Has anyone ever tried using nylon Baritone Ukulele strings on a 4 string CBG? I have two Baritone Ukes and thinking of trying it today. If it works out, I'll post a video.
A few years ago I bought a Baritone Uke and now I have two of them plus a concert Uke. They are a blast to play.
Also, I found this website, which is awesome.
https://www.chordie.com/browsesong.php It has the words and chords to about every song. If you look on the right side of the page, there's a drop down menu.
If you have a 4 string CBG tuned with DGBE strings, "the bottom 4 strings on a guitar" you can click on the menu and select "Baritone Ukelele" and it will show you a diagram of how to make the chords which is the same as your 4 string CBG.
Also, you can transpose the song to a different chord. If the song is written in "E" and you want it in "D" chord, just click on "Transpose" then click the minus sign two times and it will put the song in "D" chord. Enjoy.
Please check out this Baritone Ukulele "Blues" video.
Replies
I was thinking of getting another to use as an open g tuning for slide and blues stuff.
Probably a lot easier than trying reinvent the wheel.
Chordie is a cool site and very useful. I like the ability to transpose keys with a couple clicks of the mouse. Some chords / tabs are not accurate though. Generally pretty close but you should trust your ears when in doubt. ;-)
Ah! So that's what I've been doing wrong...
I though it was "when in doubt, whip it out". :D
One of my 4 string cbg's that is 24 3/4" scale is currently strung with classical (DGBE) strings. I agree with Korrigan about the scale. It has a piezo though which sounds great through the amp. It is louder than I expected acoustically. Maybe a little quieter than my bari uke - which is a Lahana brand, made by what would become Kala... (not that it matters for this discussion).
It doesn't have that percussive uke "pop" while strummed like my bari or other small ukes. It sounds more like a nylon folk guitar but I like that sound. I like all my ukes and it is good to have many voices available.
This may help. I just went to Google and typed in "Baritone Ukulele measurements" and found a ton of info. You can even buy the plans to build a Uke for $15.00.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Ukulele-1/
Hope this helps.
Buddy
There's no standard for the exact scale length of a baritone uke but most manufactures use 19 to 21.5 inch scale lengths.
The scale on both of my Ukes are 20 1/4 inches. "KALA KA-BE and the LANIKAI LU-21BE baritones. The scale on my Cordoba 15-cm Concert size is 14 3/4 inch.
Tha Baritones have 18 frets and the Concert size has 21 frets. Did this help you out?
It depends on the scale length of your CBG. If it's the same scale as baritone uke then no problem. If it's 25.5" scale like most CBGs then you'll be wanting to get classical guitar strings.
Thanks Korrigan. I put some Earnie Ball classical guitar "ball end" strings on my 4 string CBG. It sounded great BUT...... it wont work with the amp. Guess the electric pick up.... wont "pick up"..lol