Fremont Blackine Bari-Tuned Tenor strings?

Has anybody tried these?
http://www.elderly.com/fremont-blac...kulele-set-re-entrant-or-bari-tuned-tenor.htm

This is for reentrant G or dGBE tuning on tenor scale.

I'm wondering about the tension and tone.

Jim:
I'm using standard Tenor Hi G set on my thin tenor in dGBE tuning.

The diameters are a little different.
# Std vs Bari-tenor
1st 0.023 vs 0.027
2nd 0.027 vs 0.031
3rd 0.031 vs 0.036
4th 0.025 vs 0.029

I like the lower tension of the standard strings, but the 3rd is a little floppy. The Bari-tenor looks like they should be a good bit harder tension. I may try the Bari-tenor's when I change strings next. I didn't know they had the Bari-tenors available.

I use Blacklines on my concert Ohana and really like the sound, though I may change them out for hi g. I like the sound and feel of them over all. The standard Tenor hi g set in dGBE make my Rubin sound really beautiful. Maybe the Bari-tenors would be a bit better? I think they should be worth $10 to try.

Thanks for the reply. As far as I can tell Elderly is the only place selling the bari-tenor set. It just popped up in Google and isn't showing up anywhere else.

I don't like high tension but they aren't listed as "hard" like some other Blackline sets so might be ok. Your floppy G is being used as a B and your B is being used as the E , so yeah that's gonna be a lot tighter. But the standard C is a B and the standard E is the same. So overall it is probably about the same tension as standard. Which makes me think the bari-tenor might also be better tuned down to, say, cFAD. That would be a new one for me so I might be forced to try it.

Jim Hanks said:

Thanks for the reply. As far as I can tell Elderly is the only place selling the bari-tenor set. It just popped up in Google and isn't showing up anywhere else.

I don't like high tension but they aren't listed as "hard" like some other Blackline sets so might be ok. Your floppy G is being used as a B and your B is being used as the E , so yeah that's gonna be a lot tighter. But the standard C is a B and the standard E is the same. So overall it is probably about the same tension as standard. Which makes me think the bari-tenor might also be better tuned down to, say, cFAD. That would be a new one for me so I might be forced to try it.

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I've got the Blackline hard tension soprano set on my sopranino and they have very good tension on it's ~11" scale (?). The Aquila's it came with were pretty floppy, so when I put the Hard Blacklines on, mostly for the color contrast of the Zebra wood, they surprised me. I don't play it much as it's pretty small. I bought it for its cuteness and the complete my Zebra wood collection mostly. I played it on a Season and it sounded very nice, I think, but it is hard to fret and hang on to. The Fremonts make it chime nicely. As I get to be a better player I'll probably play it more. I couldn't find a "Hard Set" of tenor strings to try as dGBE locally but thought that might be the trick to firm up the tenor.

I'm using a set of Worth Brown Fats on my standard Tenor as dGBE strings and they are perhaps a little tighter than the Fremonts. The sound is not as nice as the Fremonts on my Rubin, but it is a special uke. The Worths seem to be 'warmer' than the Fremonts. I had thought about swapping the strings to see how they would change the sounds of of the individual ukes but, I'm tired of switching stings. I've gone through 16 sets in the last year or so in my SAS frenzy. It is just too much winding.

Thanks Jim for posting about these.

I've not seen them before now, my methinks those string gauges will also likely work for having a baritone tuned re-entrant GCEA as well, and I really did like the feel of the Blacklines that I tried on my tenors, but sadly the G and A strings both frayed and snapped on 2 different ukes, and I've not ordered any Fremont strings since then...

These are going on the list for my next string order, and I would be interested to hear how folks like them if anyone gets and installs a set of these.

With Freemont Blackline in the tenor size I have found if I ease the strings over the nut with my index finger as is similar when tuning Aquila Reds that they last seemingly forever. Also making sure there is no string binding in the slot beforehand. Thank you for this thread Jim Hanks.

Using GHS bari-tenors on Ohana slimline tenor

I'm using GHS "Craig Chee curated" bari-tenors on my Ohana TKS-15E. I tried them, briefly, on my Kala SSTU-T but to my ears anyway, the mahogany of the Ohana was better suited to the sound than the spruce of the Kala. I have the Kala tuned to B♭ (fBbDG), and there's no noticeable difference in the tension between the two sets of strings. I notice however that they're appreciably thicker in diameter than the Fremonts (being ground nylon rather than fluorocarbon), but nevertheless I'm very happy with the sound and am planning to keep the Ohana in baritone tuning; probably with the GHS strings, but if I can find them in the UK, I'll certainly give the Fremonts a try

One word of warning though, if you do get the GHS strings, note that the letters on the individual string packets refer to guitar tunings, not baritone ukulele tunings. You have to compare the string diameters (also listed on the string packets) with the chart on the back of the main envelope. Took me about 20 minutes to figure that one out!

For reference (diameters in inches):

*w - wound

Thanks for the reply, redpaul. I also have the Ohana thinline. It currently has the Southcoast cuatro stings on it. Your post makes me want to try the Fremonts even more as I don't mind thinner strings and have a phobia* against wound strings on a uke.

*ok, not exactly a phobia - aversion is a better word

I have used Living Water low G concert strings on tenor tuned to DGBE, & quite liked it, neither too much nor too little tension.

uke1950 said:

I have used Living Water low G concert strings on tenor tuned to DGBE, & quite liked it, neither too much nor too little tension.

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Interesting. According to the gauge chart, the same string is used for 'G' whether it is the 4th string on concert or tenor GCEA or the 3rd string on baritone DGBE. You got it to work as a 4th string D on tenor. From the numbers, I would not have expected that to work. Good to know!