Collings tenor, who prefers other than stock strings?

Teek

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I just got a Collings UT-2, their mahogany tenor ukulele, and I'm really pleased with it! I believe stock strings are Savarez but I haven't had them on a uke before and the tension is a little high for my old fingers. I like Worths and Southcoasts on my other tenors and though I hate to post another string thread I really am curious to hear from whoever has/had one and has tried several brands, and what they ended up sticking with.

On a side note I just found a ding on it and there goes flawless out the window. It was perfect when I got it but I let my husband try it and alternately my Kanile'a so I could hear both from the front, and I am pretty sure it was his ring. I thought to ask him to take it off only after he was already messing with it. Just glad it is on the bottom bout and will put it out of my mind now because it made me queasy when I saw it. More practice material for letting go of attachment. Somebody scraped the whole rear quarter panel of my van last Thursday by apparently shoving a shopping cart into it with their car and pushing for a few feet, the gouges were so long and deep. That was easier to take than a 3/8 inch dent in the wood. I usually just take a deep breath and count all my blessings and drop it. I'm almost there but I only found it 5 minutes ago, lol.
 
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I just got a Collings UT-2, their mahogany tenor ukulele, and I'm really pleased with it! I believe stock strings are Savarez but I haven't had them on a uke before and the tension is a little high for my old fingers. I like Worths and Southcoasts on my other tenors and though I hate to post another string thread I really am curious to hear from whoever has/had one and has tried several brands, and what they ended up sticking with.

On a side note I just found a ding on it and there goes flawless out the window. It was perfect when I got it but I let my husband try it and alternately my Kanile'a so I could hear both from the front, and I am pretty sure it was his ring. I thought to ask him to take it off only after he was already messing with it. Just glad it is on the bottom bout and will put it out of my mind now because it made me queasy when I saw it. More practice material for letting go of attachment. Somebody scraped the whole rear quarter panel of my van last Thursday by apparently shoving a shopping cart into it with their car and pushing for a few feet, the gouges were so long and deep. That was easier to take than a 3/8 inch dent in the wood. I usually just take a deep breath and count all my blessings and drop it. I'm almost there but I only found it 5 minutes ago, lol.

Sorry to hear about your first ding. But now you can play without restraint.

I like the Savarez (fluorocarbon) strings on mine just fine, but with low g and tuned down to b-tuning. Fremont Blacklines with a Soloist low g might be better.
 
I still have the stock Aquilas on my UC-1 that I bought two years ago... no need for a change. Got a UC-2 sunburst last year that came with the Worth Fat strings for soprano/concert; those are good, too. They used the Worths for maybe only a few months before making the Saverez revommendation on the website. I've used the Savarezes on other ukes and didn't care for them in the least, for the same reason you're not liking them: too high tension for a uke. I play acoustic guitar (badly as well), so tension isn't an issue for me- I can handle it. Strings that tight just feel weird on a uke to me. I just feel like I'm hacking away with no volume. Strange.
 
Thanks guys!

Doc I remembered you saying you tuned yours down, I did the same as a quick way to reduce the tension to see how it felt. I got the same ring with a lot less effort but feel the smaller body is better suited to standard tuning so will swap to floppier strings and see how it sounds.

The bummer on the ding is I just don't do that to my ukes and this one was double what I have ever spent on a uke. I already have a beater or three and they even look good. It's not just a ding it cracked and crazed the finish. I've always been amazed at the universe's perverse and twisted sense of humor but I don't feel like laughing yet.

soupking thanks for letting me know they originally used Worths and that you also don't like the tension. The UC-1 I tried also had Aquilas that both sounded and felt nice, and I don't generally favor them..
 
I use Living Water strings on my UT1. They are different than the stock aquilas for sure. Much less brash. Really like LW strings.
 
Late last year I treated myself to a UT-3K and I just love it! Gorgeous look and finish and it really sounds wonderful. However, I too am noticing that the string tension is causing some grief for my old fingers and am interested in the opinions expressed here. I have absolutely no problem with the sound produced by the Savarez's, in fact I really love them - very bright and crisp sounding - so I would like any replacement to retain that character of their sound. I recently got a new set of Aquila's with low G but haven't yet strung them up. Should I expect a significant change in tension with the Aquila's?

Thanks
 
Sorry to hear about your first ding. But now you can play without restraint.

I like the Savarez (fluorocarbon) strings on mine just fine, but with low g and tuned down to b-tuning. Fremont Blacklines with a Soloist low g might be better.



Yeah Doc...the drop tuning part makes sense do you do the same with your Kinnard...I know Stan likes to do drop tuning quite a bit too...he did it on my Mya Moe and sounded good(right Stan?..haha)
but for me I just like to do regular tunings and then play...too lazy to drop tune....Lol :)

the Fremont blacklines are a good choice with the Soloist LowG.....IMO
 
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