Aquila Mailed Me The Sugar Cane Strings From Italy...

AlohaKine

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I mentioned in someone's post over these strings, that Aquila was sending me out a pair, because I sent Aquila a lengthy email about my experience with all their strings and they thanked me and said they had a new pair made from Sugar Cane they would send me to try, and to let them know what I thought about them...

Oh boy, I feel a little VIP today, getting strings mailed all the way from Italy. LOL ;)

Sheesh, I wonder what that cost Aquila, hmm crazy...

I'll be sure to post some pics and give some feedback once I get these...

Here's the UPS tracking info from today, hehe... :)

Location Date Local Time Activity
Louisville, KY, United States 09/12/2017 4:33 P.M. Departure Scan
09/12/2017 2:10 P.M. Import Scan
09/12/2017 12:14 P.M. Arrival Scan

Koeln, Germany 09/12/2017 9:15 A.M. Departure Scan
09/12/2017 12:19 A.M. Arrival Scan

Tessera, Italy 09/11/2017 10:57 P.M. Departure Scan
09/11/2017 9:46 P.M. Export Scan
09/11/2017 9:21 P.M. Arrival Scan
09/11/2017 9:10 P.M. Your package is being processed at the clearance agency. / Your package was released by the clearing agency.

Vicenza, Italy 09/11/2017 8:48 P.M. Departure Scan
09/11/2017 8:34 P.M. Your package is being processed at the clearance agency.

Vicenza, Italy 09/11/2017 8:22 P.M. Origin Scan
09/11/2017 6:34 P.M. Pickup Scan

Italy 09/11/2017 8:52 A.M. (ET) Order Processed: Ready for UPS
 
Wow. Pretty cool! :worship:
 
They arrived! :)

UPS Express, oh my, I wonder how much Aquila paid to ship UPS Express from Italy to the USA? Hmm

Sheesh I feel like I need to keep these now as a memorabilia collection, LOL... ;)

aquila_2.jpg

aquila_5.jpg
 
Very cool, so what's the difference from other Aquilas? :shaka:
 
Interesting, what do sugar cane strings feel like? More like typical Aquila nylgut, nylon or Fluorocarbon?
 
Interesting, what do sugar cane strings feel like? More like typical Aquila nylgut, nylon or Fluorocarbon?

Dude they feel sweet:p
 
Before I put my Kanilea up for sale I was chatting to Aquila and they sent these out.

Now that my Uke is up for sale, I'm hesitant to put them on, so I'm holding out to see about putting these on another uke I get, whenever that happens, because not sure when these strings are going to be available for purchase.
 
If you lick them do they melt? Or how do they taste? (Sorry...had to go there)

That's a good one, LOL... ;)

But what's sad is, I wished Aquila knew, or maybe they knew the landscape of Sugar Cane in Hawaii and could of help saved it for making these strings.

The Sugar Cane industry ended last year in Hawaii...

http://www.kitv.com/story/30905681/the-end-of-the-sugar-cane-era-in-hawaii

This is like France without the Eiffel tower...
Egypt without the Pyramids...
Rome without the Vatican...
China without the Great Wall...

Hopefully you get the picture, Hawaii without the landscape of sugar cane blowing in the breeze, the look of green as far as they eyes can see is so sad! :(

Now maybe some of you have seen Hawaii and the sugar cane, but if not, take a look at this picture, I'm sure everyone will say all this green looks beautiful, and now all this is turning to dirt. Oh and this is not small land coverage either, from what I read, over 36,000 acres, and an industry that lasted 2 centuries.

This picture is only one small example, I'd say take what you see and multiply that 7-10 times more, and that's what I had where I lived, 10 times more then this picture in size of cane fields...

http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/khpr/files/201511/sugar_plantation_matt_thayer__maui.jpg
 
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Hi Guys,
Good news: we are doing the mass production of ther new Aquila Sugar ukulele strings.

Here is how they looks under the sun:
alchemia.jpg

The material is not Nylon-like. They are better than the Fluorocarbon.
I say that not because I just want to sell a lot of them, but because it is true.
There are a few guys around that have tested them.
Maybe they can add a few opinions
take care!
Mimmo Italy
 
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Hello all,

I had the honor of testing these strings a few months ago when Mimmo had the kindness of offering me a set, only asking that it remained confidential until the strings were launched on the market.
So the time of disclosure has come, and I can share my impressions on these sugar cane strings. I found them quite good, if not excellent, when it comes to sound and playability. These are really the loudest strings I've come across, and they will surely benefit to every instrument, adding a lot of punch to any "shy" instrument. The feel is quite different from the carbon blacks, the reds and of course the nylgut which I never reallly liked on a uke (but nylgut is perfect for some period instruments).

The only issue was a kind of squeaky sound but I'm confident Mimmo may have solved this problem he was well aware of.
And another important caveat : these strings are really, really stiff and may be hard to play if you're not familiar with high tension. Not a problem as far as I'm concerned, because I tune my tenor one whole step down, so the low pitch compensates for the tension and the match is just perfect.
My overall opinion is still very good and I will give them a try on my new concert uke as soon as the solid top will "open-up" a little.
Hope this helps,
Regards (and "mille grazie" to Mimmo for his usual kindness).
Gilles
 
thanks Gilles,
nice to hear by you again.
I can add a few more info:

1) the video demo.
https://youtu.be/HCMIAR3Z5Gw

2) scientific tests I have done form a laboratory shows that the sustain is 25% more than fluorocarbon; the output is 18% more than fluorocarbon strings.

3) the squeaky was a problem in the very first Sugar version (not in the market). Now is far less; in any case it is not present at all if one use a very few hand-cream or if the finger tips are a bit sweet. no problems if one plays with nails.

4) tension: all the sets now has the same tension of the traditional Aquila new Nygut/Supernylgut sets.
ciao
Mimmo
 
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Great sound! I can honestly say that I am looking forward to giving these a try. I like the Carbonblacks, but I think these will give me the sound I am looking for!

I love that Aquila develops many different strings out of different materials. It gives us players choices. Thank you Mimmo!
 
Great sound! I can honestly say that I am looking forward to giving these a try....

I love that Aquila develops many different strings out of different materials. It gives us players choices. Thank you Mimmo!

Agreed! Thanks, mimmo. Looking forward to trying these. I have a tenor that needs a switch. Hoping they hit our US shores soon!
 
Wow, that sounded great!

thanks Gilles,
nice to hear by you again.
I can add a few more info:

1) the video demo.
https://youtu.be/HCMIAR3Z5Gw

2) scientific tests I have done form a laboratory shows that the sustain is 25% more than fluorocarbon; the output is 18% more than fluorocarbon strings.

3) the squeaky was a problem in the very first Sugar version (not in the market). Now is far less; in any case it is not present at all if one use a very few hand-cream or if the finger tips are a bit sweet. no problems if one plays with nails.

4) tension: all the sets now has the same tension of the traditional Aquila new Nygut/Supernylgut sets.
ciao
Mimmo
 
Great sound. I'm going to order and try on my three tenors. Great work Mimmo. I also tried the Aldrines signaturemsetmanemthey were good. These should be great!
 
Mimmo can you give us a heads up when they go on sale on the forum please? Keen to try these . Thanks
 
Any news when these strings will be available to purchase ? noticed them on their website but doesn't go into cart when you click buy .
 
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