Aquila threads

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AndieZ

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When I was researching what uke to buy for my first one, i kept hearing about aquila strings but here on this site, it's as if they don't exist. What gives?
 
AndieZ said:
When I was researching what uke to buy for my first one, i kept hearing about aquila strings but here on this site, it's as if they don't exist. What gives?
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There's like a thousand threads on aquila ;).
 
AndieZ said:
When I was researching what uke to buy for my first one, i kept hearing about aquila strings but here on this site, it's as if they don't exist. What gives?
Click to expand...

What do you want to know about them?

here is some info from their website:
http://www.aquilausa.com/Default.html

here is an article about the nylgut with some forum members commenting at the bottom:
http://uke4u.com/5-reasons-dont-use-aquila-ukulele-strings/

i have never been a fan of Aquila nylgut. Also, I didn't like the D'addraio nylgut either.
 
johnson430 said:
here is an article about the nylgut with some forum members commenting at the bottom:
http://uke4u.com/5-reasons-dont-use-aquila-ukulele-strings/
Click to expand...

It strikes me as polemical clickbait, though, and very generalized.

I didn't like the white original Nylgut on the tenors I tried them on (neither C tuning nor their re-entrant G set for tenors), but the white New Nylgut D-tuning strings are by far the best strings I have tried on a vintage soprano, yet I didn't care for the C-tuning soprano New Nylguts. On a heavily built concert, they are great. So, lots of differences within even the same product line. A lot of people say they are "too bright", while he complains about them being "too mellow", just underlining how much depends on the instrument and not solely on the strings.

Then there is the fact that Aquila doesn't just make Nylgut strings, or even one kind of Nylgut. New Nylgut and Super Nylgut are distinctly different, and the Red Series, which is Nylgut with copper powder, is entirely unique. Best strings I have tried, and they sound incredible on the very same tenor that sounded poorly with white Nylgut (also with Ko'olau nylon strings).

But if you prefer to put repackaged, cheap fishing line that is sold at inflated prices on your high end ukes, by all means, they are your instruments! ;)
 
There was a time not all that long ago when Aquila was one of the few widely-available manufacturers of ukulele strings, so - people talked about them a lot. In the 7 years I've been playing, a number of new string manufacturers have emerged, and Aquila has expanded their options beyond Nylguts. So - part of the reason you may not see a lot about Aquilas as of lately is that people have moved on to trying and discussing other strings.

Also, Aquila changed their Nylgut "formula" a few years back. They're still good strings, but personally I don't care for the "New Nylguts" as much as I did the old formula, so I no longer use them. My strings of choice are Martin Fluorocarbons for my three koa ukes - inexpensive, widely available, and a nice clear bell-like tone.
 
ubulele said:
What janeray1940 said: the hype about Aquilas (the standard ones, i.e., the "New" Nylguts which most factory-built ukes come with) is largely historical and nowadays is unjustified except in comparison to plain nylon strings. Nylguts were particularly reputed to bring out the best in laminate ukes, but I find that fluorocarbon strings do this better still, with less of the Nylgut "edge" and with more ring.

I'm firmly in the fluorocarbon camp, although I have left Aquila SuperNylguts on several of my ukes; they're pretty nice. If I get a uke with regular Nylguts, however, I usually switch to fluorocarbons within the first week (if not on the first day)—"premium" strings my ruddy bottom.
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This is EXACTLY where I am.^

Nylon strings sound pretty DEAD to me with very little sustain (which I require for Campanella)

ALL Aquila strings except for the REDS (which always break on me, eventually) are similar to NYLON for their (lack of) sustain and (sometimes sweet) tone.

Therefore, with over a DOZEN string companies now selling ONLY fluorocarbon strings, the IMPACT of the Aquila strings is OLD NEWS from and ending in 2013 really.

There was a frenzied fervor here on UU about the ORGINAL Nylguts on a well-setup Makala Dolphin (and later Shark) uke as The UU Sanctioned Holy Grail Starter Uke, but while still maybe a good combination, the HYPE is now (thankfully) a memory.

IMHO, I have observed that RECENT folks loving the Aquila strings are usually either complete beginners that are brainwashed by the pushy salesperson at Guitar Center, OR are coming from Steel String GUITARS or BANJOS or MANDOLIN and think the Aquila strings are bright and 'crisp' sounding. All of this is relative, and these folks have obviously not yet TRIED fluorocarbon strings.

Having said all the above, it is completely ok for anyone to disagree with me and be very happy as strings are a VERY personal choice, and EVERY person has different intent and different opinions for the sounds and feel that they want.
 
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When I first started playing the ukulele, which was just a few years back, Aquila Nylgut was the magic strings. There were three or four threads a week about them. They made bad ukuleles sound better, and a good ukulele sound great. But somehow they lost favor. Like everything, they got their fifteen minutes of fame. I'm still using them by the way. I'm thinking that eventually they will come back.
 
ubulele said:
What janeray1940 said: the hype about Aquilas (the standard ones, i.e., the "New" Nylguts which most factory-built ukes come with) is largely historical and nowadays is unjustified except in comparison to plain nylon strings. Nylguts were particularly reputed to bring out the best in laminate ukes, but I find that fluorocarbon strings do this better still, with less of the Nylgut "edge" and with more ring.

I'm firmly in the fluorocarbon camp, although I have left Aquila SuperNylguts on several of my ukes; they're pretty nice. If I get a uke with regular Nylguts, however, I usually switch to fluorocarbons within the first week (if not on the first day)—"premium" strings my ruddy bottom.
Click to expand...

Aquila had a big problem with fake Aquila's coming from Asia. Here's the thread. http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?81849-Take-care-about-asian-fake-Aquila-strings
 
Mivo said:
But if you prefer to put repackaged, cheap fishing line that is sold at inflated prices on your high end ukes, by all means, they are your instruments! ;)
Click to expand...
Have you bought fishing line lately? It's anything but cheap :p! Especially so the flourcarbon tapered leaders...

I cant claim to have tried many kinds of strings, but I've gone through Aquilas: New Nylguts, Super Nylguts and Reds, and of those I only really like the reds. Sadly they created a buzz on my soprano and didnt work out. I've not had issues with them breaking on that uke. On a previous concert, they were too bright imo and did break.

Apart from that, I've tried Worth CMs and Worth Browns, both of which I prefer to all Aquila strings. Not to bash Aquila in any way, it's just my own preference - fishing line or not. The browns are warm and mellow and the clears work really really well on my KoAloha concert.
 
I will be the dissenting opinion. I use Worths (fishing line) on my Koaloha soprano, where I love punch and chime. I use Aquila reds (wound low G set...not sure yet if I prefer the unwound or wound low G) on my Kala tenor, and D'addario Nyltechs (a derivative product of nylgut) on my Kanile'a super concert.

I love Living Waters on the Kanile'a for their strong upper partials, but the Nyltechs really bring out the uke's potential for warm, dark tonal colors. If I didn't have the Koaloha soprano for playing baroque music, I would probably string the Kanile'a up with Living Waters.
 
cml said:
Have you bought fishing line lately? It's anything but cheap :p! Especially so the flourcarbon tapered leaders...
Click to expand...

The comment was tongue-in-cheek and a bit of play on the linked article and a recent interview with Ko'olau's owner in the HMS podcasts. :)

Personally, I have come to realize that very little about ukuleles can be generalized. I tried specific strings that sounded fabulous on one ukulele on another where they sounded truly bad. Same material, same product. That happened more than once with different materials and brands. The differences weren't even subtle and down to the daily mood, but really substantial.

So really, from where I stand, lists of reasons why this or that material is great or bordering to unbearable, or statements that only clueless newbies like this brand and the real pros use that brand, seem of little use to the individual who wants to find a sound that they like and strings that work for the instrument that they have. Corey can play on anything and he sounds godly, and the rest of us will just have to look around until we find something that makes us sound more like we want to sound. Strings are cheap, changing them becomes much less daunting after the first few times, and it is fun to experience the differences.

Like Rollie said, this forum is an endless carousel of ever changing mass preference, and while it's a fun ride that provides entertainment and something to talk about, it's probably worthwhile to remember that today's golden strings are tomorrow's old hat.
 
And don't forget the Lava series. I don't think there's much diff between them and the new Nylguts, but they sure look cool. I hated em on my Ohana, but they are great on my Cocobolo.
 
I come from a "strings schizofrenia" period, in which I couldn't decide what I liked most on my two sopranos.
First I tried the Super nylgut, and on my cheap laminate uke they didn't change much from the black nylon stock.
I then tried the New nylgut, and found them to be better on that uke. On the same uke I tried fluorocarbon and d'addario black nylon, but both were lacking in bass frequencies, so I came back to new nylgut.

On my Ohana sk38 I started with stock new nylgut, and I didn't liked them. I tried the Super nylgut, and fell in love, but soon tried the fluorocarbon from D'addario, which hit me right in the heart... for a couple of months...
They were bright, clear and with lot of sustain, but after a while I understood that from my sopranos I wanted short sustain and a fuller sound, not the crispy bright tone of fluorocarbon.

So I tried black nylon, but they were too mellow and low in volume (but wonderfully sounding), and went back to Super nylgut. Since then I found peace.

I love the mellow sound and short sustain, over the bright and modern fluorocarbon (which reminds me the steel string guitar...), and the overall sound is fuller and richer.

Also, I really like the gauge in the super nylgut set, it has the perfect balance in tension.
 
Which are typically thicker--nylon or flouro? I can't ever remember...
 
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