String selection for beginner

DDANIEL13

Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2016
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Location
Houston Texas area
Hello, this is my first question in my Ukulele learning,
I got a Kala Tenor recently, The tags say it has D'Addario Titaniums
on it. I bought 1 set of the Aquila Nylgut Tenor Regular #10u
I've read alot of positive about these. Am I missing anything by keeping the Titaniums for now, or should I go ahead and run the Nylguts?

Thank you
Dave
 
Which tenor? I'd keep the Titaniums on a solid mahogany model. Aquilas often bring out the best in all laminate ukes. String choice is very personal as it's one of the few things you can control (except for setups, altering nut/saddle material, pickup) that can impact an instruments tone, projection, and playability depending on the softness, hardness, and tension of them.

http://www.southcoastukes.com/stringuide.htm
 
Do you like the sound of the D'Addarios? If so I'd keep them on. It takes days to get strings set and you'll be retuning a lot. I've switched strings a lot in the last year, spending enough to buy a new (cheap)Uke. What I found out is strings may not make a big difference. They make some, Nylgut to fluorocarbons do make a difference. I've never tried titaniums but they do not sound like Nylguts I'm pretty sure.

That being said, sure try them, just carefully take the old strings off, that way you can put them back on if you don't care for the change in tone. I use Magic tape and write the strings name on the tape tab so I don't make a mistake reinstalling them. The D'Addario Carbons should be a big change from the Nylguts, I really like them, but They are about like Fremont Blacklines, which I'm using now on one of my tenors. I have the D
A's in reserve for when the Fremonts fade away. I doubt I'll have to buy stings for several years.
 
I concur, I'd keep the D'Adaddarios unless you don't like em. Some people don't like Aquilas. I went through two sets of them on an Ohana before I realized they were causing a lot of buzzing and switched to Worth Browns, and really improved the uke. Aquilas are fat compared to some other brands.
 
D'Addario is a good brand, so like the others have said, I'd keep those on for now unless you don't like something about them. Strings are a matter of preference, and different strings also sound (subjectively) better on some individual ukuleles than others. There are no strings that are more suitable for a specific skill level. The best is to just try different brands and types that you like.

I like Aquila Nylguts on one of my concerts, and I have Worth clears and browns on most of my ukuleles. Recently, I got a soprano that came with Living Water strings, and I really, really like those (the feel, the sound). So for my new baritone, I ordered a couple of LW sets and will probably try them on my tenor too when the time for changing strings comes. I've never had strings that I outright didn't like.
 
I use Aquila reds exclusively myself.

~AL~
 
Continue learning and becoming familiar with you ukulele before experimenting with strings.
Assuming you are a beginner you have enough to work on.
 
I use Aquila reds exclusively myself.

I just picked up a few packs of tenor and baritone reds, since Aquila seems to have a sale going on (they are discounted both on their own site as well as Thomann, a large European retailer). Been wanting to try them for a while, and this was a good opportunity. :)
 
Top Bottom