Who's got a flat wound 3rd?

spookelele

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So.. in what seems to be a never ending quest to find strings that can bring out my pono atsh, I tried some of the alohi and mahanas. They seem to be the same wound bass strings but one has clear nylon trebles and the other uses what looks like d'addario titaniums.

The wound basses help alot with the projection, but they squeak really bad. Since I don't know how to polish wound strings, I'm looking for a flat wound C to pair with the oasis flat wound low G.

I had thought I'd found a solution at southcoast but they're out of the material they used for the flat 3rds, and will not have a replacement for a couple months.

So.. anyone have a suggestion for a flat wound 3rd/C? I've looked at some classical guitar strings.. but trying to figure out what's what is difficult, and the translation from guitar to tenor uke scale is not working in my head.

Has anyone tried this before?
 
So.. in what seems to be a never ending quest to find strings that can bring out my pono atsh, I tried some of the alohi and mahanas. They seem to be the same wound bass strings but one has clear nylon trebles and the other uses what looks like d'addario titaniums.

The wound basses help alot with the projection, but they squeak really bad. Since I don't know how to polish wound strings, I'm looking for a flat wound C to pair with the oasis flat wound low G.

I had thought I'd found a solution at southcoast but they're out of the material they used for the flat 3rds, and will not have a replacement for a couple months.

So.. anyone have a suggestion for a flat wound 3rd/C? I've looked at some classical guitar strings.. but trying to figure out what's what is difficult, and the translation from guitar to tenor uke scale is not working in my head.

Has anyone tried this before?

For a flatwound third, I have used a classical guitar 'D' string, either the Thomastik-Infeld (TI) CF-27, or the GHS Vanguard Classics 'D' string, both can be sourced as single strings from Strings By Mail. The Thomastik string is almost absolutely flat or smooth, and the quietest for string squeak and finger noise of ALL the wound and flatwound and 'smooth' strings that I've tried.

I use the TI CF-127 (or CF-128) full set on all my classical guitars, as well as my guitalele, and simple wont use anything else, since I cant stand the string noise from the fretting hand.
 
I have a laminate bari that's tuned to low rentrant A. I have D'Addario flatwounds for the low G & A strings and so far no problems and no squeak. I don't remember the gauges off hand.
 
+1 to the Thomastik Infeld CF 27. Just replaced a wound 3rd from a Southcoast set with that string (on my Barron River concert). So much less noise. Not perfectly silent, but not nearly as loud and high pitched. Feels nicer under my fingers too. I use a Fremont soloist for low G on my other concert uke and I love that one too. This is like the C string version, IMO.
 
Thanks again Booli. Great call. I strung up the Pono ATSH with the tomastick for both the 3rd (27) and 4th (30) and they're working well to bring the volume up. They're warmer than I expected, but I think that's working in my favor since they don't stand out as much against the trebles. The texture is very similar to aquila reds. Smooth, but not quite as slidy as plastics. I'm really enjoying the speak without the squeak. Thanks man. Save me some $$ in hunting.
 
Thanks again Booli. Great call. I strung up the Pono ATSH with the tomastick for both the 3rd (27) and 4th (30) and they're working well to bring the volume up. They're warmer than I expected, but I think that's working in my favor since they don't stand out as much against the trebles. The texture is very similar to aquila reds. Smooth, but not quite as slidy as plastics. I'm really enjoying the speak without the squeak. Thanks man. Save me some $$ in hunting.

Any time.

Glad it worked for you too. I really love the FEEL and sound of the way the TI strings work so well for me.

Also, for a baritone, you can do the CF-30 for the 3rd and a CF-35 for the 4th strings.

Yes, they also work well with the Aquila REDS too IMHO. The CF-27 also is a nice complement to the sound/feel/tension of the Aquila Super Nylgut tenor set, as well as the Martin M620 tenor set, especially if you tune down to Bb, whereby the C (or 3rd) string can bee to floppy and dead if you use the stock 3rd string from those packs.

But I must give credit where it is due; for a long-lost fellow UU member OldePhart (John) suggested the TI strings to me, and since then (back in 2013) I've tried to spread the word due to my own satisfaction with them.

The only thing I found is that the loop-end was weird to me at first, and they have too much red 'silk' over-wrap at the end, and for use on a uke, after tying a single-overhand knot at the bridge end BEFORE the silk, I typically and CAREFULLY cut off the silk-covered part, and then paint the end with some clear nail polish to prevent it from unraveling. Never had a problem since after MANY times restringing them on/off different instruments during my testing and playing.

:music:
 
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