La Bella Uke-pro series strings.

I just put a set of these (No. 200) on my LoPrinzi mahogany soprano a little while ago. They seem to be settling in pretty quick.
I'm not sure what their formula is for these strings, but they are unlike anything else I've ever played...almost like some hybrid of nylon and fluorocarbon..but I don't know what it is. They're not clear, but not quite solid either in color. The feel is not slick. They have just a bit of texture to them, which I actually like. It makes it easier for me to grab onto notes. To my ears, they are sounding fantastic on this uke. Not too warm or bright, but just right.
I got them from Strings and Beyond, a place I often buy strings from, due to the exceptional service and good prices. These guys ship FAST too.
Here is a link: http://www.stringsandbeyond.com/lab-ukx00.html

I'm assuming these strings are also used as guitar strings. Instead of spending the labor to cut them down to soprano uke size it looks like they just package the full length string that would work with guitar. There's a huge advantage to this for a soprano. If you're careful, you can get two sets of strings out of one pack.

I previously tried D'addario Nyltech, Carbon, and T2 Titanium on this uke...and I think it shipped with Aquila. I do believe I've found my string now with these La Bellas.

Anyone else a fan of these La Bella strings? For those of you who like to try out new strings, I'd definitely suggest at least trying these out. I don't see them get much mention. No one likes every string, so I'm sure some won't like them...but I'm a fan now.

Yeah I am big fan of La Bella strings, they made both my Mele and my Fender Tenors really sing. La Bella's again just to me have a really nice,balanced out tone. Not to harsh, but not to subtle either. For me, it's just right

hungry4adobo said:

Yeah I am big fan of La Bella strings, they made both my Mele and my Fender Tenors really sing. La Bella's again just to me have a really nice,balanced out tone. Not to harsh, but not to subtle either. For me, it's just right

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Awesome. If I ever get another tenor, I definitely plan to try them out on it too.

I did a little digging on their website to find out they are nylon of some sort. I guess just a bit different than the clear nylon I'd seen before.

I just tried LaBellas for the first time, last week. I agree that the sound falls nicely between bright and dark. I liked the tone, but the texture was a deal-breaker, for me. I only play finger-style classical. The "shhhh" sound I got when picking was almost like playing four wound strings. I switched them out for a set of Savarez Corums. Similar tone, possibly a bit warmer, but a very smooth texture.

The pro series are a rectified nylon, so you will have some slight texture to them. They do have a regular set, not rectified, if you want the more typical smooth nylon. I have used LaBella before, if I still used nylon I would still use them. I do hear they have a fluorocarbon coming out at some point as well.

Ah yeah I thought the texture might be a deal breaker for some, even though I like it better than the super slick feeling strings.

I've never tried Savarez. Maybe I should give them a look sometime.

I too have a LoPrinzi Mohagony Soprano (Model B). In the past year, I went from Aquila Nylguts to Savarez, to Aquila Reds, and am now using D'Addario Nyltechs. The Savarez and to a certain extent the Reds were too high tension for my taste. I am really enjoying the Nyltech. The texture--kinda soapy--is nice, and they sound very full, if not as clear and bell-like as the Reds.

The LaBella strings also come on some of the Romero creation ukes. I have the tiny tenor and grand tenor in Low G, and they both have LaBella strings, I think the pro-uke strings. They do have a unique sound. I really like them. To my ears, there do seem to be a couple of frets on the C string that may not sustain or resonate quite as long/much as some other strings, but overall I really like them. They have a unique and warm sound to them to my ears. And they feel pretty good and not too hard on my fingers.

I have some Savarez Corum strings on my Turner Compass Rose Tenor and they sound very different. More guitar like, guess because they are guitar strings. They have great clarity in the notes, but not as warm. I also really like the sound of the Savarez. Only issue I have is that they are thinner and seem fairly high tension, which seems to make it a little harder on my fretting fingers to play a long time. Before I had Southcoast HML-RW's on the Compass Rose, and I also really liked those too.

I have a number of other ukes that I am also trying out some other strings. Oasis Warm Low G's, Aquila, Daniel Ho, Worth Fluorocarbons, I also ordered some more Oasis strings in both Warm and Bright, and D'addario Pro Arte. Fun to experiment.

I seriously considered one of the Romero Creations tenors recently, but didn't go for it. I'm not going to say I won't in the future. That'd be a good way to try out their tenor strings. haha.

For the record, I do really like the Nyltech strings too in a lot of cases.

Haha, I like that thinking. Having to buy a new ukulele just to try out the strings. Will have to use that one next time I need a reason to justify my uas.

While it has been a few years, I had them on a Pepe Romero tenor. The didn't have as much resonance or sustain as fluorocarbon strings. But they were nice sounding played fingerstyle.

Gawd, I truly believe that there's a real disorder called String Acquisition Syndrome now! I just ordered a set of Aquila Lavas to try out on my Ohana....I can't wait to try them!

Nickie said:

Gawd, I truly believe that there's a real disorder called String Acquisition Syndrome now! I just ordered a set of Aquila Lavas to try out on my Ohana....I can't wait to try them!

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Agree completely! I love the lavas and now I want to try Reds, La Bella's and Savarez! Not to mention the Southcoast, D'addario, and oasis strings I already have on hand... At least they're cheaper than a new uke!

I put them on one or two ukes and didn't like them. Ya got to find the right string for the right uke.

...and of course the right string for the right uke varies from person to person too. Actually, it varies for just me. I may be loving LaBella today and in a couple of weeks like the Nyltech better. As noted, it's a lot cheaper to play around with strings than buy new ukes.

WCBarnes said:

Agree completely! I love the lavas and now I want to try Reds, La Bella's and Savarez! Not to mention the Southcoast, D'addario, and oasis strings I already have on hand... At least they're cheaper than a new uke!

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Muh-whah, hah, hah! Welcome to SCO (string changing obsession)!

jer said:

..
As noted, it's a lot cheaper to play around with strings than buy new ukes.

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Depends lol

Ukulele Eddie said:

Muh-whah, hah, hah! Welcome to SCO (string changing obsession)!

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The string makers and sellers are counting on it....maybe it's the reason why there are so many brands. Could it be the same reason there are so many uke makers???

Icelander53 said:

Depends lol

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LOL Point taken.

hammer40 said:

The pro series are a rectified nylon, so you will have some slight texture to them. They do have a regular set, not rectified, if you want the more typical smooth nylon.

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This is interesting. I was about to write that the regulars are rectified too, based on a set I just tried. I bought two packages of the regulars (No. 11 for soprano) and the set I took out first was clearly rectified. I figured that was normal, but I just checked the other set and they're clear, so someone at La Bella messed up and put Uke-Pro strings in a regular package.

Unfortunately, I didn't care for the Uke-Pros. My test uke is a Makala soprano, and while it's an inexpensive uke, it sounded quite good with its stock Aquilas. By contrast, the Uke-Pros were dull and uneven, and I found the string noise annoying. I replaced them after three days.

Of course, I know that YMMV is the rule.