Tried Nylgut and Fluorocarbon, but I keep coming back to..

.. good ol' fashioned clear nylon.

I've had my love affair with Nylguts and Fluorocarbon, but now all my ukes (about 10 of them) and even my classical guitars are all strung with clear nylon. Mostly D'addario Pro-Artes, but I also have Savarez, Thomastik and Martin crystal nylon strings on a few instruments.

What I like about nylon:

I feel that it gives the ukulele tone a solid, substantial, organic and rich tone. When the setup is in the way that I like it, I find that it responds very well to my fingerpicking as well as strumming. I love the tone it makes - it brings out the best tone (in my opinion) on most ukes.


I find myself disliking how fluorocarbons and nylgut are like.
They always feel too floppy and tinny OR way too hard tension. It's hard to achieve that sweetspot that I get much more easily with nylons. To my ears, nylgut and fluorocarbon strings sound thin.



Obviously this is a very personal and subjective thing.
How do you feel about nylon strings?


I guess it also depends on what kind of nylon strings you use.
I've come across some nylon strings that I dislike (eg: I really disliked Bionylon, Nyltech and D'addario's not-Pro-Arte-clear-nylon).

I found Nylon works best on my vintage Martin and Favilla baritones . Esp. the Favilla. I couldn't get the fluros off fast enough.

I had some Southcoast HML-RW's Low G's on my Compass Rose Tenor, which I liked, but one string broke after about 7 months playing a lot. And I wanted to try some different strings just to try and hear different strings. I just put on a set of Savarez (Alliance for C,E,A, and Corum for the Low G) and wow, I really love the sound on these. My personal taste goes more towards the guitar type sound, rather than the twangy tone, so that also factors into my wow, but so far, I love the Savarez.

I have not tried fluorocarbons, but really loved the sound I heard of some on a DaSilva thin body tenor. Had a clear ringing/bell like tone. When I get a chance to play the DaSilva in person, will see if I still like the fluorocarbon strings on them. This DaSilva uke and fluorocarbon strings really had a unique tone that drew me in.

I have to wonder how much of these changes are "Know what I like" vs "Like what I know" vs "Different is better"

Like...a couple weeks ago, I put some d'adario hawaiian's on because they were in a sale bin at the music store. I put them on late one night, and immediately hated them, and went to bed. The next evening, I played around a while, and it was less hate, and more.. these were not what I was expecting, and after a week I was noticing somethings I liked, and somethings I didn't. I'm not going to say I like that set, because I wouldn't buy them again. But the whole thought/perception cyle was an interesting experience, and my first reaction to how terrible I initially thought they were was not the same thing I thought by the end of the week after living with them a bit.

Also, it could be what you're trying to do. Some strings sound better strummed than picked. Sometimes you may think the clarity is thin, or you might think it's articulate. Or, you might think the strings are warm, or muddy depending on how you're using them. They might "project" or they might be too in your face.

Great thread!

I like nylons also - and the way you described the sound and feel is spot on - but found you have to be very selective on the instruments you use them on. For a classical guitar...yeah!!!! That's what they do!! On ukes and at their worst they are quite awful...dull, lifeless, hard, and totally un-dynamic. Always wondered about the pro artes, thanks for the word. I'll try a couple of packs.

I don't like aquilas on much at all anymore, but still have them on a laminate mahalo as they brings it to life more than anything else.

Fluorocarbons in the main for me, but like you, I use different kinds for different instruments. Have you tried the southcoast sets? And the savarez sets? I'm a big fan of both.

Ultimately, I think, if one can afford it, it's just nice to have a little string stash somewhere with a bit of everything, so when you buy a new uke, you can have a really good go at finding the right match. they make such a difference don't they.

After trying several brands, I prefer the D'addario Pro-Artes on my baritone. I like the hard tension and clear tones they give.

I like the GHS black nylon strings. A lot of people can't stand them, though.

I haven't liked nylon strings on my concert (D'Addario Pro Arte and Ko'olau Mahanas both had too much tension), and did not like the Kamaka stock strings on my soprano pineapple (too floppy). The concert it has Living Waters on it, which I think are just fantastic. I need something that's not floppy and not too high tension that they feel hard and sound plinky, and the LWs work great. Aquilas were okay on my laminate soprano, but I like Martins on it best. I have a set of Aquila Lava strings waiting to go on my pineapple when I get tired of the Oasis, which are nice but not as nice as the Martins, to my ear. Then next up will be some D'Addario T2s. The search continues for "the" strings for my pineapple.

I love the feel of nylon strings under my fingers, but so far I've preferred the sound of fluorocarbons.

another issue is that your individual playing technique will also impact upon your string choice.

drbekken said:

I like the GHS black nylon strings. A lot of people can't stand them, though.

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I use them on an all maple uke that I have, as anything else makes the instrument thin and shrill sounding.

My personal taste goes more towards the guitar type sound, rather than the twangy tone, so that also factors into my wow, but so far, I love the Savarez.

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The same applies to me. I like that classical mellow, rich tone over the tinny, twangy sound.

I like the GHS black nylon strings. A lot of people can't stand them, though.

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GHS Black nylon strings are quite pleasant. I think perhaps the reason they got a bad rep is that once upon a time all the cheap ukuleles came with those strings installed.
Now it's actually hard to find GHS Black nylon strings, as all the cheap ukuleles switched to coming with Aquilas installed.

After trying several brands, I prefer the D'addario Pro-Artes on my baritone. I like the hard tension and clear tones they give.

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Does D'addario Pro-Arte actually do a baritone set? I've been buying their Classical guitar set and using the ADGB strings. Plays like a dream.

Like...a couple weeks ago, I put some d'adario hawaiian's on because they were in a sale bin at the music store. I put them on late one night, and immediately hated them, and went to bed. The next evening, I played around a while, and it was less hate, and more.. these were not what I was expecting, and after a week I was noticing somethings I liked, and somethings I didn't. I'm not going to say I like that set, because I wouldn't buy them again. But the whole thought/perception cyle was an interesting experience, and my first reaction to how terrible I initially thought they were was not the same thing I thought by the end of the week after living with them a bit.

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I think that on some ukes, D'addarios need time to settle. They may sound a bit dull from the get-go as they haven't reached their equilibrium.

kissing said:

GHS Black nylon strings are quite pleasant. I think perhaps the reason they got a bad rep is that once upon a time all the cheap ukuleles came with those strings installed.
Now it's actually hard to find GHS Black nylon strings, as all the cheap ukuleles switched to coming with Aquilas.

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Or in some cases, fake Aquilas. I'll take the GHS black strings any time...I also believe some of the cheapos just came with no name black strings, which were mistaken for GHS.

drbekken said:

Or in some cases, fake Aquilas. I'll take the GHS black strings any time...I also believe some of the cheapos just came with no name black strings, which were mistaken for GHS.

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Two points of clarification on this.

One, they probably were from us, as GHS used to have a gigantic OEM market for ukulele strings prior to Aquila.

Two, nylon strings are the only kind of string most of the big name cannot make in-house, so we all buy them from the same source. So, even if a cheap ukulele came with black nylon strings installed that weren't from us, they were probably still the same string.

Ok. Thanks for the info, OneBadMonkey!