# Octaves, Zouks, Citterns, Tenors and Electrics > Four, Five and Eight-String Electrics >  mando tuned ukes?

## nkforster

I don't often look in this section, but as I'm currently on with making a batch of ukes, I wondered if many of you ever tune a uke to mandolin tuning? It's the same scale after all...

Nigel
www.nkforsterguitars.com

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## Daniel Nestlerode

Good Morning Nigel,

I have tuned a concert uke to mandola.  Aquila make string set for this purpose. Nice result: the mando family equivalent of a classical guitar sound.

If you search Youtube you'll find videos of people who have tuned soprano ukes GDAE.  To my taste they're a bit brittle sounding, but they may sound better in person or recorded properly.

 :Smile: 
Daniel

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MissingString

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## John Kelly

I got a cheap soprano uke a while back in a gift and fitted it with Aquila Nylgut strings in GDAE tuning, Nigel.  It is a huge inprovement on the uke strings it had fitted to it, and sounds rather gentle.  Suits some tunes more than others, but certainly worth offering as an option on your new uke builds, and your intonation will be better than that of a cheapy instrument. I had to lower the nut slots a fair bit on this one to get the intonation to an acceptable level.

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## crisscross

I have an Ohana Vita-ukulele, a CKP-70 tuned to mando-tuning.
The problem was the e-string, that broke quite often.
But I got La Bella charango-strings and they hold.
Sounds nice for certain kinds of music, e.g. for this piece by German composer Marlo Strauss:


It has kind of F-holes, so the departure isn't that dramatic. :Wink:

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John Kelly, 

Kathy-a

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## AlanN

A slight aside: the great Tal Farlow's father started young Talmadge on a uke-tuned mandolin.

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## nkforster

Right, so how about making a steel srting GDAE 4 string uke. Anyone got one of those? I need a simple project to make in batches for the next fe weeks whilst I'm waiting for all my tools to arrive from the UK. I've got enough stuff here already to make small instruments.

Nigel
www.nkforsterguitars.com

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## John Kelly

Would you need to strengthen or alter the bracing pattern, Nigel?  I don't know how ukes are braced!  Tailpiece and loop ends or fixed bridge and ball-ended strings?  
What about a few campfire-style flat top mandos with four strings?  As it is a transitional period for you there will be just a few instruments made and they could well become collectors' pieces in later years!

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## fractalstrum

I have a 17in scale tenor uke tuned as an octave mandolin with strings G2D3A3 from the wound strings of a light tension classical guitar set, and the E4 from from the E string for a standard mandolin strings set (I used EJ74).  It works fairly well and the tension isn't a problem.

I have been meaning to try the following on a soprano uke tuned as a mandolin but haven't had time yet:

0.0070 in. plain steel 8.26 lbs (PL007)
0.0100 in. plain steel 7.51 lbs (PL010)
0.0170 in. nickel plated steel round wound 8.25 lbs
0.0240 in. nickel plated steel round wound 7.28 lbs

The total tension is about the same as nylon strings so I imagine it will be fine.

For nylon strings the Aquila 1M set is much better in my opinion than the Aquila 30U - the E string from the 1M seems to hold up a lot better.

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## nkforster

> Would you need to strengthen or alter the bracing pattern, Nigel?  I don't know how ukes are braced!  Tailpiece and loop ends or fixed bridge and ball-ended strings?  
> What about a few campfire-style flat top mandos with four strings?  As it is a transitional period for you there will be just a few instruments made and they could well become collectors' pieces in later years!



Yep, all of that John, you'd be making a 4 string mandolinetto really. A much more complicated beast to make than a soprano uke. But, I think i might have a go.

Nigel

www.nkforsterguitars.com

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## JH Murray

Cafe regular Martin Jonas has a baroque ukulele that he put mandolin strings on to nice effect.

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## bratsche

I have all my ukuleles tuned in fifths - the tenors are CGDA and the baritone GDAE.  I cobble together my own string sets.

bratsche

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## nkforster

And they're off!

Made a start today on tops and backs.

Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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AMandolin

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## vwfye

My tenor uke in 4 string is gda and octave dropped e.  I could not keep from snapping them at normal e.  I have been playing them that way for several years.

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## nkforster

Latest progress:





Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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## John Kelly

Quick progress here, Nigel.  I look forward to pix of your bracing pattern.

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## nkforster

> Quick progress here, Nigel.  I look forward to pix of your bracing pattern.


Hehe, there won't be any of those pics John. Sorry.

Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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## nkforster

Things are ticking along...

Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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Daniel Nestlerode

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## nkforster

Nigel

http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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## Jacob

Beautiful work.
All my Portuguese cavaquinhos are tuned as single strung mandolins.
Very user friendly for old arthritic hands.

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## nkforster

Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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## nkforster

Nigel

http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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## nkforster

Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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## Bunnyf

This thread got me thinking, so I ordered a set of Aquila mando (1M) soprano ukelele strings and tried them on avery nice LoPrinzi walnut soprano. The results were very disappointing. I can only describe it as a choked sound. It’s usual sweet, clear ringing voice was now dull and lifeless. The only possible use would be to be able to sit on the couch and quietly noodle, practice scales, review fiddle tunes, etc. But mostly, it made me want to go do one of two things. Either go play my mandolin or grab a set of uke strings and putthis uke back in reg.tuning. Anyone want the other half of the uke/mando string set? I won’t be using them.

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## Explorer

Bunny, I've been curious, and have done *lots* of retuning experiments. Drop me a PM with your PayPal address, and please let me cover at least the postage, and I'll give you my address.

Cheers!

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## nkforster

Tried something new I saw on YouTube - neck carving on the lathe. Works great!

Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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## nkforster

First body goes in the drying box.

Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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## nkforster

Sometimes I do wonder if anyone is following this thread...

Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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Daniel Nestlerode, 

derbex, 

JH Murray, 

Rob Zamites

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## Daniel Nestlerode

with interest Nigel!

So you glued the rivets in and then cut them off?  Clever!  
I wonder how many fret markers you get out of a rivet.   :Wink: 

Daniel

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## Rob Zamites

Pop rivets for fretboard markers - GENIUS!

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## nkforster

> Pop rivets for fretboard markers - GENIUS!


I got the idea from Marty Jacobson. 

Nigel

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Marty Jacobson, 

WaxwellHaus

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## nkforster

Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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## nkforster

Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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Marty Jacobson

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## John Flynn

I have a Risa solid-uke uke that I've tuned as a mandolin for many years. I use it as my travel mandolin and to play late at night so I don't wake my wife. 

Per the recommendation of Risa, I use the 4-3-2 strings from a cheap classical guitar set for the 4-3-2 and, I am not kidding about this: .05mm monofilament fishing line for the 1 string. It works great. I use nylon line, but somebody on this site who does the same says fluorocarbon is better. You can get a lifetime supply for a few bucks. 

The only issue I had was intonation. I had a modified bridge put on the Risa to get that right. Now it works great.

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Smyrna5

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## Smyrna5

Looking good Nigel. I haven't tried Mando tuning on any of my stash of Ukes, but I was about to order a set of those Aquilla Mando-uke stings when the really inexpensive Rogue 100A caught my eye, so I got one of those instead. I think those strings are a great idea for users who want to try out the Mandolin.

Great idea, John on that RISA. I bid on one of those last month, but didn't get it. I've always thought they sounded great.

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## Daniel Nestlerode

:Disbelief: 

I just saw (paid attention to) Nigel's use of the lathe for neck carving.


 :Smile: 

Daniel

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## nkforster

Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog...ion-king-ukes/

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Daniel Nestlerode, 

John Kelly

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## nkforster

Nigel

www.nkforsterguitars.com

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## Dave Fultz

Ive played uke for about 10 years and have noticed that Acquilas make cheap ukes sound great and great ukes sound not to its fullest potential. Fluorocarbon strings really have a nice sound all around. 

Since Ive about 25 ukes I may give a GDAE tuning a go.  As long as the gauge matches the scale for desired tuning there should not be an issue. 

I go to a fair sized Ukulele campout every year with a large open mic.  I could freak out a few people when they see me playing funny chords.

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## Marty Jacobson

That redwood is so gorgeous (all the instruments, but that one especially). Now that I have a kid playing ukulele, I really need to make some out of the pickel barrel aged redwood I got from Bruce Harvie. It's almost black.

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## nkforster

Here is the latest pic...



Nigel
https://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blo...ion-king-ukes/

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Daniel Nestlerode, 

GarY Nava

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## Lord of the Badgers

Nice!
I am forever tempted to put CGDA on my Uke. I write a lot in that tuning - though i usually capo my tenor at fifth. that said, for chords, it's not quite so needed. would be good for tunes though, and may save my lovely davidson from moving to pastures new (don't tell the boss though as I'm under orders to thin the herd!). I too thought the high E might struggle at anything other than baritone. Will be very interested to hear the results.

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## nkforster

> Nice!
> I am forever tempted to put CGDA on my Uke. I write a lot in that tuning - though i usually capo my tenor at fifth. that said, for chords, it's not quite so needed. would be good for tunes though, and may save my lovely davidson from moving to pastures new (don't tell the boss though as I'm under orders to thin the herd!). I too thought the high E might struggle at anything other than baritone. Will be very interested to hear the results.


This mandouke was braced for steel strings. For half a mandolin set. If you want to see what your uke can stand, use a string gauge calculator to match tension and gauge.

Nigel
http://www.instagram.com/nkforsterguitars/

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## nkforster

Sinker redwood, Cuban mahogany body, one piece Cuban magogany neck and fretboard. Uke tuned, large bodies, nylon strings.

On its way to her new home.

Nigel
ww.nkforsterguitars.com

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## Daniel Nestlerode

Gorgeous work Nigel!

Daniel

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