New strings for D tuning?

Hi All,

Long time lurker, first time poster here. Long time musician but beginner on the uke - love the forum and have been trawling through posts on all sorts of uke related subjects. Seems to be a great vibe.

Anyway ... got a question or two about strings. Can I just wind up the regular set I have on a soprano up a tone (or even minor third) or do I need to buy special strings to deal with the tension?

Also, what would you recommend to go on an Anuenue 1879? I picked one up at a nice price (I know it's probably overkill for a beginner but as a musician, I know it can be false economy to buy cheap). The Anuenue sounds beautiful but I wanted to experiment with a more bouncy sound, hence the D tuning ... and maybe different strings??

Love your work(s).

I'd say most sopranos can stand winding up to D tuning with most strings without getting too high on the tension. Eb would probably be pushing it without strings geared for that purpose.

Southcoast is always my go-to-first on this kind of thing: http://www.southcoastukes.com/uku-nw.htm

I'd probably try the SLMU-NW set for D tuning but there are several options there depending on what sound and tension you are going for.

Aquila has a special set for D tuning. I tried their regular C tuning soprano and the D tuning set, and the difference was very noticeable. The D tuning strings were thinner and the tension wasn't higher than I was used to from C tuning (with the C tuning strings, however, the tension was higher when tuned to D, and that worried me). I posted my impressions in this thread.

I think sopranos tend to sound better in D tuning, but it's not true for every soprano. I had tried D tuning on another solid mahogany soprano (with a bit of a bigger body) and I didn't like it. No sparkle, just plinkiness. With my vintage soprano (also mahogany, but 90 years old), D tuning was a real game changer, however, and it really brought it to live.

Your plan to experiment with different tunings and strings is definitely a very solid one. I wish I had done that earlier in my ukulele career as I would probably have bought fewer instruments than I did. I underestimated the impact of strings and tunings on the sound. It can be tremendous. I feel that you have to experiment yourself. I avoided some combinations because I took other people's opinions and seemingly sound explanations as gospel, and while some of my first hand experiences matched those views of others, some did not or were, in fact, completely opposite of what I had expected (low-G on a tenor for example: I hadn't tried other strings because I thought my first failed experiment with low-G was the result of the tuning not working for the instrument's size, but when I later tried different string options, low-G C tuning became my favorite tuning for that ukulele by far).

Thanks for the replies. The uke came with a spare set of Aquila strings (4U) so I could give them a go first up, I suppose - after I give it a go up a tone with the originals, which I think, from my minimal research, are Orcas. It seems that loosely guided trial and error is my future.

Honestly, what the hell am I doing? I should be playing and practising not worrying about gear! The Anuenue is such a beautiful instrument though, that I want to explore all its possibilities.

I'll report back, kind sirs.

ukulately said:

Honestly, what the hell am I doing? I should be playing and practising not worrying about gear! The Anuenue is such a beautiful instrument though, that I want to explore all its possibilities.

Click to expand...

I kind of agree and kind of disagree.

Yes, it's a good idea to focus on practicing more than on fiddling with the gear. You'll probably buy more ukes and more strings anyway, and the more practice time you have had, the better you'll be able to tell why you like or dislike something. The better you play the less likely you'll be the reason why you don't like something. (Instead of holding the strings or the instrument responsible.)

However, the impact of strings can be so significant that it may be of decisive importance to find a set that works really well for the instrument and the tuning you've chosen. I didn't play my expensive custom tenor for almost a year because something about it and the sound didn't really resonate with me. When I finally experimented with strings and tried a low-G C tuning again, this time with a wound string (I had categorically ruled out wound strings before testing one, and I had ruled out low-G tuning because I had read it wasn't really optimal for a tenor, and the one unwound string I had tried it with was really not giving me a good sound), my whole experience with the instrument changed. It went from being my least played ukulele to being the ukulele that I currently play the most. It's like a completely different instrument.

The problem wasn't me, my lack of practice, or the instrument. The issue was that the strings and the tuning it came with didn't work for me and what I wanted, and that for too long I had shied away from experimenting with it, thinking my lack of experience was the problem. So if I had actually sorted out the tuning and string question early on, I would probably as a result have bought fewer other ukuleles over the year that followed, and I would have practiced more because I would likely have felt less frustrated.

Small update:

i tuned the Anuenue up to D but thought it sounded better in C - it just resonated more. This could be due to the tension of the strings. Next experiment will be the Aquilas in C.

Did you use C tuning strings for the D tuning? They are thicker than the dedicated D tuning set that Aquila offers.

But the same happened to a former soprano that I had, it just didn't sound good in D tuning, not enough resonance, like you said. My vintage soprano sounds heaps better in D tuning, however. So, definitely individual for each instrument.

Yes I just wound up the C strings. I'll try the Aquilas in C, then in D and then buy a set of dedicated D strings. I mean, it's chasing a dream. The uke sounds fab as is. I'm even having second thoughts as I'm realizing how dynamic it is - so may sounds depending on playing technique. Not much to lose by experimenting though.