Baritone in fifths tuning?

malarz

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Has anyone restrung their baritone from the standard baritone tuning to CGDA tenor guitar/banjo tuning? Any thoughts? I'm coming to baritone from tenor guitar and bought the baritone because it (Pono UL4-2) sounded great in DGBE tuning and thought it might make the transition nicely to a short scale/small-bodied tenor guitar.

Thanks.
 
I haven't done it personally but I'm sure I've seen threads on it. You will probably have to cobble together a string set to get the proper tension for each string. The high A will be the tricky one. You will need a super thin one to get that high on baritone scale.
 
For me, 5ths (CGDA) on a baritone scale would make my favorite chords unreachable. The same is true with tenor and even concert scales.
OTOH if you are a "picker" one could sound great, similar to playing a tenor guitar. But like Jim said the #1 string (A) may not be reliably possible on a nylon stringed instrument.

GDAE 5ths on a soprano? Yes.

BTW I have tried GDAE an octave lower on a baritone but didn't like the sound. The strings were just too heavy and/or too loose.

<edit> Read my DGBE to CGDA in reply #6

- - -

TMI: this is how I came to my "hybrid viola-guitar" tuning of CG (viola) + BE (guitar).
 
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I did just the opposite. I bought a tenor guitar and it came with strings tuned in fifths. I was like, I don't play viola. So I just tuned the strings to Chicago tuning. I have been playing the same strings for years without any issues. So I'm sure you could do the opposite and get DGBE strings and just re-tune it to fifths.
 
DGBE to CGDA on baritone would require:

C is 1 step below baritone D (test by detuning 1 step)
G is the same as baritone G (OK as-is
D is 1-1/2 steps above baritone B (test by holding at 3rd fret)
A is 2-1/2 steps above baritone E (test by holding at the 5th* fret)

*Here is the problem: finding a nylon string that will tune to high A at the zero fret (the nut).
(If they exist, I would like one, too. The thinnest I've tried is a Savarez .0157" but it breaks before I can it up to A.)
 
DGBE to CGDA on baritone would require:

C is 1 step below baritone D (test by detuning 1 step)
G is the same as baritone G (OK as-is
D is 1-1/2 steps above baritone B (test by holding at 3rd fret)
A is 2-1/2 steps above baritone E (test by holding at the 5th* fret)

*Here is the problem: finding a nylon string that will tune to high A at the zero fret (the nut).
(If they exist, I would like one, too. The thinnest I've tried is a Savarez .0157" but it breaks before I can it up to A.)
Safer to put D as 1 step below the baritone E

The A is possible as there are GCEA sets for baritone.

Another option is to put the baritone B string 1 step down as the first string. That will give you a "low reentrant" tuning since that A would be an octave low.
 
1. Safer to put D as 1 step below the baritone E

2. The A is possible as there are GCEA sets for baritone.
1. I wasn't suggesting that malarz tune up to D -> just to make (fret) a "D" on the B string, and to make a "high A" on the E string. That way malarz could actually hear what CGDA 5ths sounds like on his baritone without changing any strings.

2. Do you know what gauge string is used for high A in those sets? The Aquila 23U and 117U don't appear to be linear.
Maybe it's just me, but reentrant 5ths (however they accomplish it) would seem weird. Again, that's just me.
 
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2. Do you know what gauge string is used for high A in those sets? The Aquila 23U and 117U don't appear to be linear.
Maybe it's just me, but reentrant 5ths (however they accomplish it) would seem weird. Again, that's just me.
I tried a set of PhD GCEA strings for baritone on a 20” scale and never could get the A string up to tune without breaking. It's .020”. I eventually left it at Bb tuning and the strings sounded good there.
 
Thanks to all for your thoughts and recommendation. I researched a little more and found these recommendations:

A .009/.010/.011
D .014/.015/.016
G .022/.024/.025
C .034/.036/.037

All steel strings.. I went with the middle/medium gauge and put a set together by buying single strings. I think .036 is a little “heavy” sounding for this instrument, especially since mainly I play chords, but I suppose I’ll get accustomed to the sound. I plan to buy the lighter gauge set and try those.

I didn’t do enough research on the Pono to compare the neck width at the nut with my tenor guitars and banjo which are narrower than the Pono. Even that small of an increase in width will take some time to get used to. But it is a very nicely built instrument with a full rich sound.

Again, thanks for your help.
 
Looks like the UL-4 is Steel strung, 21.5” scale?

You should be able to get standard. TG tuning or maybe a step higher with tenor guitar strings. I can’t find it quickly, but Ry Cooder’s website had a YUGE chart with various tunings and scale lengths, but as it’s braced for steel that should be safe.

In Nylon, I might try a set made for Terz guitar, tuned G-g’ Standard at around 580mm, which will be in the ballpark for G-d-a-e’.
 
Looks like the UL-4 is Steel strung, 21.5” scale?

You should be able to get standard. TG tuning or maybe a step higher with tenor guitar strings. I can’t find it quickly, but Ry Cooder’s website had a YUGE chart with various tunings and scale lengths, but as it’s braced for steel that should be safe.

In Nylon, I might try a set made for Terz guitar, tuned G-g’ Standard at around 580mm, which will be in the ballpark for G-d-a-e’.
Yes, I also couldn’t find the Ry Cooder string gauge website. I found the string recommendations I listed in a thread on Mandolin Cafe.
 
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