Black ukulele strings?

[Bao]

I hear that they have more of a warmer sound but provide less note definition when finger picking. Is that true?

I'm planning to change my ukulele strings to fremont blackline tenor strings, does anyone have a video or review of them?

Thanks.

 

[bazmaz]

It is not the colour of the strings that you need to look for, but the brand. There are dozens of brands, some are clear, some are opaque white, some are dark brown or black. Fremont, Worth and GHS are the obvious names for black or dark brown strings, but I don't think its much to do with sound, more just how they are made?

That said, worth browns, to my ears, sound mellower than clears.

 

[Jnobianchi]

Yep, what he said. Black strings impart no special qualities. Try a set of GHS strings (which are pretty standard nylon strings) and Fremonts and Worth Browns (which are fluorocarbons) and you'll see a huge difference because of how they're made, not their color. And by the way, I can't tell any difference between Worth Clears and Worth Browns. All I know is either variety of Worth sounds fantastic on the ukes I use them on.

 

[bdukes]

I hear that they have more of a warmer sound but provide less note definition when finger picking. Is that true?

I'm planning to change my ukulele strings to fremont blackline tenor strings, does anyone have a video or review of them?

As others noted, black strings, or any color for that matter, don't necessarily make for warmer, brighter, better picking, etc.

I'm a big fan of Fremont strings. I really like them on my Kamaka HF-3. I feel they're a good match for koa. I have a few comparisons on sound cloud if interested.

http://soundcloud.com/bdukes22

One thing I've noticed is a tendency for Fremont strings to sound a bit brighter initially then settle down. At first they were almost too bright and especially noticeable to me with inherently brighter woods like spruce and maple combos. To my ears, they did truly "break in" and sounded ok on those type of instruments.

 

[DAPuke]

Good topic Bao,
I'd like to know also if any fingerpickers choose strings because of the way they feel on the fingers. I finger pick and dont have long nails, some brands of strings tend to kind of 'grab' on to my finger tip messing with my timing.
Don

 

[SailingUke]

I have enjoyed Worth Browns as well as Orcas (black too).

 

[bazmaz]

The simple summary is this. Different strings suit different ukes, and as importantly, different playing styles and ears!!

What I think may sound great on my uke x, with my style may sound terrible if you tried them on uke z with your style.

The answer? Start with the renowned brands (worth, Martin, Fremont, D'Addario, Aquila etc) and try them all. They ain't expensive, and if you have them on for a week and want to change, coil them up an try them on a different uke further down the line or keep them in case for emergency change.