Anyone Tried Thomastik-Infeld for Baritone (Linear G)?

Ukulele Eddie

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There was a thread on string fundamentals where Chuck Moore and several others spoke highly about Thomastik-Infeld strings for W3&W4 on a tenor ukulele in linear C, paired with Oasis Brights 1&2.

Has anyone experimented with something similar for a baritone (linear G)? If so, can you let me know which specific Thomastik-Infeld strings you used?

Mucho gracias!
 
Hey Eddie,

I have used the Tomastik-Infeld Low G (the one Chuck uses) on my HF3L Kamaka with CT Worth Clears for the 1,2 and 3 strings. It is one of my favourite sounding Ukes. I love it.
 
YES. It's easy to do AND very popular.

For baritone you can use the CF35 and CF30 string part #'s for the wound D and G strings which are 0.035" and 0.030" respectively, just like ALL classical guitar strings of the same gauges that are 'repacked', cut shorter and marketed as ukulele strings. :)

I use the Thomastik strings for every occasion to use a wound string on ukulele, and also have them on all my classical guitars.

For three yrs now, I use them ALL the time. Chuck and I spoke about this via PM a while back as well.

Many threads on the Thomastik strings exist, with testimonials from UU folks, that might be an enjoyable read can be had via search results. :)

In USA, Juststrings.com and stringsbymail.com sells the single strings, go into CLASSICAL GUITAR and then find Thomastik-Infeld, and either as SETS or SINGLES you want the CHROME FLATWOUND on NYLON core and not any of the rope-core or steel-core (these others are likely too much tension for a uke anyway) and NOT the same as the CHROME FLATWOUND CF27, CF30, CF35 AND CF45 strings made by Thomastik...

Yes, IMHO they are SMOOTHER and have less squeak than the mighty and beloved Fremont Soloist brass-colored smoothwound low G...

Hope this helps. :)
 
Thanks, @Booli. I searched but only found info for linear C on a tenor. I certainly may have missed it, but I appreciate you sharing the info here.

I will order some to try on the Kinnard baritone, which should be ready a week from Friday. We'll have to see if they arrive in time to be the first set or the second set on that uke! ;-)

Eddie
 
Thanks, @Booli. I searched but only found info for linear C on a tenor. I certainly may have missed it, but I appreciate you sharing the info here.

I will order some to try on the Kinnard baritone, which should be ready a week from Friday. We'll have to see if they arrive in time to be the first set or the second set on that uke! ;-)

Eddie

I'm glad to help. I've ordered different strings from Strings By Mail maybe a half-dozen times in the past 2.5 yrs (to support my S.C.O. as you so aptly named it long ago) and rec'd the items in a week or less. They have flat-rate shipping no matter the size of the order, and usually have these Thomastik in stock when I looked.

If you want the string FULL set (the nylon 'trebles' are nice, and I don't like nylon strings), they come 2 ways:

the CF127 has 3 wound basses and 3 wound trebles like most other classical guitar sets

and

the CF128, which has the same 3 wound basses, but ALSO has a WOUND 3rd string (CF27) and the other two are nylon...

I am speaking of string positions for classical guitar...

Most of the time either set is about $20 or so, but the CF singles run anywhere from $4 to $6 each, but very worth it IMHO, as I detest string-sqeak, both for the sound and the feel.

Also to mention - these are LOOP-end strings like mando or banjo strings, and thus have a LOOP at the bridge-end. and also have like 3" of a red silk over-wrap at BOTH ends.

You can safely cut all that off and for a tied-bridge either tie them on, or what I do is tie a simple overhand knot and then run it through the hole of a 3mm glass bead, OR for a pin-bridge or slotted bridge all you need is a single overhand knot.

Once you cut it though, you might want to either put a dab of clear nail polish (and let it dry, maybe 20 mins to cure) on the windings at the cut end, or use a match flame to ever-so-slightly melt the nylon core so it covers the end of the windings. A hemostat (some call them 'forceps') is/are helpful here.

The core of this string is not solid nylon, but nylon fibers, like a very fine, white silken hair, with MANY strands, and the chrome flat over-windings on top of that.

I've also very carefully installed and remove at least one set of the same 4 strings, on more than a half-dozen ukes (and the full 6-set also on several guitars) for testing purposes, and never had one break on me, despite being abraded by tuners, nut and saddle, but I would not pinch them against the frets, even though I see no dents on the underside of the strings from the frets...

I love these strings and have a good amount of experience with them. Similar strings from Savarez or Hannabach are like $40 per set, which I cannot justify such a cost at this time.

Especially when I was using and very happy with the D'Addario EJ27N or Martin M160 classical guitar strings for that instrument, before I found out about the Thomastik.

Also, the D'Addario EJ27N or Martin M160 which only cost like $5 for the entire set, not PER STRING, can be had at most retail shops and are on display next to the La Bella 2001 sets that cost like $12 here in the local shop where I live...
 
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As I mentioned in the second half of that other thread, I am using the middle four strings of the CF128 set (CF35, CF30, CF27, and CN31) on my baritone. The only thing is that this gives you three wound strings and one unwound. I'm fine with it but some people may find it weird. Instead of the CF27 on the 2nd string you could use the CN39 which is pretty thick. I had special ordered CP33, a high-density hybrid string, from Strings by Mail, but Matt contacted me today and told me the string is no longer in production.
 
As I mentioned in the second half of that other thread, I am using the middle four strings of the CF128 set (CF35, CF30, CF27, and CN31) on my baritone. The only thing is that this gives you three wound strings and one unwound. I'm fine with it but some people may find it weird. Instead of the CF27 on the 2nd string you could use the CN39 which is pretty thick. I had special ordered CP33, a high-density hybrid string, from Strings by Mail, but Matt contacted me today and told me the string is no longer in production.

Yes the CN39 is one of the thicker nylon strings at 0.039".

You can also use ANY fluoro baritone strings for the B and E on a baritone, such as those from the Worth BB or Worth CB sets, OR any of the Nylguts or REDS from Aquila from their baritone sets.

Or as others have said get the Oasis GPX+ carbon trebles and use only two of them, and then two of the Thomastik strings.

The fluoro strings will be much BRIGHTER in tone, and significantly THINNER than any of the other string materials.
 
Yes the fluorocarbons are too bright for me and lack complexity of tone. I prefer the nylons although they do go out of tune more easily. I find there is a big difference in quality (and sound) between nylon strings. The nylon strings in the Thomastik-Infeld Classic N sets are much nicer than many cheap nylon strings.
 
By the way, Strings by Mail had them in stock. I know in the other thread some folks mentioned having to wait on them.
 
... I prefer the nylons although they do go out of tune more easily.

When I've used nylon strings, it takes about 20 hrs of play time, i.e., active string vibration before constant retuning is no longer required. If you play only 10 mins per day, it will take like 3-4 weeks for string tension to settle, and also if you only retune once or tiwce per day it will take longer for the strings to settle.

This is for the strings to settle to pitch and not need constant touch-up tuning after about 10-12 hrs of active string vibration.

I personally do NOT stretch the strings in any way other than playing, and retuning, because for me this has lead to both intonation problems and dead spots on the string itself.

I find there is a big difference in quality (and sound) between nylon strings. The nylon strings in the Thomastik-Infeld Classic N sets are much nicer than many cheap nylon strings.

Yes I also find the Thomastik-Infeld Classic N trebles not only to sound better, but also feel better under the fingers than most other brands. Yes, even better than the D'Addario Titanium or Rectified trebles...
 
As I mentioned in another thread, Kevin Beddoe and I started to try the Thomastik's on my Kinnard baritone (dGBE). We had only swapped out the G (third string) with a CF30. We were surprised that the string certainly didn't have room left to spare after cutting off the red portions at both ends. There was just barely enough to get it wound on the turning post. The tension was relatively high. To our ears, it was a dramatic reduction in volume and the tone was muted. It was also noticeably more squeaky. Other than that, it was fantastic. ;-)

I don't doubt other's experiences with these strings, but we decided to abort the effort because it was obviously not the right choice for this particular instrument. As I bought a CF27, CF30 and CF35, I will try on my tenor uke in the near future.

 
As I mentioned in another thread, Kevin Beddoe and I started to try the Thomastik's on my Kinnard baritone (dGBE). We had only swapped out the G (third string) with a CF30. We were surprised that the string certainly didn't have room left to spare after cutting off the red portions at both ends. There was just barely enough to get it wound on the turning post. The tension was relatively high. To our ears, it was a dramatic reduction in volume and the tone was muted. It was also noticeably more squeaky. Other than that, it was fantastic. ;-)

I don't doubt other's experiences with these strings, but we decided to abort the effort because it was obviously not the right choice for this particular instrument. As I bought a CF27, CF30 and CF35, I will try on my tenor uke in the near future.

Sorry to hear your experience was not optimal.

In my use of these T-I strings, I only cut off the red silk at the loop end for the bridge and NOT at the tuner-end. I see no need to shorten the string unnecessarily. I never had a problem using these on any instrument from concert up to full size classical guitar.

Also, since these strings are made for a 25.5" standard scale classical guitar, I am quite surprised that you found them too short. I have not measured them, but were I to hazard a guess, it seems that a single string is about 32" long, and seems odd that it is not long enough in your use.

What is the scale length of that instrument?
 
Sorry to hear your experience was not optimal.

In my use of these T-I strings, I only cut off the red silk at the loop end for the bridge and NOT at the tuner-end. I see no need to shorten the string unnecessarily. I never had a problem using these on any instrument from concert up to full size classical guitar.

Also, since these strings are made for a 25.5" standard scale classical guitar, I am quite surprised that you found them too short. I have not measured them, but were I to hazard a guess, it seems that a single string is about 32" long, and seems odd that it is not long enough in your use.

What is the scale length of that instrument?

It's 19 7/8. The cut the red off both ends as I thought that was what I read in the how-to post, but I may have jumped the gun by doing so.
 
It's 19 7/8. The cut the red off both ends as I thought that was what I read in the how-to post, but I may have jumped the gun by doing so.

There have been many discussions here about T-I strings, even before Chuck Moore started to like them and talk about them going back to at least 2013, and I've not seen any 'official' how-to but maybe I missed that specific thread.

Can you link the post?

Mahalo :)
 
There have been many discussions here about T-I strings, even before Chuck Moore started to like them and talk about them going back to at least 2013, and I've not seen any 'official' how-to but maybe I missed that specific thread.

Can you link the post?

Mahalo :)

LOL, I was referring to your post below, #6. I excerpted the part below which I interpreted to mean cut off the red silk at both ends:

Also to mention - these are LOOP-end strings like mando or banjo strings, and thus have a LOOP at the bridge-end. and also have like 3" of a red silk over-wrap at BOTH ends.

You can safely cut all that off and for a tied-bridge either tie them on, or what I do is tie a simple overhand knot and then run it through the hole of a 3mm glass bead...
 
I only cut a small part of the looped end off so I can feed it through my bridge bead. I kept the red wrapping on the tip so the metal isn't exposed and has a chance of scratching up the top.
The other end I threaded through the tuner hole and did one wrap below the string and one wrap above the string (al a Aaron's video on stringing) and once I had the string tight I cut off the excess string with the red wrapping.
Booli says he doesn't stretch strings but I stretch all my strings once they are tuned up the first time. (I do this also per a suggestion from Aaron@HMS in his string a uke video)

Check out the compensated G saddle. First one I have seen on a uke. I think it is cool.
IMG_20160820_095701.jpg
 
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LOL, I was referring to your post below, #6. I excerpted the part below which I interpreted to mean cut off the red silk at both ends:

Also to mention - these are LOOP-end strings like mando or banjo strings, and thus have a LOOP at the bridge-end. and also have like 3" of a red silk over-wrap at BOTH ends.

You can safely cut all that off and for a tied-bridge either tie them on, or what I do is tie a simple overhand knot and then run it through the hole of a 3mm glass bead...

Ok.

Now it seems like I've gone full-retard. (bangs head on desk several times while yelling FUUUUUUUUUU...)

Sorry for being unaware that my previous post was being used as 'the instructions' LOL. I am too modest to assume that I have that level of influence...

Maybe I was too casual in my info in post #6. I'll have to edit that for sure now.

So, then if you cut the ~3" of the bridge end, and ~4" off the tuner end, the strings are then too short for baritone? Hmmm. I guess that makes sense.

I actually dont cut mine at the tuner end if at all, until AFTER they are strung up, with like 4-5 wraps on the tuner post in order to make sure that a) they fit, and B) there are enough wraps to have a good downward break angle from the nut to the tuner. Some tuner posts may not allow 5 wraps if they are too short above the face of the headstock.
 
Booli, you are a veritable encyclopedia when it comes to strings!

It wasn't so short as to be unusable, but it was short enough that I would expect some people might have trouble getting enough wrapped around the post so it didn't slip. Now I know not to cut both ends! ;-)

But the shortness wasn't the issue. The big issues were the tone, lack of projection, the squeaking and the relatively high tension.
 
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Like Booli I only cut the string at the loop end and in fact I only cut a tiny bit - just enough to get rid of the loop. I have CF27, CF30, and CF35 on my baritone which is a 20 1/8" scale and there's plenty of string at the tuner end. In terms of tone and volume, it depends on what you're looking for and what you're comparing the strings to. They are pretty dark compared to most strings and there will be less volume than fluorocarbons. They can be great if you like a darker or warmer tone or if you're trying to warm up a bright-sounding uke.
 
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