Uke strings and tuners question:

Posted by Richey Kay on September 7, 2013 at 2:24am

Hello all,

My current project is to build a mini dulci-tar which could be played by a very young child, have a look at this thread for more info:

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/dulciworld/forum/topics/miniature-dulci-tar-for-young-child

One of my considerations was to have nylon strings so there were no sharp string ends to pierce little fingers... so I have a couple of questions:

1. Would I be able to use regular geared guitar tuners for the nylon strings? (My reasoning was that if desired steel strings could be added later).

2. Would I be able to get suitable Uke strings for GDg or DAd tuning? (The scale length on my instrument is 13")

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Rick

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Replies

  • Titch the Clown September 7, 2013 at 9:50pm

    I use guitar geared tuners and fishing line for lots of my uke builds. 50 80 60 and 40 lb for GCEA tuning on both tenor and soprano length scales and have fiddled tuning to play slide. Tuning up or down will affect relative tension which alters the relative volume and relative intonation a bit but nothing much worth worrying about.

    Guitar tuners are just a smidge bigger than uke tuners though there is plenty of variation between different types of guitar tuners as well.

  • Ron "Oily" Sprague September 7, 2013 at 3:01am
    13" scale length is soprano uke territory. Yes, you could use standard guitar tuners on it. You should be able to source soprano uke strings online if you have trouble getting them locally; even Amazon sells different uke strings - the Aquila sets are nice. Here's a link to some good tuning options for soprano and other ukes:

    http://www.ukuleletricks.com/ukulele-tuning-how-to-tune-your-ukulele/
    • Richey Kay > Ron "Oily" Sprague September 7, 2013 at 3:36am

      Thanks for that Ron! I'm sure it won't be a problem to find Uke strings - but do you think I could use a standard set to tune DAd or GDg?

    • Ron "Oily" Sprague > Richey Kay September 7, 2013 at 1:35pm
      Well, lessee...standard set is GCEA...tune the C up to D, the E might be a stretch to G, but you might make it...why not buy a coupla sets just in case?
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