Aquila red series...I should have known better.

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hammer40

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I have been experimenting with strings for a little while now and figured I would give the Aquila red series, 87U, a try. I know they changed their formula to try to alleviate the breakage issue, so I thought it might be a good time to try them out.

I have heard good things about the sound of these strings, and all the audio I have heard of them sounded real good as well. They big complaint is the breakage issue, well, they have not solved it. At least for the two sets I tried.

I followed the video that demonstrates how to string them up properly. I made sure my ukes nut and saddle were in good order as well. All to no avail, the A string snapped after about 5 hours, and I wasn't playing it at the time.

It's to bad, I loved the sound they produced, bright but not thin or tinny, lots of sustain, articulate and clear, picking or strumming. I love the deep red color as well. They are more dense string so they have a firm feel under your finger, which I like a lot.

If Aquila can ever solve the brittle nature of these strings, they really have a winner in my book. Unfortunetly, I won't be trying them again until it is 100 percent solved with a money back gaurantee to back it up.
 
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I did not have any problems with the baritone set, two wound, two red
 
Nice to know, as the Nylgut strings on my Mainland are starting to get worn, and I was thinking about changing to the Reds. But it was mostly because I thought red strings would look cool on my uke.
 
Are you sure the Aquila Red you had was the latest? Some places have old stock.

The maker, mimmo , is a member here and might be able to check if the strings age.

A couple years ago I had an Aquila red set (wound low g) on a Collings UT1 that sounded great. It lasted months and months, never broke.
 
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I'd have to say I had absolutely zero issues with the one concert set I tried. I knew about the breakage, even came across the video, but forgot about it when I installed them and just strung it up like I do normally and no issues at all. I remember even tugging at them like I always do with fresh strings to break them in faster.

They didn't stay long on the uke not because I didn't like the sound but because they felt so different, it was weird going back and forth between ukes.
 
Doc_J said:
Are you sure the Aquila Red you had was the latest? Some places have old stock.

The maker, mimmo , is a member here and might be able to check if the strings age.
Click to expand...

The batch number on the package was dated 06/2015, so I think they are the recent version. Again, I really liked these strings, but they both had the 1st string snap on me.
 
the.ronin said:
They didn't stay long on the uke not because I didn't like the sound but because they felt so different, it was weird going back and forth between ukes.
Click to expand...

They do have a different feel to them. Feel just like rectified strings do, to me anyway. Which does not bother me at all.
 
My Aquila reds are over a year old on my Silvertone soprano. Still sound great.
 
I've got "low_G" reds on a pineapple soprano and a Kala concert. The soprano strings are over a year old and currently on their third body (yes, I bought a second pineapple specifically to use these strings when the first pineapple was changed to 5th's tuning!) so they've been fitted and re-fitted several times ... no problems yet. The concert strings are only a few months old and actually haven't had much use, but they've not snapped either :)
 
I've had reds on three ukes with no breakage problems but the batch dates were Oct/Nov '14.

One ukulele is currently strung with Fremont Blackline but that's not due to any problems with the Aquila products, just the ongoing effort to learn how different strings effect that particular instrument.
 
Okay, several folks now have had reported no issues. I can find no rough spots on my Compass Rose anywhere. They snapped somewhere on the saddle area as far as I can tell.
 
I sympathise Hammer. My experience is right in the middle. On the first two sets I tried, the 'A' snapped. I didn't like their feel either...sort of a grainy/sandpaper type thing. The last time - about a month ago - I bought a single Low G concert red. It sounds amazing, feels smother and still going strong after a lot of use in that time. Hmmm...Guess the jury is still out eh.
 
I've had Reds on my Flea soprano and concert for over a year with no issue. However, every single Low G Red I've had has broken on me within a couple of days. Most recently I bought a set of Aquila's for a 6 string Lanikai and it came with a Red for the low A. Sure enough 2 days later it also broke. Luckily I had a replacement. I may still buy Reds for ukes I string up re-entrant but I'll never, ever, waste my money again on a Red Low G.
 
I got a set of Aquila Reds to demo and report on (oddly enough, my most highly viewed YouTube video to date!) - I installed them on my Kala Cedar Top Tenor over two years ago.

Still have them, haven't had a lick of trouble with them, and they still sound just fine.

Is it something to do with the style of playing? The material of the nut? Humidity? The nut behind the uke? Any and/or all of these? Karma?

I can't tell - but it does reinforce the axiom "Your Mileage May Vary".

Some of us love the reds, and have had no issues. Others, not so much. The same goes for la Bella, Hilo, Fremont Black Line, Worth (Clear and brown), Southcoast, and every string with the name "Aquila" attached.

So, should you have known better? I hardly think so. You never know which strings are the ones for you until your try them.

-Kurt​
 
Reentrant sets on both my KA-SEM and my Risa Sopano stick over a year old and still great.
 
@Hammer40, sorry to hear about your string break. I keep reading about these issues and I've tried them on probably 10 different ukes without ever breaking a string that I recall. So I've probably used 15+ packs of strings across soprano, concert and tenor. Hard to believe I've been lucky all this time, but maybe...Anyway, Reds and Southcoast Medium Lights tend to be my two go-to strings.
 
My Aquila red A string also broke, near the nut. They were hardly played, and it broke in the case. I think Mimmo may have been wanting to reproduce the way old fashioned gut strings looked and felt. Seems like he was pretty close. Pretty close to the way they broke too....
I loved em, but I don't wanna go through that again.
 
ksiegel said:
I got a set of Aquila Reds to demo and report on (oddly enough, my most highly viewed YouTube video to date!) - I installed them on my Kala Cedar Top Tenor over two years ago.

Still have them, haven't had a lick of trouble with them, and they still sound just fine.

Is it something to do with the style of playing? The material of the nut? Humidity? The nut behind the uke? Any and/or all of these? Karma?

I can't tell - but it does reinforce the axiom "Your Mileage May Vary".

Some of us love the reds, and have had no issues. Others, not so much. The same goes for la Bella, Hilo, Fremont Black Line, Worth (Clear and brown), Southcoast, and every string with the name "Aquila" attached.

So, should you have known better? I hardly think so. You never know which strings are the ones for you until your try them.

-Kurt​
Click to expand...

"Should have known better," referring to the fact that these strings have had a known breakage issue. The websites that sell them even have large disclaimers about the brittle nature of them, and state that there are no returns or warranties because of it.

I took a chance, and thought maybe it was corrected but it just seems to be hit or miss with them. I'm well aware of the subjective nature of strings, this has nothing to do with that. Again, I said I liked them...a lot. As for playing style, I never got to play them. They snapped within hours after stringing them up and were still stretching.

"Karma," really? I guess my karma is good enough for every string manufacturer including Aquila, just not for the Aquila Red series.

It's all good, I'm out ten bucks, but there sure are a lot of good strings out there to enjoy.
 
Hello Guys
I can relate, this why the red series ( I mean here NOT the low G red sigle) had some changes.
Rigth now the surfece is totally pilished smooth against the raf surface of the first ones. The colour isa a bit less red.
But they are indeed a lot strongest. The soud rensponse is the same.
Unfortunately I have not the control over the worldwhide distribuition so it is possible that there are many of the first barch still in the market.
generelly speacking we started to produce this new version form June 2015 more or less.

here I am speacking of the red series sets high G tuning.
what about the single low G reds?
at present they sare still raf in the surface; I tried to improve these also in the same way of the high g sets but It was not ok.
however the Low G version of the red series sets has red wound strings: thi decision dateback 2 months ago.
it was done because the tonal balance with the upper strings was too much.
Ciao
Mimmo
 
mimmo said:
Hello Guys
I can relate,
Ciao
Mimmo
Click to expand...

You, Sir, are the producer who has profited from this merchandise. We are the consumers who have lost money on your faulty product.

How is it then that you can relate?

Please forgive my bluntness. I'm a fan of Aquila and want your company to succeed. I've loved your Red series and was a diehard fan. But the tenor low G red string has a very high rate of failure. You knew it, and that is why you have changed it.

Is it too much for us consumers to ask for fair compensation? For example, could your company at least replace our old broken Gs for your new wound low G?
 
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