Andrew at HMS has developed his own line of florocarbon strings. I was lucky enough to buy a used Ko'olau spruce/myrtle tenor from HMS three months ago and it came strung with these strings. This was before they were packaged and commercialy available, so I was lucky enough to get an advanced sampling.
I loved the sound of the instrument and so did "sam13" (Simon) but what factor did the strings have to do with it. We could tell they were on the higher tension side and sounded very even from string to string. We kept bugging Andrew to get them out to market, they have been available for about one month now. Both Simon and myself ordered a bunch of different sets. They come in 5 different configurations. Plain(which is high G), high G with aluminum wound 3rd, high G with Thomastik wound 3rd, Low G with Fremont wound 4th and a Low G set with Thomastik wound 3rd and Fremont wound 4th. HMS has hit ALL the important configurations as far as I am concerned. One negative.....the lengths are on the short side, most tenor strings are 31-1/2" long these are 27-1/2". Be careful to not leave too much tag end on the bridge side.
So what do we think of these strings.......in a word EXCELLENT. Simon has them on a Kamaka 19" super tenor (low G w-Fremont) and a Koolau tenor (low G w- Fremont and Thomastik) . I have the plain set on a Kamaka super concert, it has really improved the sound. They are on the previously mentioned Koolau in low G w-Fremont. A few days ago I restrung my LfdM tenor with these (low G w- fremont. I did add a South Coast wound 3rd to the mix). The best sounding strings on this instrument are South Coast HML-WB, they've been a constant for over two years. These Koolau are as good sounding, that is high praise as this is my very best sounding uke and I don't like to mess with it.
These strings have a very musical, vibrant, almost lyrical sound to them, they are sweet. The tone is on the bright side, even though the diameters are not thin, but the sound is not shrill or brittle, that's the trick I think. The tension is on the high side, a little higher then Oasis, Worth or South Coast HML-WB, but not real high.
Below I will list diameters of the plain set and other popular sets
....................................G............C..........E...........A
Ko'olau Plain............0235"......0325"....0260"....0225"
Oasis Brights...........0230".......030".....0270"....0215"..
Oasis Warm.............0250".......030".....0270".....0230"..
Worth CT..................0244".......0291"...0260".....0224
Martin M620...........0256"........034".....0280"....0216"..
I loved the sound of the instrument and so did "sam13" (Simon) but what factor did the strings have to do with it. We could tell they were on the higher tension side and sounded very even from string to string. We kept bugging Andrew to get them out to market, they have been available for about one month now. Both Simon and myself ordered a bunch of different sets. They come in 5 different configurations. Plain(which is high G), high G with aluminum wound 3rd, high G with Thomastik wound 3rd, Low G with Fremont wound 4th and a Low G set with Thomastik wound 3rd and Fremont wound 4th. HMS has hit ALL the important configurations as far as I am concerned. One negative.....the lengths are on the short side, most tenor strings are 31-1/2" long these are 27-1/2". Be careful to not leave too much tag end on the bridge side.
So what do we think of these strings.......in a word EXCELLENT. Simon has them on a Kamaka 19" super tenor (low G w-Fremont) and a Koolau tenor (low G w- Fremont and Thomastik) . I have the plain set on a Kamaka super concert, it has really improved the sound. They are on the previously mentioned Koolau in low G w-Fremont. A few days ago I restrung my LfdM tenor with these (low G w- fremont. I did add a South Coast wound 3rd to the mix). The best sounding strings on this instrument are South Coast HML-WB, they've been a constant for over two years. These Koolau are as good sounding, that is high praise as this is my very best sounding uke and I don't like to mess with it.
These strings have a very musical, vibrant, almost lyrical sound to them, they are sweet. The tone is on the bright side, even though the diameters are not thin, but the sound is not shrill or brittle, that's the trick I think. The tension is on the high side, a little higher then Oasis, Worth or South Coast HML-WB, but not real high.
Below I will list diameters of the plain set and other popular sets
....................................G............C..........E...........A
Ko'olau Plain............0235"......0325"....0260"....0225"
Oasis Brights...........0230".......030".....0270"....0215"..
Oasis Warm.............0250".......030".....0270".....0230"..
Worth CT..................0244".......0291"...0260".....0224
Martin M620...........0256"........034".....0280"....0216"..
Last edited: