Which types of Seaguar fishing line to buy for various strings

imperialbari

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I need some more or less non-standard string solutions. The name coming up again and again for fluorocarbon fishing lines is Seaguar.

I could start from scratch an buy all their variants, but I am a bit too old for that. My immediate impression from looking at the Seaguar pages about fluorocarbon lines is that their lines are thinner than most of the Martin M600 and M620 strings I use for my tenors, concerts, sopranos, and sopraninos. Fine insofar, that I could use thinner strings for the high sopranino tunings.

But less optimal for my goal of making a good reentrant set for the Pono BN-10 that I have plans on buying. Another thread here adviced me toward Seaguar for the 1st, 2nd, and 4th strings supplemented by a wound G string bough from a German maker.

I am not smart in navigating sites about stuff I have no experience with. I haven’t fished since 1956, so this isn’t a strong area of mine. One type of lines looked like having good gauges, but I got a strong suspicion those lines were woven or spun in one way or another.

So a strong and exact pointer towards the right pages and the right gauges would be very helpful to this old guy. From there on I hope to be able to find a supplier within the EU, as the handling fees of the red tape for imports from the US are prohibitive for smaller items.

Thanks!

Klaus in DK
 
I don't know if there's a noticeable difference in the variations (Blue Label, Pink Label, etc.), but here's Seaguar's page on their saltwater fluoro leaders.

http://seaguar.com/saltwater/fluorocarbon.html

Available at Amazon.

I went to the Blue Label only because I saw it mentioned by other people. I did some experimenting myself recently; spent a bunch of money and couldn't get the result I was after (my own fault for not thinking enough first). Read about that here:

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?126228-Roll-call-Players-of-5ths-tuning

As you'll see, braided line is NOT a good idea.

The trouble with picking gauges from the fishing-line catalog is that you have to figure out ahead of time just about which one will be just right. That was a frustration for me.

Good luck.
 
Hello again imperialbari,

I have looked into this a little before. I was thinking of trying Seaguar fishing line on my bari but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I only figured out the trebles, as follows:

Code:
1st   E   0.00244"   Seaguar Blue Label 40lb leader  
2nd   B   0.00319"   Seaguar Blue Label 80lb leader

This is for a 20.25" scale Kala baritone. The gauges are identical to those of the Savarez Alliance strings (made by the same company that makes Seaguar) that I am currently using. Both leaders should be available in 25 yard spools.
 
I've used most of the Seaguar line at one time or the other. Currently I only use Seaguar Premier if I need a slightly thinner A or C string. I have pretty much abandon trying to go completely Seaguar.

From my experience, Seaguar Premier is the best one to use. It is a tournament line which means it is made to closer tolerances and that helps with intonation. It is also a little more flexible. Seems to me to have the best tone. I can't find the sizes to replicate a complete ukulele string set.

A lot of people use the Blue Label. I've tried some, and it is probably fine, but I just never thought it was worth the investment over just buying uke strings.

I don't care for the Red Label. They are thicker strings than the Blue or Premier and that seems to hurt the tone. For me, I wouldn't recommend them.

John
 
I use 25lb, 30lb, 40lb, and 50lb test Seaquar Blue Label clear fluorocarbon fishing leader line for all of my ukuleles, regardless of size, on the A, E, and C strings respectively. It just depends on the instrument as to which 3 of the above I use. I always use a D'Adarrio wound classical guitar D string (.028") for low G on my instruments.

Fluorocarbon is pretty "stretchy" which allows use of different test lines for the same string depending on how much tension you prefer to have when playing.
 
Hello again imperialbari,

I have looked into this a little before. I was thinking of trying Seaguar fishing line on my bari but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I only figured out the trebles, as follows:

Code:
1st   E   0.00244"   Seaguar Blue Label 40lb leader  
2nd   B   0.00319"   Seaguar Blue Label 80lb leader

This is for a 20.25" scale Kala baritone. The gauges are identical to those of the Savarez Alliance strings (made by the same company that makes Seaguar) that I am currently using. Both leaders should be available in 25 yard spools.

Hopefully the strings mentioned are 10 times as thick as indicated in the table.

I tend to wonder about the 80 pounds breaking strength of your B string. That is twice the strength used by many for their C strings on tenors. The baritone has a longer scale, so you must use a quite high string tension.

Klaus
 
Hopefully the strings mentioned are 10 times as thick as indicated in the table.

I tend to wonder about the 80 pounds breaking strength of your B string. That is twice the strength used by many for their C strings on tenors. The baritone has a longer scale, so you must use a quite high string tension.

Klaus

Yes, I went a bit awry with my decimal places.

I haven't read of anyone using 40lb leader as a tenor C string - mostly people seem to be using the 60lb and 80lb. (40lb leader would be 0.0244" gauge, which would be not be suitable at all for a tenor C string imho).

The overall tension on my bari is guesstimated at around 55lbs - which is perfectly fine for me. Guesstimated because it is based on the assumption that different brands of 100% fluorocarbon string/line will achieve roughly similar tension at equvalent gauges. This has so far proven to be a reasonable assumption. The reason I have chosen to use the particular gauges that I use is based largely on tension figures given on the Mya Moe website (for Worth clears) - here. These figures suggest that the gauges used should result in evenly balanced tension - which has been my experience so far.
 
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Just a report from the field... Seaguar Premier 130lb works fine for a baritone D and Premier 100lb makes for a nice tenor G. I gambled and splurged on 25 yards of each, and wasn't disappointed. Great if you're looking to use no wound strings; but of course, since I use them as my 3rd strings, I still use a wound 4th string. Since I tune in 5ths, I have to look for sources of individual strings, rather than sets. Now I'm set for life on these, though. :)

bratsche
 
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