Fishing line

Who cares what they are really? As long as they play ok. Also, don't Aquila strings come from Italy? Surely you would've bought 100 sets from Italy rather than Taiwan?
 
Last edited:
All the Fluorocarbon leaders arrived today I've got 30,40,50,60, & 80 LB so tomorrow i'll do a bit of experimenting and let you know what I think of e'm.
 
I will be intrigued by your results. There is an old saying that fishing gear is made to catch fishermen, not fish. How that applies to ukulele strings I am not sure because it is really hard to catch fish with a ukulele. On a more serious note, the reviews of fluorocarbon line done by technically minded enthusiasts are very different from the ones paid for by the manufacturer and they are very different again from what the marketing people say. For example, the two big selling points for fluorocarbon fishing line, lower stretch and superior knot strength than nylon appear to be worse than nylon in tests.
https://swiftflyfishing.com/blogs/n...hrough-the-bullshit-the-mono-vs-fluoro-debate
Applying the science in that article the extra weight in fluorocarbon may help drive the soundboard longer for better sustain but the lower elasticity may lead to fluorocarbon strings needing to be replaced more often.
Throw in variables like tempering rates and hardening additives making different nylon lines different and subjective experience of tone and the fact different tone fits different music and you get no definitive answer anyway. Hopefully with Ken involved we should at least get an honest bloke's opinion and perhaps a measurement or two and less marketing drivel.
 
I strung up a soprano with Fluorocarbon 30lb G, 60lb C, 40lb E, 30lb A...It plays ok volume OK but not as responsive as the Aquilas and a bit thin sounding...Then I got out the micrometer and measured the Aquila's then picked the nearest sizes in the Fluoro's and came up with G 50lb, C 80lb, E 60lb, A 40lb...This gives the Uke a bit more poke and a fatter sound and I like this better..But if I tuned the uke up to D instead of C with that setup I think it would put a lot stress on the bridge.
 
Last edited:
I strung up a soprano with Fluorocarbon 30lb G, 60lb C, 40lb E, 30lb A...It plays ok volume OK but not as responsive as the Aquillas and a bit thin sounding...Then I got out the micrometer and measured the Aquilla's then picked the nearest sizes in the Fluoro's and came up with G 50lb, C 80lb, E 60lb, A 40lb...This gives the Uke a bit more poke and a fatter sound and I like this better..But if I tuned the uke up to D instead of C with that setup I think it would put a lot stress on the bridge.

IIRC, as per some of the things I read about the Aquila Nylgut and SuperNylgut, those diameters were meant to closely approximate the nylon strings, so as to be easier for nylon-string players to adapt to.

The fluorocarbon strings will nearly always be thinner to achieve the same tension at pitch on account of the polymer composition of fluoro strings having a higher linear density, and this higher density (mass) allows them to be thinner.

This is important, because if you only go by diameters, the fluoro strings will typically have MORE tension than the nylon or Aquila strings of the same diameter. As you know, too much tension can be bad.

You may want to look at some of the string tension charts from D'Addario for their fluorocarbon ukulele strings found here, note that you can only see the string diameters for each set by clicking on the picture of each string pack and it is printed on the string pack:

like this:

da_prod_ej99sc_detail2_1.jpg


(and click on FAMILY TENSION CHART here)
http://www.daddario.com/DADProductFamily.Page?ActiveID=3768&familyid=99

as well as play with their "String Tension Pro" calculator here (which unfortunately has not been updated for fluoro strings properly, since D'Addario only started to offer fluoro strings last January 2017, but you can get a chance to play with the different tensions of nylon strings as a reference):

http://stringtensionpro.com/
 
Last edited:
Interesting topic - having just strung up a soprano and a concert with my usual brand of Living Water fluorocarbon strings, I am a bit underwhelmed by the C string on the soprano. LW soprano & concert sets are the same gauges for all strings, and whilst the tenor set is slightly heavier in the G and A, it uses the same 0.74mm dia for the C string. The Daddario set has the same gauges as LW for the G, E and A but a significantly heavier 0.81 mm for the C. The LW C sounds fine to me on the concert, but I think I will be experimenting with a heavier C for the Soprano.
 
Interesting topic - having just strung up a soprano and a concert with my usual brand of Living Water fluorocarbon strings, I am a bit underwhelmed by the C string on the soprano. LW soprano & concert sets are the same gauges for all strings, and whilst the tenor set is slightly heavier in the G and A, it uses the same 0.74mm dia for the C string. The Daddario set has the same gauges as LW for the G, E and A but a significantly heavier 0.81 mm for the C. The LW C sounds fine to me on the concert, but I think I will be experimenting with a heavier C for the Soprano.

I never liked any nylon nor fluoro nor Aquila string for the C string on soprano, as they all seemed way too low tension and had a flubby-tubby sound for me and not well-balanced for volume with the other strings (too soft).

I've tried a few 0.027" and 0.030" wound strings for C on soprano and liked that much better. These are pretty standard gauges used for the 4th and 5th strings on a classical guitar, and will be thinner than most, if not all unwound C strings, yet giving a bit more tension.

Maybe try the wound strings and see how it works for you. They are sold both online and in shops as single strings ($1-2 USD) so you do not have to invest in a whole classical guitar string set to test them out.
 
Thanks for the wound string suggestion - I would never have thought to try! I already use a Savarez high tension classical guitar wound D string for the low G on my tenor reso, so I've got some spares in stock. I'll give one a try on the soprano.
 
Thanks for the wound string suggestion - I would never have thought to try! I already use a Savarez high tension classical guitar wound D string for the low G on my tenor reso, so I've got some spares in stock. I'll give one a try on the soprano.

A high-tension ukulele 'G' string (aka guitar 'D' string) which is 0.030" dia may in fact have too much tension tuned up a 4th from G3 to C4, even on the shorter scale soprano.

On a tenor (17" scale length) doing this would add approximately 9-10 lbs of string tension from the single string, on top of the total tension from the other 3 strings.

On soprano scale, it would not be as much tension as on a tenor, but tenors are typically built to handle 40-45 lbs of total string tension, whereas most sopranos are more like 23-27 lbs of total string tension (judging by the tensions of various different string set info published by string makers, as well as my own hands-on experience with more than 100 different sets of strings over the past 4.5 yrs))

If the instrument is not built/braced for higher tension, you could end up damaging the instrument.

So you may want to take that into account, and/or go with a classical string that is NOT high-tension but normal-tension and/or thinner diameter closer to 0.026"-0.027"... otherwise/especially if using a high-tension string for the C string on soprano

I have written extensively about strings here on UU in the past, and you can see some of those threads and learn what I had previously written by clicking on the FAQ link in my forum signature below.
 
Thanks Booli. I built the soprano with a centre fan and a strings-through-top bridge, so whilst not overly worried about adding more tension maybe I'll try a lighter gauge first!

To be fair, it has only been strung up for a couple of days and after a spot of playing-in today it is sounding better, so I'll wait a while before trying anything different.
 
Thanks Booli. I built the soprano with a centre fan and a strings-through-top bridge, so whilst not overly worried about adding more tension maybe I'll try a lighter gauge first!

To be fair, it has only been strung up for a couple of days and after a spot of playing-in today it is sounding better, so I'll wait a while before trying anything different.

Sure thing. I'm glad to help.

When restringing guitars or ukuleles of various sizes and scale lengths, especially if with different gauges of strings (different than what was previously installed) which will have different tension on the neck and bridge, I've noticed that it can take from a few hours to a few days before the stress from string tension and the response from the wood will balance out to a point of 'rest'.

This is not to say that tension stops completely, but the forces applied (as vectors) on the parts of the instrument that are meant to flex in response, have a gradual effect on the instrument, and do not achieve this resting/working state immediately upon tuning to pitch.

The strings need to stretch to their settled tension at concert pitch, which happens quicker by string vibration (i.e., actually PLAYING). Some folks actively pull on the strings to stretch them, which I have personally found to cause weak spots and to negatively impact intonation. Other folks tune up 2-3 semitones and keep retuning every few hours as an alternate method.

Aside from the strings stretching to settle, as they do so, the forces on the instrument are not constant, since the string will be taught and then relax, over time as you are retuning it.

This happens every time you re-tune.

As such, the instrument itself is going to flex in various ways.

In my experience, it is not until there is an equilibrium of the strings settled at tension for concert pitch, that is in balance with the flex of the instrument, under this specific and 'final tension' that you can accurately judge how the strings will sound and feel, as well as the true nature of the sound of the strings on this specific instrument, and thus the overall sound of the instrument.

(All of also this applies to brand new strings on a brand new, just-built instrument which has never had strings on it before.)

For me, this can take anywhere from 3-7 days, and about 12 hours of playing with active string vibration when a new set of strings is installed. This varies depending upon how attentive I am and how much play time I can invest (for I am just a player and not a builder, but I try to practice an hour per day).

There are other methods to all of this, but this is what has worked well for me.

As they say, YMMV. :)
 
Top Bottom