Is it really fishing line?

Agreed..why are aquila strings so thick?

Physics.

Nylon density ~ 1.15 g/cm³
FC density ~ 1.78 g/cm³

One of the variables in string frequency, is linear density meaning how much mass you have in a given length.

Nylon has to be thicker to add the mass difference per length because it's not as dense as fc.
 
Physics.

Nylon density ~ 1.15 g/cm³
FC density ~ 1.78 g/cm³

One of the variables in string frequency, is linear density meaning how much mass you have in a given length.

Nylon has to be thicker to add the mass difference per length because it's not as dense as fc.

Yes, and it's actually the critical variable. People talk about the diameter of the string. It would make a lot more sense if they talked about grams/meter. With all the different formulations for nylon and fluorocarbons and the possibilties of additives, diameter only makes sense if you're talking about exactly the same formulation.
 
This has been an interesting "read indeed"
4 reels or spools or rolls of 30,40,50 and 60 lbs test fishing line.
It makes me ponder....should I or will I.
At my age "3 pairs of socks on sale" is not a good investment. gigglegiggle.
 
This has been an interesting "read indeed"
4 reels or spools or rolls of 30,40,50 and 60 lbs test fishing line.
It makes me ponder....should I or will I.
At my age "3 pairs of socks on sale" is not a good investment. gigglegiggle.

Jim, I don't even buy green bananas anymore...
 
Physics.

Nylon density ~ 1.15 g/cm³
FC density ~ 1.78 g/cm³

One of the variables in string frequency, is linear density meaning how much mass you have in a given length.

Nylon has to be thicker to add the mass difference per length because it's not as dense as fc.

Thank you. I guess I'll have to live with the thickness for now, that's what's on my banjouke, and it is NOT comfortable to play.
 
This has been an interesting "read indeed"
4 reels or spools or rolls of 30,40,50 and 60 lbs test fishing line.
It makes me ponder....should I or will I.
At my age "3 pairs of socks on sale" is not a good investment. gigglegiggle.
Like that 9000 ft roll of bailing twine I bought twenty years ago at the farm store, thinking I'll have enough twine to tie things up for a long long time. Moving it from one shelf out in the garage to another, I've thought, so will my kids and their kids. It will be their inheritance. Some day my grandkids will say, "That's grandpa's roll of twine. It looks like he hardly ever used it. I wonder why he bought it in the first place."
 
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I'm the opposite of some of you. I find the nylon (big fan of LaBella pro series), Nyltech (love these too), Aquila, etc. strings more comfortable than the thinner fluorocarbons. I don't have trouble playing fluoros though.
 
I want to try two nylon trebles on my tenor. The fluoros are just a bid uncomfortably thin. Not critical, but I'm curious.

Not 9000 ft. of baling twine, but I just bought 1500 ft of 1/4" diameter sisal a few months back. It goes faster than you'd think when you have lots of cats, as I've been using it to re-wrap their treehouse trunks and scratching posts. Bulk is the only way to go, but then we also have 3 refrigerators and memberships at two wholesale clubs. ;)

bratsche
 
A very informative and entertaining thread.
Thanks to all who have contributed!

I think that I will spend my Christmas money on 5 rolls of Seagur fluorocarbons.
Partly because I really like the sound of the Martin brand FC strings and partly because I'm a hoarder who likes having more than I need at the present.
 
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Here is my issue with buying spools of fishing line. What if I don't like the sound!!! There is more than a 100% chance it will not be the best sounding strings on all my ukes, or half my ukes, or one quarter of my ukes.

Just considering my 6 tenors, they all have different strings on them. Then there are sopranos, concerts and baritones. Forget it. If one wants to experiement with different individual florocarbon strings go to strings by mail and both Savarez and Pyramid have a huge selection of diameters.

Maki66, this was not in response to your post above, for some people spools would work well. I am an experimenter by nature so I will always be curious about what if???? I certainly agree with you that it has been an interesting post.
 
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I have enough ukuleles, personally, that spools might make sense. I don’t have any problem with Seaguar and one of my ukulele was “born” with Seaguar (Bonanza). But I’m okay with Martin and have no need to experiment with every string (but do want to try the coming Aquila sugar line). I also don’t change strings every month...I only change them when there is a problem—such as a frayed string (2 cases in my short playing life). I haven’t had a string break and none of them sound “dead” to me yet—even on my oldest ukulele (Makala CE that I dragged into school this week). If you were a fanatic string changer—having 40 sets on hand might be good.

I also like Martin’s air tight packaging. I do wonder how time and air can impact the life of strings if just in the open—for ukulele playing or fishing!
 
A question for string mavens, the Gotaukulele article lists the Seaguar sizes for various high g ukuleles.

30lb - Soprano / Concert A string
40lb - Soprano / Concert G string or Tenor A string
50lb - Soprano / Concert E string or Tenor A or G string
60lb - Soprano / Concert C string, Tenor E string
90lb - Tenor C string
http://www.gotaukulele.com/2015/05/something-fishy-fishing-line-as-ukulele.html?m=1

Anyone know what size low g would be for soprano/concert and tenor?
Thanks!
 
I have enough ukuleles, personally, that spools might make sense. I don’t have any problem with Seaguar and one of my ukulele was “born” with Seaguar (Bonanza). But I’m okay with Martin and have no need to experiment with every string (but do want to try the coming Aquila sugar line). I also don’t change strings every month...I only change them when there is a problem—such as a frayed string (2 cases in my short playing life). I haven’t had a string break and none of them sound “dead” to me yet—even on my oldest ukulele (Makala CE that I dragged into school this week). If you were a fanatic string changer—having 40 sets on hand might be good.

I also like Martin’s air tight packaging. I do wonder how time and air can impact the life of strings if just in the open—for ukulele playing or fishing!


I sold fishing tackle in my younger years. Fishing line manufactures always told us that UV light was the thing that broke down or weakened the line the most. So keeping it in a package or in a box out of direct lighting 24/7 is the trick
 
Here is my issue with buying spools of fishing line. What if I don't like the sound!!! There is more than a 100% chance it will not be the best sounding strings on all my ukes, or half my ukes, or one quarter of my ukes.

...

I am an experimenter by nature so I will always be curious about what if???? I certainly agree with you that it has been an interesting post.

Suggestion: If you don't like the strings you get from the spools, sell 'em on the Marketplace! :)
 
Suggestion: If you don't like the strings you get from the spools, sell 'em on the Marketplace! :)

I have all my ukes dialed in already and have stocked the strings each of them sound best with. But selling the spools here could work for someone. Heck you could offer people pre cut set for sale, or multiple sets, everybody saves money
 
I have all my ukes dialed in already and have stocked the strings each of them sound best with.

This is the best advice. Going out and buying spools of fishing line is counter productive. Buy ukulele strings and dial in the sound. Once you get there you can check to see if any of the line dimensions are close and try a spool if you want to test one out. If it works just as well as the ukulele string, then you can make a decision.

Since it is impossible to get full specs on fishing line or ukulele strings, it will always be a guess.

Some ukuleles are picky to reach full potential and some are not or they have a lower ceiling so it is not as critical. I spend much more time maximizing the sound on a better (more expensive) instrument than a less expensive one.

John
 
So beyond fishing leader, are soprano and concert stings interchangeable?
 
I sold fishing tackle in my younger years. Fishing line manufactures always told us that UV light was the thing that broke down or weakened the line the most. So keeping it in a package or in a box out of direct lighting 24/7 is the trick
I'm already getting moaned at for my uke playing she says 'why don't you ever play a tune?' because I like noodling on my ukulele! So? Now I have to sit in a darkened room! Noodling in the dark, lonely sad with only bats and dracula for company? I'm going back to the Hungarian hand flute
.no strings that can be affected by the light! And to be honest..in the dark, by yourself is a good way to practice the Hungarian hand flute.. Concentration and steady hand required..arpeggios a good start!
 
typo

A question for string mavens, the Gotaukulele article lists the Seaguar sizes for various high g ukuleles.

Anyone know what size low g would be for soprano/concert and tenor?
Thanks!

I've posted this elsewhere on UU, the D'Addario EJ99TLG has the best unwound fluoro low-G I've played, which IIRC is 0.041" in diameter. Most unwound low-G strings in other sets are 0.0358" which I found to be be tubby in tone and lots of intonation issues (sharp more than 7 cents, which I cannot play because this offends my ear).

I've experimented with some cheap 'Vicious Salt' brand 100# (0.0415") and 120# (0.0433") fluoro fishing leader ($7 ea. for a 15 yd spool on ebay) for a low G and while the intonation issues were resolved, I did not like the tension, as it felt out of balance (much tighter) than the rest of the strings, and also due to the tension had significantly less sustain than the other strings, which if your uke sounds boomy, might actually solve a problem for you.

For low G, I will use either a Thomastik-Infeld CF30 chrome flatwound classical guitar string, or a Fremont Soloist smoothwound low-G, OR in a pinch, a D'Addario NYL030 classical guitar string (which I then attack with some 250 grit sandpaper to make smooth, but it removes all of the silver-plated coating, which exposes the copper wrap wire and is prone to oxidation and turns green in the summer time due to the humidity) and yes, I absolutely DETEST string/finger noise on wound strings.

DownUpDave mentioned in another thread about using and enjoying the Oasis smooth wound low-G which I suspect is likely to be somewhere near 0.030" diameter and give ~11-12 pounds of string tension in order to intonate acceptably well on a tenor uke.
 
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So beyond fishing leader, are soprano and concert stings interchangeable?

Oasis seems to think so. Add tenor to that list too. :)

I've not had any problems using the Oasis strings on soprano, concert, tenor (and even baritone, in re-entrant DGBE tuning), which are NOT labeled per scale length - so once again we get caught in the undertow of hype and riptides of media labeling.

:)
 
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