I did exactly the same thing with my tenor banjo -- except I moved the D string to 3rd position and tuned down to C (then added a new E string). Works great!
I tried a similar method the first time, but what I describe in this video is what I ended up liking best after lots of trial and error with different arrangements of strings ... especially in terms of intonation and even tension across the strings on this guitar.
Thank you X100 for the informational video! Big thanks for showing the strings and set numbers. Now I know what to buy and aren't frazzled trying to figure out gauges and blah blah blah.
Great video, very informative! I’m a ukulele player and have just purchased a Kala Tenor Guitar. Just wondering, why couldn’t you take the top C string of the tenor guitar and just swap it’s place with the G string. That would take you from CGDA to GCDA, and then you could tune the D string up to E as you did in the video. Would this not work? Why purchase another C string when the tenor guitar already has one?
Interesting idea ... Have you tried this? Here are the main reasons ~I~ didn't think seriously about doing it in the first place: 1. The tenor guitar's standard C string is an octave lower (and thus much heavier) than a ukulele C string, so to me it would probably feel pretty odd next to the high E. 2. More importantly, I assume the low C string would probably not fit in the third nut slot, and I imagine it would produce even more tuning problems, at least on my guitar. Thanks for asking, though; I'm curious now. I just might try this at some point, because it would be interesting to leave the full range of the tenor guitar intact, but still be able to use uke fingerings.
Not really. I tried Chicago tuning when I first bought this guitar, and just didn't like the sound of it. Never really liked the sound of the baritone uke either. YMMV.
I did exactly the same thing with my tenor banjo -- except I moved the D string to 3rd position and tuned down to C (then added a new E string). Works great!
I tried a similar method the first time, but what I describe in this video is what I ended up liking best after lots of trial and error with different arrangements of strings ... especially in terms of intonation and even tension across the strings on this guitar.
Thank you X100 for the informational video! Big thanks for showing the strings and set numbers. Now I know what to buy and aren't frazzled trying to figure out gauges and blah blah blah.
It's more-or-less the video I wish I could have found two years ago.
Great video, very informative! I’m a ukulele player and have just purchased a Kala Tenor Guitar. Just wondering, why couldn’t you take the top C string of the tenor guitar and just swap it’s place with the G string. That would take you from CGDA to GCDA, and then you could tune the D string up to E as you did in the video. Would this not work? Why purchase another C string when the tenor guitar already has one?
Interesting idea ... Have you tried this? Here are the main reasons ~I~ didn't think seriously about doing it in the first place:
1. The tenor guitar's standard C string is an octave lower (and thus much heavier) than a ukulele C string, so to me it would probably feel pretty odd next to the high E.
2. More importantly, I assume the low C string would probably not fit in the third nut slot, and I imagine it would produce even more tuning problems, at least on my guitar.
Thanks for asking, though; I'm curious now. I just might try this at some point, because it would be interesting to leave the full range of the tenor guitar intact, but still be able to use uke fingerings.
Also, putting that low C in the "middle" of the instrument would make it harder to play melodies, but it might be OK for just strumming chords.
Any tips on changing strings on this to Chicago tuning, i.e., same as a Baritone Ukulele -- low D, G, B, E ?
Not really. I tried Chicago tuning when I first bought this guitar, and just didn't like the sound of it. Never really liked the sound of the baritone uke either. YMMV.
have you ever tried tuning a bass guitar ukelele style?
Uh ... no. I'm not sure what that would even mean,