Low G preference

Ukulelerick9255

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When playing with a wound G do you prefer nylon or flurocarbon strings to go with it? Do you use a wond C? I've heard a wound C sounds better and some say it doesn't blend in tonally not sure which to believe.
 
I prefer a wound g. The tone is more natural sounding to me, rounder and warmer with long rich sustain, the fluoro low g to me sounds somewhat thuddy. Wound low G will more often than not work for most nut slots whereas fluoro low g will require some extra setup work on the nut slot.

For wound c you are going to have to experiment yourself. Not just for the sound, but the feel is a little different especially when finger picking. You may not like the extra finger noise coming from two wound strings, to me it does a feel a bit odd fingerpicking, that is just my experience. Sound is nice though, and Southcoast has a very nice set and I believe oasis will possibly come out with a set too.
 
I really like the Fremont soloist wound low g string. For one thing, it has a narrow enough gauge to allow it to be tested out without having to commit to any nut slot alteration, which I think is a plus if you're just starting to experiment with low g and aren't sure if you'll want to stick with it.

I have tried the Fremont string matched with both Aquila supers and fluorocarbons (Martin and Living Water) and, to my ear, it matches better with the latter. The typically more rounded tone of fluoros suits the more guitary sound of a low g set up imho. With the Living Waters it sounds especially good, achieving excellent balance in terms of both tone and volume (ie no 'boom').

FYI: The soloist is advertised as being squeakless. Whilst it is certainly less noisy than a regular wound string, it is not completely squeak-free.
 
I would agree with this on the Freemomt low g soloist. The skinniness of it is nice. It has a good "feel" to it. Not super-squeaky either.

I really like the Fremont soloist wound low g string. For one thing, it has a narrow enough gauge to allow it to be tested out without having to commit to any nut slot alteration, which I think is a plus if you're just starting to experiment with low g and aren't sure if you'll want to stick with it.

I have tried the Fremont string matched with both Aquila supers and fluorocarbons (Martin and Living Water) and, to my ear, it matches better with the latter. The typically more rounded tone of fluoros suits the more guitary sound of a low g set up imho. With the Living Waters it sounds especially good, achieving excellent balance in terms of both tone and volume (ie no 'boom').

FYI: The soloist is advertised as being squeakless. Whilst it is certainly less noisy than a regular wound string, it is not completely squeak-free.
 
I use Aquila "reds" in low-G on both a Kala concert and a "generic no-name" pineapple soprano. I'm quite happy with them, have had no problems with breakage, despite moving the soprano set across three different instruments, see no reason to try any other brand and am quite happy to recommend them to anyone who asks :)

Yes, the nut did need slight modification to accommodate the thicker string and yes, I did view the videos on the manufacturer's web-site and followed the instructions therein ... inevitably YMMV ;)
 
I like the Fremont low G string too. The unwound strings I tried didn't hold a solid bass tone. Any the wound low Gs other than the Fremont produced a scrapey sound while strumming. The Fremont was just right.
 
Wound low G (preferably the Fremont Soloist) with Martin fluorocarbons for the rest. I've never encountered a non-wound low G string that didn't sound boomy and overpowering to me. FWIW, this is on a koa concert uke.
 
It depends on the uke. My Hive has wound 4th only. Sounds amazing. On my Collngs UT2 Doghair I just popped on an Aquila Red Low G. Sounds fantastic. I definitely will be trying the Southcoast non-wound and polished 3rd and 4th strings.
 
Please -- where online can I buy this?

The Fremont Solist wound low G can be ordered online from places like Elderly, Uke Republic, or HMS. If you are on Oahu, you could even drive to their store in Haleiwa to get one.

I really enjoy the combination of a wound low G string like the Fremont Soloist and three unwound strings from Oasis or Southcoast HMU. But contrary to most statements here, I also like sets with all unwound strings, like Worth Clears or Browns. My fingers prefer their feel, and the logic that each string is getting a little thinner from top down makes it easier for me to know what string I'm touching. Also, I think that they blend in nicely with the other strings. They may sound a little boomy, but that depends on your playing style. I'm trying to hit them a little less hard when strumming or fingerpicking.
 
When playing with a wound G do you prefer nylon or flurocarbon strings to go with it? Do you use a wond C? I've heard a wound C sounds better and some say it doesn't blend in tonally not sure which to believe.

All of my low G tenors have florocarbon A & E strings with wound G & C strings. To my ear the wound 3rd and 4th sound very guitar like and well balanced. I have tried just a wound low G string only and I don't like the sound, we are all different, there is no right or wrong way to do it.
 
All of my low G tenors have florocarbon A & E strings with wound G & C strings. To my ear the wound 3rd and 4th sound very guitar like and well balanced. I have tried just a wound low G string only and I don't like the sound, we are all different, there is no right or wrong way to do it.

I'm hoping for more input like Dave's, (copied above). I've thought long and hard about a trying wound C, even started a thread about it once. Has anyone tried two wound strings, or just a wound C, on a concert?
 
My opinion is the exact opposite. Two wound strings on any uke makes itsound unbalanced. I don't like them at all. The wounds dominate the sound, they are overpowering when strummend and/or picked. They make em sound like a guitar. i would think this problem would only be magnified on a shorter scale. sounds like a disaster to me.

ukes were never originally built to be played with wound strings. They don't give you a ukulele voice but a wannabe guitar voice.
 
My opinion is the exact opposite. Two wound strings on any uke makes itsound unbalanced. I don't like them at all. The wounds dominate the sound, they are overpowering when strummend and/or picked. They make em sound like a guitar. i would think this problem would only be magnified on a shorter scale. sounds like a disaster to me.

ukes were never originally built to be played with wound strings. They don't give you a ukulele voice but a wannabe guitar voice.

I agree 100%. If I want to play a wound string instrument then I will pick up my 7/8 classical guitar.
As stated earlier, I use the PHD Low G. Perhaps the best stings I have put on my Pono MGT. (I had SCS-'string changing syndrome' for a while)

BTW, where are the PHD fanboys?
Daniel Ho backs these strings, ya' know?
 
I had Southcoast strings and a Fremont Soloist Squeakless Low G on my Pono MT. I loved the sound of it for picking but not so much for strumming. The low G string really dominated the sound. I'm currently using the GHS Sarah Maisel Artist Curated low G strings. So far I like them very much but I'm sure I'll keep experimenting. I have a set of PHD high G strings but I think I'll try the low G set based on johnson's recommendation above.
 
This thread got me all curious about wound C so I've ordered a set of the Thomastik-Infeld CF128 strings. As I'm in the UK it seemed easiest to buy the full set from Thomann in Germany, and then I can try using them for both wound C and wound low G.
 
I'm hoping for more input like Dave's, (copied above). I've thought long and hard about a trying wound C, even started a thread about it once. Has anyone tried two wound strings, or just a wound C, on a concert?

I haven't tried two wound strings yet, but I have tried a wound C on a concert, my mahogany Barron River. I first got a set of Southcoast Mediums with a wound C option (comes with both types), but I did not like the wound C in that set and bought a Thomastik-Infeld CF27. It worked great, little squeaking, and does not have the thuddiness of some C strings.
 
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