String Choices & Familiarity

Any of you gone back & forth on string choices?

When I started playing 6 years ago I developed a strong preference for flourocarbon strings, first Martin M600, then branching out to Worth, Oasis, and Living Water. I tried Aquila and a few choices in nylon strings, including the D'Addario Titanium strings. I decided I didn't like the feel and the sound.

I've recently tried nylon/titanium strings again. This time I'm using GHS Artist Curated High G on one tenor and The T2 D'Addarios on another. I think that the thicker string diameter is giving my increasingly arthritic hands a bit of a break. I don't notice a qualitative difference in sound.

I may just be bored and enjoying trying something different. But if this keeps up I'll have to have my setup optimized for the nylon strings.

I still use fluorocarbons, but I do understand that the clear bright bell sound from one set just leads to more of the same with other fluorocarbon strings. Not saying that is bad, but sometimes a different type of string can bring out a different element.

I had strings that I just couldn't find a home as they lacked that bright clarity. I also had a uke that was just too bright regardless of what strings I tried. I dug these strings out and they seemed to be what that uke needed to tone down the brightness. I thought I would never use those strings and was surprised I still had them. Can't say why they worked this time around. Maybe I was just looking for something completely different from everything else, or maybe my tastes changed a bit.

John

I used to be an all fluorocarbon all the time kind of person. I've started to find that for me, personally, there are certain strings that really fit certain instruments.

I stumbled upon magic (to my ears) when I put Aquila reds on my Kanile'a tenor, and then tuned it down a step to Bb. It is absolutely fantastic, and the way Aquila reds tend to produce a pretty even level of volume across all four strings is pretty cool with this instrument in particular.

On the flip side I put an Aquila red high G set on my Koaloha concert, and it's bogus (to my ears, personally). Everything is jumbled together and just too loud... I'm going to change those out here in a week or two when I have the time to really focus on that instrument. I'll probably try Aquila lavas for fun, and if those don't work, go back to stock strings again.

For my Koaloha soprano, I've tried a few sets, and I just keep coming back to the stock fluorocarbon strings, so that's what I'll be using from now on. Same for my Koaloha tenor.

I guess it all just depends!

Fluorocarbons work for me, (Living Water), but I do have a couple of ukes with something different, mainly to use up the strings.