I want to string one of my uke's low-G but I'm not a fan of wound strings. So far, the only non-wound low-G I've found are Worth strings. Are there any other brands that make a non-wound low-G?
I had an Aquila Red Lo-G on a Sorprano, but it buzzed so I took it off and put it on my old Ka-Lai Pineapple Soprano, and it played and sounded good. Then, some later, I was sitting, reading a book, and it made a musical twang (G, I think) and went to its reward. I don't know if Aquila makes tenor reds, but the Reds are supposed to be better now.
I just put an Aquila wound lo-G on my Luna Concert a coupla days ago. It sounds fine, I like it a lot. ld:
The reason why wound low-G strings are popular is that their diameter is close to what an unwound high-G is. An unwound low-G string has a considerably larger diameter than an unwound high-G string. With a wound low-G string there is no (usually, anyway) need to widen the nut slot to accommodate wider diameter string. Also, some bridges are drilled to only accommodate unwound high-G strings, meaning the bridge will need to be reworked to handle an unwound low-G string.
An unwound low-G string that fits too tightly into a nut slot will get gouged and pinched when the tuners are adjusted. When that happens, the string is weakened and eventually (sometimes sooner than later) will snap from the tuning tension, usually at the nut where the gouge occurred.
that's waht I use on my bari [19" scale] too. the tension might be too low on a tenor. the ML_SW[light medium, 2 smooth wound basses] would be more appropriate, but the op wants non-wound. I have worth browns on my tenor and have no problem with the lowg being too thick. it is kind of 'boomy though]
I've never had an issue with unwound low g fitting the nut or bridge. The only issue i've had is doubling back in the machine head, and only on gotoh tuners.
If you're talking about flourocarbon, and you really like low G, you might consider getting a roll of seaguar 100lb flourocarbon line. Then you can use it for your low G strings with what ever sets you like. A 25yrd roll is about $40 and will make 30-35 low G's on tenor. It seems to be very equivalent to a worth clear low G.