I have finally restrung this with D'Addario clear nylon - I like the clarity of the strings, and besides I had a spare set. Since this ukulele is going to a friend in Peru for Christmas it gives me time to let the strings settle in. HOWEVER - with the new strings there is a great improvement over the stock ones included. There was another set included with the Enya name on them and they look like white fluorocarbons, I shall leave these for the new owner to keep as spares. When restringing I did not use the little brass bits but simply tied the double knots as if it were a slotted bridge. I found fishing out the ends was easy and I set all four strings in the bridge before tuning up.
This is clearly a laminate and was such sounds extremely good, the action is near perfect and the intonation is really good. When restringing I see that the bridge under the saddle is ready to receive an under saddle pickup. I like the depth of the body. My last concert had a much thinner body and had less resonance. Since the online Amazon price has over doubled it is no longer the bargain it was for we who jumped on it. Still, when you compare to other online prices for beginner instruments it is still great value, especially when counting the goodies that are bundled with this one.
my 0.02 cents