Hunting and pecking - Baritone Ukulele

[Strays Dave]

I played around with my baritone uke for several years - then stopped for maybe 6-7 years. Now I'm back at it. I'm a pianist, schooled and practiced. Now happily retired, I play piano several hours daily. But my approach to the baritone uke is hunt and peck...I use the finger patterns I remember from over 50 years ago as a teenager playing guitar with only a Mel Bay chord book. I have to learn the songs (currently "Dear Prudence" , "Under the Boardwalk" and "Sun King" ) by hunting and plunking along with rote memorization. I mostly arpeggiate 3 note triads and sing and tap my foot. I like to think there's a cross-training brain benefit to this activity. Plunking (fingerstyle) with my right hand fingers and thumb seem to give some toning "exercise" activity to my right hand.

 

So now I'm interested in upgrading to a nicer uke. There seems to be slim pickings in baritone ukes although I don't understand why. I tune it the same as the 4 highest pitched guitar strings.

 

I'm looking at the Kala KA-SA-B Acacia Uke. I'd hoped to get an upgrade with electronics, but again, few options. Anyone here have insights to offer ? I think Craig posted a uke thread some months back, but I'm not finding the "thread search" option. I'm thinking maybe in the $600-900 range.

 

Thanks for any insights.

[KuruPrionz]

Ebay search for "baritone uke" brought up 737 items, from cheap nasty junk to collectable Martins and all points in between. I didn't look at Reverb.

HIGHLY recommend you seek out a quality used instrument from a solid seller, there is your bang for the buck.

 

Hold out for the features you want and quality woods, that will maintain value.

 

We have an Ukulele Club here in Bellingham and I see things on craigslist here and there.

Personally, I want a tenor with a pickup. A local music shop down south a bit had an 8 string tenor with 2 octane strings that I lusted for mightily. I had to leave, it was new and around $600. Worth it but beyond my meager means at this point.

 

As for learning on a fretted stringed instrument, the nice part is that any scale pattern you learn will be identical up and down the neck so playing in different keys is really simple.

Would recommend you learn the Minor Pentatonic scale as a pattern and then use it as a Major Pentatonic by starting on the third. Add in passing notes and learn your chord shapes and pretty soon you'll be an uke rock star.

[Anderton]

I can't help much, I'm using a Lag soprano. Have thought about getting a tenor, but there have been other priorities. As to electrifying it, I use IK's little clip-on mic for acoustic guitars, or stand in front of a large-diaphragm condenser mic.

[Strays Dave]

Since posting this it occurred to me, what about a "small" 6 string guitar? Looking in the Sweetwater catalog I see a Taylor GS Mini-e Koa Plus....my biggest requirement is that the strings are separated far enough apart that I can finger pluck (I don't know the terms here) . I'd still be mostly just playing the D-G-B and E strings, largely ignoring the lower strings.

 

I guess maybe I'll google "small guitars".

[KuruPrionz]

The main difference is an important one (I've been a guitar tech for 40+ years).

 

The uke will have nylon strings. In general, nylon stringed fretted instruments have more satisfactory intonation than steel string instruments (most small guitars).

This is fairly easy to check in person.

 

Set the tip of your finger lightly on a string directly above the 12th fret of the fretboard. Pluck the string with your other hand (or a pick) and listen to that note, that is an exact octave of the open string.

Next, fret the string at the 12th fret and pluck it with your other hand. The harmonic at the 12 fret (which is flawless) should match the fretted note at the 12th fret or at least be very close. This happens more often with nylon strings, like an uke will have and typically the fretted note on a steel stringed small instrument will be noticeably sharp, which means the farther up the neck you play the more out of tune the instrument will sound.

 

The steel strings will also more frequently exhibit intonation problems at the nut, the slotted piece of material that guides the strings over the fretboard. Sometimes these discrepancies can be adjusted to make the intonation acceptable, sometimes not. For some reason, nylon strings are simply much more forgiving of this tendency. A small nylon string guitar may serve you well, in some areas it may be called a Requinto (it was in Fresno, where I am from).

 

A baritone uke or a small nylon string guitar typically will just sound more in tune. Some small steel string guitars are pretty well adjusted, the Taylor should be. Some would be expensive to adjust and should be avoided in general.

If possible, buy in person and test as above. Sweetwater is a great place, if you emphasize your desire for a well-intonate small guitar as above to your sales rep then they may be able to find a suitable choice for you.

[Strays Dave]

The main difference is an important one (I've been a guitar tech for 40+ years).

 

The uke will have nylon strings. In general, nylon stringed fretted instruments have more satisfactory intonation than steel string instruments (most small guitars).

This is fairly easy to check in person.

 

Set the tip of your finger lightly on a string directly above the 12th fret of the fretboard. Pluck the string with your other hand (or a pick) and listen to that note, that is an exact octave of the open string.

Next, fret the string at the 12th fret and pluck it with your other hand. The harmonic at the 12 fret (which is flawless) should match the fretted note at the 12th fret or at least be very close. This happens more often with nylon strings, like an uke will have and typically the fretted note on a steel stringed small instrument will be noticeably sharp, which means the farther up the neck you play the more out of tune the instrument will sound.

 

The steel strings will also more frequently exhibit intonation problems at the nut, the slotted piece of material that guides the strings over the fretboard. Sometimes these discrepancies can be adjusted to make the intonation acceptable, sometimes not. For some reason, nylon strings are simply much more forgiving of this tendency. A small nylon string guitar may serve you well, in some areas it may be called a Requinto (it was in Fresno, where I am from).

 

A baritone uke or a small nylon string guitar typically will just sound more in tune. Some small steel string guitars are pretty well adjusted, the Taylor should be. Some would be expensive to adjust and should be avoided in general.

If possible, buy in person and test as above. Sweetwater is a great place, if you emphasize your desire for a well-intonate small guitar as above to your sales rep then they may be able to find a suitable choice for you.

 

Thanks Kuru for the tips. I should probably stick to a baritone uke to be safe from tuning frustration. I may look at a 3/4 sized nylon string classical styled guitar, and play it to see how it feels. Yesterday (Sunday) I played the uke off and on thru the day while watching NFL games. My calluses are coming along.