Strings for Kanilea Concert

RafterGirl

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I'm contemplating a Kanilea concert purchase and wondering about strings. I'm not a fan of Aquilla strings, although I have read that Kanilea recommends them. I talked to someone at HMS & they suggested Worth Clear or Brown, or D'addario. I have seen people say that they liked Oasis on their Kanilea, but the person at HMS said those are good on tenors, but not on concerts. I have Living Waters on two of my concerts (KoAloha & Loprinzi) and like them, but they are hard to find (Uke Republic is out of high G concert at the moment). If I buy a Kanilea, it will be from HMS, and I'll have a MiSi pick-up installed & have the strings switched out.

Anyone have Worth Clear or Brown on a Kanilea concert?
 
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Raftergirl, I have Worth Browns on my Pono concert taropatch 8 string and so far so good. I had Uke Republic string it with one set of high and one low G. The single low G is a little loose and sloppy for my taste after using an Aquila Red low G on my cheap concert uke. The strings other than that are very nice after breaking in which took about a week or so. Warm tone but good volume. I will go ahead and use these for a while longer then when I restring I will either go with two high G Worth Brown set or the Martin flouros which I also like.
 
I have tried many sets on my kanilea concert. It’s personal of course, but of the strings that you mentioned, I didn’t like either worth sets or oasis. Living waters were okay (my favourites on my other ukes) but I keep coming back to aquila. I preferred the old reds, but since they changed them I have been using the standard nylguts.
I don’t use aquila for any of my other ukes,but they are the best that I have found for the kanilea concert.
Just my experience. Hope it helps.

Adam
 
My three faves (in alphabetical order): Living Water, Oasis Brights, & Worth Clears. I've found that all of them make my solid Koa ukes ring like a bell! If I were ordering a Kanile'a Concert from HMS, I would definitely have them install Worth Clear strings. That's just my :2cents:! ;)
 
On Kanilea, I prefer PhDs. Edit: I should add why I prefer PhDs. I notice on the Kanilea that the frets used sit low so that the action can be a low as possible. What I noticed is that you either need string that is really dense(Aquila) so they don't move too much to produce sound or you need a thinner string. I found that the PhDs still had a nice sweet tone (to help offset the too much of the woody sound) and didn't create a buzz like nylon or thicker strings.
 
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I'm not a fan of Aquila strings either. I have a set of Worth Clear on my Kanilea concert uke and like them a lot. The low G of the set was a bit boomy, though. Definitely great in high G, or with a Fremont Soloist low G (that's what I am using now). I bet PhD or Living Water would sound great on a Kanilea, too. I think they are similar to Worth Clear. Worth Brown might be a good choice as well.
 
I have Living Waters on two of my concerts (KoAloha & Loprinzi) and like them, but they are hard to find (Uke Republic is out of high G concert at the moment).

I wouldn't say they are hard to find. Ken Middleton sells them himself on his website. Shipping is £3.00 per order. You can mix as many sets of strings as you like for the same shipping cost.
 
I don't own a Kanilea concert but here is a thought. Tell HMS to leave the Aquila on the uke and give them a try Adam ( Alytw) says he likes them, he is a friend and a really good player. If you don't like them then the experimenting starts with Living Water or Worth Clears etc. I know Rainer (Rakelele) really likes Kanilea in concert size and has a lot of experience with his.
 
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Thanks everyone. I need to save up some $$$$ before I can buy a Kanilea. I certainly don't NEED another ukulele right now, but you know how that goes. I have tried to live with the stock Aquila strings on several ukes in the past without success. It's as much about the feel as the sound. I have Worth Clears on my Islander soprano and like them, and as I said, I really like Living Waters on my KoAloha. It's good to have confirmation from others who have been happy with other string choices on their Kanilea concerts.
 
I have owned three Kanile'a concerts. Didn't much like the sound of any of them. I figured, being that these were beautifully made and highly regarded instruments, I would find strings that would bring them around. My results were the same with each one, varying only a bit in degree. After experimenting with Worth brown and clear, GHS, Oasis, Ko'olau, Southcoast, and DiAddario, after trying fluorocarbon, nylon, different thicknesses, as well as, high, medium, and low tension strings, I only found further disappointment. Turned out the strings that gave these ukuleles the best sound for me were Aquilas, just like the originals. The experiment was a success in that I discovered the strings were not the problem.
 
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I have a K1-C and have found Freemont Blackline Hard sound better to me than Aquila, Oasis or Worth clear.
 
I have an Islander (Kanilea entry level) tenor. I strung it re-entrant with Seaquar fluros. It's terrific. Much better than the stock Aquilas for me.

Recently I went linear with a Living Water low G. Love it a little more. If you're going re-entrant, Worth clears should be a good way to go unless Living Waters get back in stock soon. You might try ordering LWs directly from Ken Middleton, too.
 
I am using Living Water strings on my Kanile’a K 1-C. They seem to being the full sweetness out of the instrument.
Very Clarity and good sustain with them on the uke.
 
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I had Aquila’s then LW strings on my old Kanile’a K2 concert. LW strings were definitely better. Although now I have a Tenor, I’m very happy with my Uke logic strings. Pretty sure they would be great on a concert as well. You are ordering from HMS, why not try Joel’s knowledge out?
 
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