Re: banjolin vs banjolele vs tenor banjo vs other?
Originally Posted by
joni24
Another question: what are the key differences in the soprano, tenor and concert banjo ukes? Can they all be tuned to GDAE?
Soprano, concert, and tenor ukuleles (now, I'm assuming ukulele banjos as well) differ in body size and scale length, but are tuned the same. And I mean not only the same relative pitches, but the same absolute pitches. Standard uke tuning is GCEA, fourths-and-a-third, the same relative pitches as the top four strings of a guitar. Think of it as a guitar, capo-ed at the fifth fret, with only the top four strings in use.
Now, the Aquila "fifths tuning" uke strings that most people use to go to GDAE tuning are designed for a soprano ukulele. That's the shortest scale, and using them on the longer concert and tenor scales is going to mean putting more tension on them. They may break, though I'm not sure of that. Approximate scale lengths are soprano = 13 inches, concert = 15, tenor = 17, so you see there's quite a variation.
Here's a Ukulele Underground thread that discusses some issues relating to using the Aquila string set on a Mainland Pineapple instrument, which I believe is a soprano -- though Mainland makes a "long neck pineapple" with a soprano-sized body, but a concert-length scale.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
Bookmarks