subtitute concert ukulele strings?

Joined
May 14, 2014
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
i have an oscar schmidt concert ukulele but the strings are so old that a chord sounds really really bad.. i want to enjoy my ukulele for christmas but i cant purchase any ukulele strings right now.. what string can i use as a substitute for all? i know tenor strings have too much tension for a concert ukulele.. so i was thinking maybe guitar strings? or hmmm i dont know.. any suggestions guys? :) thank you :)
 
I don't recommend putting any guitar strings on a ukulele. I tried one once (nylon) and the tension was too high.
Aquila strings are available at most shops, and don't cost much. there are lots of good You Tube videos on restringing an ukulele.
Good luck!
 
I see Martin strings at all the "guitar" shops around here.

Are you saying you have tenor strings available? At a given tension, the concert scale would yield a higher tuning than the tenor scale. Consequently for a given tuning, the concert scale would have less tension. Now there are high tension tenor sets that you might not want to wind up to standard tuning. If those are the only strings you have, what I would recommend is changing one string at a time and wind up until it feels about the same tension as the other 3 strings even if it isn't up to the normal pitch. Maybe you end up in B tuning or Bb tuning instead of C, or maybe the proper tension would even put you in C# or D tuning. But whatever it ends up being, it should be safe and sound good.
 
im rom the philippines and the ukulele isnt as popular as it is in hawaii, thailand or japan.. im not a fan of aquila strings and there aren't many ukulele shops here. I've been playing the ukulele for 6 years now and i perform solo and im actually part of an orchestra (contemporary orchestra in my university) :).. I would want to be one of the great ambassadors of the ukulele here since i play all types of music (especially jazz, blues) improv and focus on giving the ukulele a very good reputation.. I'm studying music from great classical pianists, guitarists, bassists, saxophonists etc. just to apply it to my ukulele.. while having this great opportunity of studying, my only problem with music related stuff is my budget.. now, im not asking for any donations, but i just want to know any substitutes for concert ukulele strings because i have to rely on my parents to buy my strings or other music related stuff.. but since we are also on a tight budget because of my fees in school, that means i ordering online isnt an option and i have to be resourceful about this.. :) i am currently playing a tenor ukulele in my performances but i would want to restring my concert ukulele for anyone out there who wants to learn the ukulele (so far a great number of people would want to learn from me, although only my friends and people from my university because i havent really posted anything online to be known as a person who can teach ukulele here in the philippines.. i play solo and with a jazz band and if eve ri am going to teach i would give it a different approach :) and my lessons wouldnt be limited in becoming a great ukulele PLAYER, but also a great MUSICIAN.. but there will be a start for something).. anyway thank you for sharing your thoughts! :) merry christmas!
 
Last edited:
Send me a pm Ukulelmafia with your mailing address with type of string you want or I can choose one for you and have them sent to your address. ALso need to know if you want low G or Hi g set or both.
 
Send me a pm Ukulelmafia with your mailing address with type of string you want or I can choose one for you and have them sent to your address. ALso need to know if you want low G or Hi g set or both.

Damn Patrick you beat to the punch. Well done sir and truely in the spirit of the season. I have a glut of strings so anything else that the OP needs from tenor thru soprano please PM me.
 
Regarding Tenor strings on a Concert ukulele - I wanted to try a low G D'Addario set, but all I could find was a tenor set. I checked the string gauges and found the top three tenor strings were the same diameter and composition as the the concerts, just a little longer. So I installed the tenor set and all was well. This is pretty easy to check for nearly any string set with a few google searches. If the tenor strings are the same or lighter gauge compared to the same brand and type concert set you should be fine. Of course you need to monitor your own string tensions as noted above, but we tend to do this every string change, right?
Good luck!
 
Top Bottom