I do, I will most certainly equip it with a low G string set. I see the "low G" option as an evolutionary step in the ukulele's historical development. |
Thank you. |
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slackkey
Lokahi
USA
280 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2007 : 05:43:39 AM
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 da_joka, try going to this website in Maui, Hawaii it's: www.meleukulele.com
They specialize in what is called a high G/string. I've tried it out there. It gives the ukulekle a unique sound.
A Hui Hou!
slackkey Bill (Paia,Maui Hi.) |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2007 : 05:07:24 AM
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I looked, but didn't see anything other than choice of Hilo strings by size of ukulele.
(As I said before, I did tune my 'uku low using a standard string set, with G string down to C and C string down to G, then A string down to G. As I said, they tended to flex quite a bit when plucked and made fretting hard, so I had to pluck gently and develop some finesse with that tuning. If I had narrow fingers or a wider fingerboard, it might not have been as much of a problem. It just took practice to get to the point where I could play it, in addition to messing up normal chord fingering and changing sound of strumming due to reversal of G and C tuned strings - kind of like in some guitar tunings to C then G. Lowering tuning that much will definitely reveal any tendency of a string to buzz in the nut. Tuning it up from standard tuning to higher tones puts more stress on the saddle. I'd hate to hear "pop!" and have the saddle hanging off the side of the ukulele due to too much tension. Good luck with whatever you do, but the right string set for a specific tuning and recognition of tension limits of a less expensive ukulele can avoid these problems.) |
Thank you. |
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noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2007 : 12:23:13 PM
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E absolut you funny kine guy. You make tunings that no one else would think of. But when you play with others are you in the same key? I thin k with your variations you gotta think too much about alternate fingering so if you jamming with someone and they they say Eb are you going to be able to switch fast enough. You have to reinvent the whole finger board. If that is what you want that's OK but why work so Hard! The topic as I understand it is High versus low G and is there a string gauge that can do both. The consensus is NO but maybe experimentation can yield some such entity. I do know usually a low G string gauge is a wrapped string and a high G string is a mono filament. The gauges for both do not lend to a whole octave tuna bility in either case.
Hilo strings by the way are not bad for the price I'd stay away from Martin and La Bella though. |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
Edited by - noeau on 07/28/2007 12:24:12 PM |
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slackkey
Lokahi
USA
280 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2007 : 12:00:56 PM
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 Eh how'zit out there in T/P Land! Slackkey Bill here, I've made some inquiries to meleukulele, in rgards to the high G-string I mentioned earlier.  Actually, I could just up Wailuku personally..ha! ha! But today's sunday, and they're not open. Oh well! That string of course does not appeal to everyone who are used to original ones that come with the ukulele. In fact, I had a friend who did some magic with guitar steel strings. YIKES!!!!
Anyway, you can email them at info @ meleukulele.com. Cheryl explains it really well! Hope I was a bit helpful! A Hui Hou! Malama Pono...
slackkey Bill  |
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