Aquila reds?

Pete Howlett

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Does anyone use these strange strings? A student completed a lovely tenor on one of my courses and brought a set of Aquila reds to fit to his instrument. Mellowed out what should have been a bright and bouncy sound ... Really odd texture to them too.
 
I have them on my tenor and like them, but it's a solid body so that doesn't give any indication of accoustic properties. The odd texture polishes off to some extent with use.
Yesterday I put a red low G on one of my concerts after an absence. I am currently anxiously awaiting delivery of a couple of sets of reds I ordered for the re-entrant concert.

When The Nukes played in town last year one of the players was using reds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsdRvYU3gmM
 
Reentrant set on my Kala SEM and on my Risa soprano I love them. I've talked elsewhere about my Risa not getting along with the low G and a possible mod. I really just need to chuck the thing up in a drill and grab a file/sandpaper to the groove but thats another story.

After playing the reds for awhile now the white Aquilas now feel odd.

I have another set I recently put on a walnut soprano and took them off due to a odd buzz. I might put them back on that ukulele as I hate hate hate the d'addario titanium string I currently have on it. If not maybe the 20's 30's Harmony thats got a hell of a bark to it.

I want to get a set of Aquila AQ-90's for my Banjolele. This interests me "Each string shares a similar diameter, yet differs in material density providing a uniform feel and enhances intonation".
 
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I had a set of "low-G" Aquila Reds on a Mahalo 'pineapple' soprano and had nothing but praise for them ... nice even volume across all four strings, good tone etc. etc. Unfortunately I found I simply wasn't wanting/needing a 'low-G' instrument as much as I thought I did when I bought the strings and have removed them in favour of a set of Aquila "fifths", which get rather more use.

I'd have no qualms about recommending them and will probably buy a re-entrant set for one of my other instruments when the existing strings need replacing :)
 
I use them on my Flea soprano. They work well on it.
 
I put a set on my Kala KA-8 Tenor and the low G snapped. I got a replacement and it snapped. The strings that remained intact seemed brittle to me.
 
I put a set on my Kala KA-8 Tenor and the low G snapped. I got a replacement and it snapped. The strings that remained intact seemed brittle to me.

Did you resize the nut slot to accommodate the larger diameter string? Most of the breakage happens by the Low-G string being pinched (and then sliced) during tuning at the nut if the string does not rest cleanly and travel smoothly in the slot.
 
I put a set on my Kala KA-8 Tenor and the low G snapped. I got a replacement and it snapped. The strings that remained intact seemed brittle to me.

When was this? I understand that initially there were problems but these were resolved. When I ordered mine I was wary of buying old stock so I ordered them direct from Aquila. I ordered them November last, received them before the end of that month, and some sets had an 11/14 batch date. No old stock there : )
 
I tried a single Red series low G on my Beltona. Within a few weeks it broke between the nut and the tuner whilst the instrument was in it's case. The nut slot was fine for the low G strings that preceded and followed it. In the interests of science, I have broken out the micrometer & feeler gauges and discovered the following:

Living Water 0.92 mm
Aquila Red 1.06 mm
Savarez guitar wound D .74 mm
NB these may not be the manufacturers quoted diameters, but are what I have measured on my used strings.
Nut slot 0.97 mm

So ... the Red string was oversized relative to the nut slot which presumably explains the failure location. The moral here being all low G's are not created equal. Now I happen to know first hand that the exact same failure has occurred to a very highly respected builder, so it isn't just the unwary this might catch out.

Anyway, I didn't really like the texture & feel and I won't use them again. I now use a Savarez guitar hi-tension D, and prefer the brighter sound.
 
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I broke so many sets of reds i gave all mine away and moved to worth brown. This was across three ukes and there was no problem with fit. It was a shame because i really liked them very much, both sound and texture...
 
I broke so many sets of reds i gave all mine away and moved to worth brown. This was across three ukes and there was no problem with fit. It was a shame because i really liked them very much, both sound and texture...
I tried 2 and both broke [I know how to install them] so I gave up on them. there are so many string choices out there why deal with fussy strings. I've hardly ever had anorher sting break.
 
I have them on my solid mahogany Silverstone soprano circa 1940's. Sounds wonderful. Just the right vintage tone.
 
I used them once on an all tassy blackwood tenor- They look cool with a burst. Can't remember the sound.
I was afraid the customer wouldn't like the colour, but then he turned up with red socks on and he loved them!!!

Sunburst-Players-Ukulele~~element54.jpg
Sunburst-Players-Ukulele~~element53.jpg
 
When was this? I understand that initially there were problems but these were resolved. When I ordered mine I was wary of buying old stock so I ordered them direct from Aquila. I ordered them November last, received them before the end of that month, and some sets had an 11/14 batch date. No old stock there : )

This was Spring 2014. Also, I should have said -- Aquila put a red low G in their standard 8-string tenor pack. The other seven strings were nylguts. After the second red snapped, I put on a Worth Clear instead and it worked great (the uke since has been rehomed).
 
Tried them and hated them. Breakage issues and very poor and inconsistent intonation.

One set was so bad I thought that I might have stuffed up and installed the bridge in the wrong spot. Measured it again and found it to be correct. Swapped out the strings for some South Coast Ukes and everything was sweet.
 
Initially the texture was a bit odd but I've come to really like them. I've used them on a more than 8 different instruments and they sounded at least good on everything and some they sounded great on. Big fan. And I've never had one break on any instrument. Need to follow the installation guidelines. See You Tube video by Mimo.

Does anyone use these strange strings? A student completed a lovely tenor on one of my courses and brought a set of Aquila reds to fit to his instrument. Mellowed out what should have been a bright and bouncy sound ... Really odd texture to them too.
 
I have Aquila REDS on 4 of my 16 ukes. Two are re-entrant and two are low-G, all of these are tenors. I like them very much.

The parchment string texture goes away and gets smoothed out when you've played them enough (after about 30 mins per day for 2-3 months).

I've got many of my ukes now tuned DOWN to Bb tuning, i.e., F-Bb-D-G, (including ALL of the ukes with REDS installed) and with this lowered tension at this tuning, have not had ANY RED strings snap on me in over 6 months.

I will definitely be buying MORE sets in the future, and the low-G single is my go-to for a low-G with fluoro string sets.

I dont use 'nylon' strings at all as I detest them.
 
Hi Pete,

I have these on my Mainland mango tenor. I think they're a good match, and liked the strumming sound immediately. I did think the sound was bright enough, but slightly richer in tone. At first when playing fingerstyle, my fingers made what I can only describe as a "papery" sound on them. That quality has worn off over time - perhaps from oil on fingers? - and I find the sound very pleasing. I find them easier to play than plain nylon, although that's what I have on other ukes. I don't generally buy Aquila strings (I generally prefer Worth) but I liked these so much I bought another set for that ukulele. I find it really interesting how different strings change the sound of each instrument slightly.

Just a newbie's opinion.
 
Have used them. Issues with breakages on the A and high G strings. Won't be using them any more.
Miguel
 
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