Tuesday 20 January 2015

2015 Electro-acoustic Ukulele #1

2015 Electro-acoustic Ukulele #1


Made from a Romeo Y Julieta Cigar box, oak neck, mahogany fingerboard, 15 brass frets, chrome tuners, bone nut, key bridge, piezo pick-up, ukulele strings tuned GCEA

VIDEO (with Wah Wah pedal)

Wednesday 14 January 2015

TUNINGS - For 6, 4(8) and 3 Strings

Tunings

Following today's YMI 'Soundwaves' workshop at SENSE Scotland's Touchbase centre, I thought I should list all the tunings I like to use here: There are no real rules, but it's probably best to tune down to a note, rather than up, to begin with, to avoid broken strings. Having said that, if you think about a standard set of guitar strings EADGBe - It should be fairly easy to figure out that tuning a string that is made to be played in E up to a high A is going to cause problems. - I reckon, if you are lucky, it will break beyond a high G - Prove me wrong!

6 Strings

EADGBe - Standard tuning
EADGae - Pentatonic
ACDEGa - Petatonic 2
DAdGad - Dadgad or Modal D (that's what they call it!)
DAdF#BE - Jojo's tuning
EAC#eae - Open A
DAdF#ad - Open D
DGdgBd - Open G
DGCgcd - Led Zep (Rain Song)
CFcGcD - Cittern
GBDgbd - Dobro (my favourite)
EADeea - Balalaika
AGCEae - Charango
CEGA#cD - Overtone
CEG#ceg# - Major 3rds
CGDgBc - Admiral
CFcGA#F - Buzzard
DAdGBE - Drop D
CGDgAd - Face
DAddad - 4 & 20
ABEF#aD - Hot Type
DACGcE - Layover
CFcGAE - Magic Finger (Seriously!?)

There are lots of others!

4 Strings

Or 8 - Most using middle 4 strings from a set

GDAE - Tenor (mandolin / fiddle / bouzouki)
AEaC# - Open A (What I use)
GDgB - Open G
DAdF# - Open D
CGDA - Tenor Banjo
GCEA - Ukulele
DGBd - Mini Spanish (my  second favourite - Also the 'main' strings on a 5 string banjo)

Paired Tunings
DGdd
DAdd - (Appalacian Dulcimer)
EAee


3 Strings

The following are named after the paired strings, and adaptable to any key.

DAd 
AEa
GDg
EAe

GgB - My favourite -  with a low and high G

PLEASE SEND ME SUGGESTIONS / CORRECTIONS - Cheers.