Strings Osteoarthritis or just weak hands? Try Labella 11 or 12 strings

[baconsalad]

My newest tenor, the Uma Pulse was not getting much attention because my arthriticly weak hands just could not deal with the string tension even though action is decently low (<2.5mm on 4@12) . It came with super heavy flouros, which I swapped for lighter Worth Brown flouros, but it still was a chore and I hardly played it. After consulting this handy chart: https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/threads/string-tension-spreadsheet.156570/ I bought the lightest tension tenor strings available on strings by mail, which are the Labella 12 nylons.

The volume, projection, and brightness are noticeably reduced, but wow is it much more playable. What's odd is how quickly these nylons settled in, much faster than all the flouros I'm used to. A few yanks and re-tightens over 30mins and they are almost totally set. So I have a nice sounding uke to play instead of an awesome sounding uke gathering dust. Compromises.

 

[Bill Sheehan]

Good information, Bacon Salad! Thank you!

 

[scrambled_eggs]

@baconsalad you might want to give Aquila Red or Aquila Sugars (or both) a shot as well. They are a much lighter touch than nylon or flourocarbon and the sound and projection are still pretty good! Might be helpful for arthritis

 

[Booksniffer]

@baconsalad you might want to give Aquila Red or Aquila Sugars (or both) a shot as well. They are a much lighter touch than nylon or flourocarbon and the sound and projection are still pretty good! Might be helpful for arthritis

I love Aquila Reds, have them on about half of my ukes, but they are much harder & higher tension than fluorocarbon!

 

[scrambled_eggs]

I love Aquila Reds, have them on about half of my ukes, but they are much harder & higher tension than fluorocarbon!

Unfortunately I can't find the published tensions for Aquila Reds, so maybe @mimmo can let us know. My understanding is that the characteristics of a string primarily are the density, the gauge, and the tension. I think Aquila red is more dense than fluorocarbon and generally around the same gauge, resulting in a lower tension in relation to fluorocarbon. But if I'm off Mimmo please let me know!

 

[mimmo]

I am just back from a trip to London (Early Music exhibition). Well, the tension of the reds is NOT higher than those of fluorocarbon strings. Right now I have not the table (I am not at Aquila headquarter as it is Sunday) but the diameter are equivalent to those of white nylgut. Yes, the reds are thinner because they are made denser.
Mimmo

 

[scrambled_eggs]

I am just back from a trip to London (Early Music exhibition). Well, the tension of the reds is NOT higher than those of fluorocarbon strings. Right now I have not the table (I am not at Aquila headquarter as it is Sunday) but the diameter are equivalent to those of white nylgut. Yes, the reds are thinner because they are made denser.
Mimmo

Thank you @mimmo You're a legend as always! Though I didn't compliment your strings much above, I really do love your reds and sugars in particular. I prefer the lower tension sometimes (I also play with flourocarbon) and Aquila also allows a lot more vibrato than any other string. With the lower tension, bending is also very easy, especially for bending multiple strings. I actually play purposefully with a little higher setup generally when using aquila strings. Not much high I mean like 2.7mm at the 12th fret. But since they are easy to fret with the low tension, the slightly higher set up gives really good clarity, tone, and projection. Also way less chance of any fret buzz occurring, which is nice. It also gives you a lot more interesting tone when playing between the bridge and higher near the neck join, which I find really delightful.

I just want to make sure you hear the good feedback and love for your strings also since it can be tough online!

 

[anthonyg]

Tenor uke's have higher tension at gCEA tuning than Concerts or Soprano's do, that's for sure. Definitely over tensioned, so I detune tenors 2 or 3 semitones.
Way better.