For those of us with physical and/or
psychiatric disabilities, it's a good thing to find some peace
of mind. Making music can do that, providing a profound sense
of relaxation. For these uses, the baritone ukelele, like the
Hilo Model 2655 at the left, is both inexpensive and has distinct
advantages.You can
get one for about $50. As a baritone ukelele, it covers part of
the middle range of a six-string guitar. The strings are farther
apart than those on a six-string guitar, making them easier to
pick, pluck, and finger on the frets. I play them with my thumbs, and, although I
don't play well, it's not as bad as you might think. Some of the
original nylon strings can be replaced by metal strings, if one
is careful not to put on too much tension and break the uke. Those
strings are louder and will hold tune better.
Bob Parker, at where I bought it
from him (August 2005), told me that using steel strings can break
the instrument. But I was careful. In this case, I replaced the
first three nylon strings, 1, 2 and 3 (numbered from the right).
In that order, I used an Ernie Ball 11 plain steel, a GHS BB20
bright bronze wrapped 20 string, and an Ernie Ball 24 wound steel
string. I used strings that, for the tuning, would deflect about
1/4 inch at the bottom of the neck. Change your strings at your
own risk - I cannot guarantee that this will not damage your instrument.
I left string 4, an aluminum wrapped nylon string, in place.
It does sound a bit less bright than the metal strings, but I
was afraid of putting too much tension on the instrument. Later,
I replaced it with an Ernie Ball Earthwood 80/20 allow 34 string.
This uke is tuned C-E-G-C, which is a nice-sounding open chord
on its own. Because I was having trouble with string rattling
when I played, I put a couple of lengths of steel string under
the bridge piece (white in the image below), including one 50
wound string, to raise the strings up at the bridge. I also moved
the white dots, sticky plastic, around to fill the 3, 5, 7, and
9 frets. I used a piece of post-it (tm) note pad for the 12 fret
(usually a double dot). As of November 2006, the post-it note
fragment is still there.
To that add a $10 guitar stand, a $20 chromatic
tuner (already had one for the guitar), a $15 Hohner nylon gig
bag, and an inexpensive sheet music stand (forgot how much it
cost, $10 or less, and I already had it for the guitar). For the
peace of mind it provides, that's money well spent.
For those of us with physical and/or
psychiatric disabilities, it's a good thing to find some peace
of mind. Making music can do that, providing a profound sense
of relaxation. For these uses, the baritone ukelele, like the
Hilo Model 2655 at the left, is both inexpensive and has distinct
advantages. You can
get one for about $50. As a baritone ukelele, it covers part of
the middle range of a six-string guitar. The strings are farther
apart than those on a six-string guitar, making them easier to
pick, pluck, and finger on the frets. I play them with my thumbs, and, although I
don't play well, it's not as bad as you might think. Some of the
original nylon strings can be replaced by metal strings, if one
is careful not to put on too much tension and break the uke. Those
strings are louder and will hold tune better.