Ha - Ha, cacman ... I haven’t picked up my camera in 5 years, it seems. I had fun in Burlesque. Working in Vegas was a blast. I really met a lot of cool people over the years.
HuckFinn ... Basically. Yes. ... The way I play it tuned DGBE probably does not get the “most” out of this instrument. It’s sort of like a 1/2 guitar. But the basic “cowboy chords” are incredibly simple to play, and it *sounds like” a guitar.
It’s a fairly new instrument from Pono, based out of Hawaii. They’re constructed in Indonesia, and the final fit & polish is on Oahu. Mine was one of the first ones made, but they’re finding a big following in Ireland with the Mandolin & Tenor players.
I started out exactly one year ago with a Baritone Ukulele. I learned the chords & thought, this is fun & it sounds good, but it’s still lacking. Pono makes a ton of really nice ukuleles, and guitars. I found this Pono MN-20, and I just had to get it. I play I every day. It’s Loud !! Fan Braced. Steel Strings.
It can be also tuned as an Octave Mandolin, as well as tuned in Fifths. Whatever that means. I like the fact it’s got an Octave D & G strings. 4 sounds from 2 notes. High D, Low D, High G, Low G. Then, Unison B, Unison E. Just like on a 12 String Guitar, but based on the 4 String Baritone Ukulele. Plus this is a “Jumbo” 23 inch scale. It’s a much larger instrument than a normal 19 inch scale Baritone Ukulele.
DMV ... it might be an 8-String, but you basically only notice the Four.
bs_kwaj ... How is the Canadian maple syrup maker doing these days? If you’re serious about a guitar, consider a Baritone Ukulele. I “tried” to play guitar as a teen for a few years. I didn’t do very well, but I had the basic chords down pat.
Probably my biggest obstacle was trying to learn on an Epiphone Classical Guitar, with a neck that felt 5 inches wide for my young hands. I got frustrated trying to reach a lot of the chords. Later on I figured I could play the four string Baritone, given my issues trying to reach 6 strings on a wide neck classical guitar. Plus, you can get Baritones fairly cheaply. Pono makes a bunch of really nice Baritones, plus Jumbo Baritones & (these) 8-Strings.
Here are a few links for what this sounds like. This first video is from Kilin Reece, who designed the instrument in Hawaii. The majority of this 12 minute video is devoted to the Octave Mandolin tuning, which sounds really, really nice. I’m more of a chord strummer, so I chose to use guitar strings, DGBE. The last 4 minutes or so is devoted to this tuning.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qp4eaXzgw0
This next link is actually my guitar. I bought this from Mike & Donna at UkeRepublic in Austell, GA not too far from where I live. If anyone is considering a Ukulele, give their site a look. They’re fine, upstanding people.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=17s&v=ZVURh02Xgdk
Here are 3 videos that I recorded last year.
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCLk_xn0BXqffOFjDgELRJqg
And since cacman mentioned nekkid women ... :-)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/derekjacksonphotography/
