Yamaha GL-1 Guitalele (NEAT!)
So, @RabbitRemix was asking me, on Twitter, how to tune their 6-stringed ukulele. At first I thought we were talking about a Tiple or maybe one of those Ukes where the A and C strings are doubled in octave or something. But, no, there weren't any doubled strings. So, then I started thinking, "Umm.. are we just talking about a small guitar?" Turns out, we aren't, I'd just never heard of it.
Yamaha's is calling their GL-1 a Guitalele. And, from what I can see, it's basically like a ukulele (only with a low G, instead of a high G string) and then you add an A and D string on there. Or, to make it less complicated, take your normal guitar and then pop a capo on the fifth fret. So, your open D chord (just how you play it on guitar) would actually be a G chord on the Guitalele.
It's funny because when musicians (who aren't familiar with Ukulele) ask me how a Uke is tuned, I always say, "Imagine your guitar, now pop a capo on the fifth fret and pull off your E and A string." Well, this is like another hybrid of that.
But, all I really know is that I NEED ONE. I can't find them on Amazon or Musician's Friend right now, but I've listed some eBay auctions below that show some off.
It looks like it has 18 frets and it's built to a 17" scale. Oh yeah, and it's cute as all hell.
Related posts:
Tacoma makes a version of this called the Papoose: http://www.tacomaguitars.com/products/search.php?partno=0381400321
Yamaha GL1 Guitalele.
Thomann music in Germany have a very quick professional service and can supply GL1 at a reasonable price ( I reseached a lot of suppliers and bought from Thomann). When entering thei web site use the seach facility for Guitalele or Yamaha GL1 for some reason thay have hidden this product.
All the best
I recently played the G-1 and fell in love with it. The sound is amazing for it’s size, the action is perfect and its just plain fun to play!
They sell them in Canada for about $100 plus $30 shipping. Here is a contact E-mail for the music store I found that carries them and ships to the States.
PaulJacobs@lamusic.ca
Good luck and enjoy!