Floppy low D?

bunnyf · Oct 29, 2016

I just put Worth fluorocarb strings on one of my baris, linear DGBE. The low D is just so floppy compared to the other strings. I don't like the tension that low. It seems so easy for it to just fall off the fretboard when chording. Don't want to change to an alt. tuning, as I play with others often. Any suggestions for changing out just this one string? I like linear tuning for ease of finding notes on the fretboard and already have a re-entrant Bari. I am not a huge fan of wound strings because of the squeak, but also am not crazy about fluorocarb when then start to get really thick. Any thoughts on what might work well with the rest of the Worth set?

Recstar24 · Oct 29, 2016

Because unwound low d needs to be a pretty thick string, physics tells us it's going to be low density and floppy. Southcoast offers linear unwound strings where the 4th string is higher density so that it's not as floppy but doubt that it can do low d.

If you want a normal feel and tension physics tells us it's got to be a wound string. Fortunately, you have plenty of polished and or flat wound guitar/uke stings that can get you squeakless.

Jim Hanks · Oct 29, 2016

Living Water has an unwound low D but it is also very thick. I currently have that tuned up to Eb (liner Ab tuning) on my 19" Bari, but had it as D on a 20" Lanikai at one point.

bunnyf · Oct 29, 2016

Recstar24 said:
If you want a normal feel and tension physics tells us it's got to be a wound string. Fortunately, you have plenty of polished and or flat wound guitar/uke stings that can get you squeakless.

What single wound D string might be the least squeaky and be balanced with the rest of the Worth set? I don't want to take off GBE (plus since they are so long, I actually have a second set). I have a good guitar store by me but it has a better selection of guitar strings opposed to uke ones.

bunnyf · Oct 29, 2016

Jim Hanks said:
Living Water has an unwound low D but it is also very thick. I currently have that tuned up to Eb (liner Ab tuning) on my 19" Bari, but had it as D on a 20" Lanikai at one point.

I have Living Water on my other Bari. I had it with the low D and hated how thick it was, so I changed to high d. I'd like this Bari to be linear though. I might get use to the thicker string but not the lack of tension, so I guess I'll be looking for the best match in a wound string.

jollyboy · Oct 29, 2016

bunnyf said:
What single wound D string might be the least squeaky and be balanced with the rest of the Worth set? I don't want to take off GBE (plus since they are so long, I actually have a second set). I have a good guitar store by me but it has a better selection of guitar strings opposed to uke ones.

The Thomastik-Infeld flat wounds seem to be very popular at the moment. Their CF 35 should give you about decent tension (13.74 lbs by my calculation.

Alternatively there are the D'Addario silver wounds. The NYL033W is probably your best bit. Although narrower than the TI string the tension would be a little higher (16 lbs).

FYI: Mya Moe sell custom baritone string sets consisting of Worth clear 1st and 2nd and D'Addario silver wound 3rd and 4th - for future reference

bunnyf · Oct 29, 2016

Thanx jollyboy. Good to know. I'll see if my local shop has either of those before I place an order online.

WCBarnes · Oct 29, 2016

jollyboy said:
The Thomastik-Infeld flat wounds seem to be very popular at the moment. Their CF 35 should give you about decent tension (13.74 lbs by my calculation.

I gave up on non-wound strings for a baritone a little while ago. Like you, I couldn't find one that gave me enough tension. I now use TIs for all 4 of my baritone strings and think they are great! The CF35 is what I am using for my D string. IMHO the tension is perfect. It is wound, but probably the closest to "squeekless" as I have found. The noise is minimal and doesn't bother me.

bunnyf · Oct 29, 2016

Thanks all! I am ordering a T-I low D now.

Mivo · Oct 29, 2016

If the CF35 is like the CF27 and CF30, and I'm sure of it, you'll be very pleased with it. Really very smooth and very little string noise. I stopped experimenting with wound strings when I found these.

bunnyf · Oct 30, 2016

Mivo said:
If the CF35 is like the CF27 and CF30, and I'm sure of it, you'll be very pleased with it. Really very smooth and very little string noise. I stopped experimenting with wound strings when I found these.

Good to know. I'm gonna start with just the CF35 for the low D. I'm on the fence about the G. For now, I'll leave it on and see how balanced it sounds with the new wound D. If I'm not happy, I'll try the CF30. We'll see. I usually have 2 wound on Bari, if I'm doing linear.

Floppy low D?

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