NUD: Kala Cedar/Acacia Baritone

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NUD: Kala Cedar/Acacia Baritone - String Questions

Picked up a new Kala KA-ABP-CTG baritone with a solid cedar top and acacia b/s. I love the tone....warm, yet clear with nice sustain. Looking forward to taking this to the uke jams that I attend at dulcimer festivals. It has excellent intonation, sounds nice, looks good, and is just fun to play.

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Question......

What strings do you suggest.....stick with the Aquila Super Nylgut?

I like a tone that is more on the bright side, with decent volume.

Is there a set that you suggest that are not wound? Being a 44 year guitar player, wound strings don't bother me, but just asking.

Thanks.
 
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I have the same ukulele and really like it. I replaced the stock strings (sane as yours) with a set of Living Waters strings. Not sure how I feel about them, The tension varies a lot from string to string, but they sound pretty good. Think I will try some Southcoast strings next. Congrats, and enjoy. Let’s keep communicating about strings.
 
Worth and Living Water both make an all florocarbon set for baritone. If you can accept wounds Martin M630 and D'Addario Titaniums are two sets that I always try on my baritones. Congratulations and enjoy your new baby.
 
Another benefit to Aquila Reds on that baritone,it will highlight the red tones in that gorgeous padauk binding and rosette. My Kala tenor has padauk trimmings, and the Reds look great.

Congrats on your new beauty.
 
Warm and clear is what I would expect from a cedar top and Living Water with the low D will give you that. The unwound D is fat but works on the longer baritone scale like the Kala. (I need to tune up a half step on my shorter scale baritone.)

If you want bright, hmm, I'd say you might want to try a wound 4th or even wound 3rd and 4th. Southcoast has either. Or you might want to try a high d set. Both LW and SC have good options for dGBE baritone.

If you really want bright, uh, maybe you shoulda got a spruce top? :p
 
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If you really want bright, uh, maybe you shoulda got a spruce top? :p

Haha, no, I don't want really bright. One nice thing about my guitar experience, I have a good handle on tone woods, so that's why I went with this cedar baritone. I'm a fingerstylist and I have a love for cedar for a lot of applications. But there's definitely a time for spruce and mahogany too. Never know....;)

Hey, thanks for the feedback so far on the strings. Looks like lots of choices.

Yes, the padauk binding is gorgeous on this uke.

Another question....which strings are better for settling in quicker (less initial stretch)?
 
Congratulations Susie! Nice looking uke. An acquaintance of mine from UKC just got a Kala bari and he loves it. Aquila reds sounds like a good idea. Worth strings are really nice too, if you like a smaller diameter.
 
Fluorocarbons will settle quicker than nylons for sure. I don't know that there is much difference between the flouro brands in that regard but I haven't tried that many. The Aquila reds might be a different story but I had a bad experience with those snapping very easily (others have not had that experience as much).
 
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