Unwound string set for baritone uke? Aquilla red?

Guiyoforward · Apr 9, 2015

Hi everyone, this is my first post. Just bought a cheap makala baritone to play with my kids (nothing good available at a decent price here in south america) but they came with horrible local stings.
I was going to buy som daddario j68 but because of the kids I thought it would be nice to have a fully unwound set. I found the red aquillas, but the site is a bit confusing. The full set includes two wound strings because "the set is no accoustically balanced". Then another website stated that the 73u and 74u where best when combined with the u21 nylgut set... Is this correct?
Any advice?
Thanks!

Guiyoforward · Apr 9, 2015

Ps
http://www.ukuleleworld.com/AQUILA-...and-4-wound-stringsr-1ea-3rd-and-1ea-4th.html
AQUILA RED SERIES - 73U74U Baritone Key of G replace 3rd and 4 wound strings.
This packet contains - 1ea 3rd & 1ea 4th no-wound red string.
These strings are recommended for replacement of wound strings in the Aquila Nylgut 21U Key of G sets.
By replacing the two wound strings in a standard Aquila 21U set with the special no-wound strings, you get a wonderful warm sound, without the "hiss" or "scratch" you get from changing chords quickly with wound strings.

JJFN · Apr 9, 2015

Southcoast LL NW's are unwound baritone strings and they are great. Never tried Aquilla Red's, but you should be very happy with the Southeast strings. Also there is a lot of information on this subject on this site.

Guiyoforward · Apr 9, 2015

JJFN said:
Southcoast LL NW's are unwound baritone strings and they are great. Never tried Aquilla Red's, but you should be very happy with the Southeast strings. Also there is a lot of information on this subject on this site.

Thanks! Will collect a bit more info and post back.
Since there is not a lot available where I am, is there an easy "hack" for using nylon classical guitar strings?
Thanks again

itsme · Apr 9, 2015

I have yet to find a set of all unwound bari strings that I like (including Southcoast). The D is always just too "floppy" for me.

Guiyoforward said:
Since there is not a lot available where I am, is there an easy "hack" for using nylon classical guitar strings?

I've used standard CG strings on a guitalele (which is actually the size of a tenor uke) before and they seemed to work just fine tuned up a fifth.

But if you try that on a bari uke, you'd have three plain and one wound. It should work ok, but to me, that setup is unbalanced because there's a significant tonal difference between wounds/unwounds.

I prefer a 2+2 set, like how on a CG you have 3+3, so it comes out sounding more balanced.

SailingUke · Apr 9, 2015

Try a set of Living Waters. All unwound in either low or high d.

pbagley · Apr 9, 2015

I just put a set of Aquila Reds on a Silvertone baritone uke. Previously it had a Martin set installed, twice, and they were a little quiet and bland sounding.
The Reds are louder and bring out the sound of the uke much more than the Martin strings. I think they may be a good choice for an overbuilt instrument.

Guiyoforward · Apr 9, 2015

Thanks everyone.

pbagley said:
I just put a set of Aquila Reds on a Silvertone baritone uke. Previously it had a Martin set installed, twice, and they were a little quiet and bland sounding.
The Reds are louder and bring out the sound of the uke much more than the Martin strings. I think they may be a good choice for an overbuilt instrument.

Which Reds set did you put? I cannot find a "full" unwound set.
Where the Martins also unwound?
Thanks

igorthebarbarian · Apr 9, 2015

High D Living Waters are awesome. All the non wound low D's are really floppy

Cornfield · Apr 9, 2015

I've used Worth Browns

Guiyoforward · Apr 9, 2015

Thanks, did you like the worth?

pbagley · Apr 9, 2015

Guiyoforward said:
Thanks everyone.

Which Reds set did you put? I cannot find a "full" unwound set.
Where the Martins also unwound?
Thanks

The reds were wound, as were the Martins. After they've settled in on the instrument (hold tuning) I don't notice the windings any more, but that is said by someone who's played steel string guitars and electric basses with roundwound strings for many years. I think the texture of the Reds is more a distraction than the windings.

One complaint I have with the Martin set is the wound G string (tuned D-G-B-E low to high) seems to wear very quickly. The D string also shows wear but at a slower rate. Time will tell if the Reds are more resilient.

I'm looking forward to hearing how the Living Waters strings work out for people. Their concert set sounds pretty good on one of my ukes.

Cornfield · Apr 9, 2015

I like the Worth Browns a lot. Like all Worth strings, some people find them a bit floppy. I like 'em. Good sound, good feel. The Browns add a bit of warmth in my opinion. I think they make Worth Clears for the baritone too.

mimmo · Apr 9, 2015

Hello Guys,
a few things
I tryed to do unwound DGBE bariton 3 and 4. while the 3rd has a nice spund, the 4this, in my opinion, too dull.
I tryed to charge more metal, however the string became too fragile
Ciao
Mimmo of Aquilastrings Italy

itsme · Apr 9, 2015

John Sargent said:
I like the Worth Browns a lot. Like all Worth strings, some people find them a bit floppy. I like 'em. Good sound, good feel. The Browns add a bit of warmth in my opinion. I think they make Worth Clears for the baritone too.

I love linear/low-G Worth Browns on a tenor. Did not care for them on a bari. Again, the D string just didn't cut it for me.

Guiyoforward · Apr 9, 2015

mimmo said:
Hello Guys,
a few things
I tryed to do unwound DGBE bariton 3 and 4. while the 3rd has a nice spund, the 4this, in my opinion, too dull.
I tryed to charge more metal, however the string became too fragile
Ciao
Mimmo of Aquilastrings Italy

Thanks everyone and Mimmo. So you would NOT recommend the following advice on ukulele world?

AQUILA RED SERIES - 73U74U Baritone Key of G replace 3rd and 4 wound strings.
This packet contains - 1ea 3rd & 1ea 4th no-wound red string.
These strings are recommended for replacement of wound strings in the Aquila Nylgut 21U Key of G sets.
By replacing the two wound strings in a standard Aquila 21U set with the special no-wound strings, you get a wonderful warm sound, without the "hiss" or "scratch" you get from changing chords quickly with wound strings.

Mel Ott · Apr 10, 2015

Southcoast makes a set of unwound baritone strings for low-g GCEA tuning that isn't floppy at all. Admittedly, you don't get the lower range of a DGBE-tuned baritone, but the strings are great and provide both a balanced sound and a consistent feel for your fingers.

Guiyoforward · Apr 11, 2015

Thanks. Just oredered a set of brown worths. Will report back. Why brown? After reading the forums, I was slightly inclined to go for the clears, but got the wrong ones on my shopping cart

I want to play children's music mostly, would brighter sounding clears have been better?

we tigers · Apr 11, 2015

I use the living waters. I don't find them floppy and they offer a nice low end. Check out our YouTube channel to hear it

rschneider99 · Apr 19, 2015

I also just switched from Worth Browns to Living Waters on my new to me Kanilea Baritone. The Worths had the low end but the D string was somewhat floppy and a little thuddy... What bothered me most though was that the harmonics between the strings didn't seem to be there and the Living Waters improve that significantly - especially between the D string and E string. Not sure yet if I need to have the nut slot enlarged a bit to fit the larger diameter D string - will have the guys at Gryphon take a look... Really pleased with the Living Waters!

Unwound string set for baritone uke? Aquilla red?

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