"Bass" Baritone

dancephoto

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 2, 2022
Messages
408
Reaction score
687
Has anyone made a baritone to match the pitch of the lower 4 strings of the guitar rather than the higher four strings? Could an existing baritone be setup and strung this way, or would such an instrument need different construction? Thank you.
 
That’s essentially how the U-Bass started, and I suspect many of the mass-market bass ukes available now are the same build as the vendor’s baritones, just with different strings and a nut and bridge to fit them.

The tricky part of the conversion is probably the bridge, as bass uke strings are significantly thicker than baritone strings.
 
In my opinion, yes, you can string your baritone lower. As I run my finger across any of my nylon string guitars, the tension feels even and balanced across the strings. Any potential increase in tension for your baritone will be minimal. Your baritone should be able to handle it, as you're only really swapping two strings and moving two strings. You could use the EAD strings from a guitar's nylon string set as your ADG strings, but you would need to find an appropriately thicker string for your low E. To clarify, you'd need a thicker guitar string; not a bass guitar string. You'd also need to widen the nut slots a bit.
 
Pepe Romero has a set of strings for Guitalele suited for 20" scale baritone tuned E-e. I'm scheduled to build one early in the new year. That will be a good set of strings to try out for your project.
 
Well, it will be a piccolo bass, octave higher than real bass, but it is possible
 
Thanks Allen and Jim. My idea is for nothing more than making some lower notes available for two accoustic ukulele players playing together. Not trying to make a "real" bass, as Jim pointed out.
 
Well, it will be a piccolo bass, octave higher than real bass, but it is possible
I'm actually surprised that more haven't tried EADG (guitar pitch +1va).

After failing miserably at getting guitar-pitched EADG on a baritone, I did what Jim suggested on a tenor and it sounds fine. I'll likely keep it this way as I learn "bass note chords" played an octave higher than standard guitar. They actually sound good. I hope I am able to transfer this to the bass - not as chords but as a basis for learning walking lines.

I've kinda been ignoring my uke bass as (in my mind) it's not so easy to just grab-and-go. More likely though, I just hear the notes easier an octave higher. When trying to play I have a difficult time differentiating bass notes. I like 'em when I hear 'em, but I couldn't tell you one from another. I can't play bass "by ear."

The OP is right (see reply #7) that it could unobtrusively accompany a gCEA player.

Hmm...
 
Last edited:
I worked out a few chords for trying EADG tuning.

All chords are reachable on a tenor scaler.
The tildes ~ (like on Fm) mean to barre, and "o" means optional fingering.
 

Attachments

  • EADG Chords - A Start.JPG
    EADG Chords - A Start.JPG
    268.8 KB · Views: 14
Last edited:
Top Bottom