Crazy I know but I'm thinking of restringing my DaSilva Martin 3K with a low G (and despite their short life I prefer wound strings).
Opinions?
Advice on Brands?
All advice gratefully accepted.
When I had a DaSilva I never even thought of trying it low G - that's just crazy! Kidding
I prefer wound strings as well; my favorite as of lately is the Fremont Soloist (HMS stocks them). I tried one on the Kiwaya pineapple soprano I used to have and it sounded surprisingly good.
One thing you might run into - the slots in the bridge and/or nut may be too narrow to accommodate a low G. I didn't want to modify anything, and found that non-wound fluoro low Gs didn't fit on the Kiwaya, but the Fremont fit just fine.
I like wound (as opposed to unwound) low-G for one reason - wound low-G is close to the same diameter as unwound high-G. That being the case, there is usually no need to enlarge the nut channel, often needed for the much wider diameter unwound low-G.
I bought a few Fremont Soloist recently (I think on your and others recommendation) but have just installed the first on my Boat Paddle ML yesterday so don't know if I will like them or not. I noticed that the packaging said it was suitable for Soprano, Concert and Tenor. I thought that strange as, in my state of ignorance, I though that Soprano's and Concert's would require a lighter gauge.
The D'Addario wound D is all I have used in a wound low G. They are bright, sustain well, and last a long time. Being round wound, they do tend to squeak when you slide on them.
The idea came from Dirk at Southcoast . Put a low G on BOTH outside strings of a baritone and one has a cuatro tuning. I wondered what it would sound like on a soprano. When others hear it, I like watching the expression on their face. It is the musical equivalent of a radically new hair style or colour. Chord shapes stay the same, so there is no adjustment needed to chord. The note A above middle C is now found on the E string at the 5th fret. The instrument of choice for the experiment was/is a Lehua solid acacia blackwood with Aquila whites up the middle and wound on the two outer strings.. The soprano is limited only by the size of the hands of the player, and of course by the length of the neck. Hmmmmm... what would two reds up the middle produce?
