KALA Red?

Ahnko Honu

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I got my used but in great shape orange (mango?) Fluke today, and the thing still has it's original 9 year old strings which need a changing. I have red honu decals to personalize it some. My Fluke also has the plastic fret board. Now I know wire wound strings are a no-no on plastic frets but the Kala Red strings are nylon wound. Do I need to worry about wearing out the frets with these nylon wound strings? I don't hear much pro or con on Kala Red strings. How do they sound? I thought red strings would match my red honu and contrast nicely with the dark fret board. Any comments on Kala Red strings in general, and wear of these strings on plastic frets? Mahalo for input! :shaka:
 
I'm a big fan of KALA red strings. They were developed in a joint effort between KALA and LaBella. The nylon wound strings offer a sustain closer to that of the non wound strings than strings wound in metal. They sound great and have excellent playability (IMO). They should not wear your frets as much because the nylon is probably softer than the plastic they are using for your fingerboard- and yes, they do look cool. The only place I have found to buy them on-line is ukukleleworld.com, but if you find another on-line vendor for them, please let me know. I would use them a lot more if I could get a better price.
 
They were perhaps the third set of strings I tried on my starter ukulele (a Leolani super-soprano) They're rather bright and forward sounding as I remember. The made that cheaper laminate sound pretty crisp, I thought. (I sold it to someone in the TCUO and she's kept them on because she likes the sound.)

On the other hand, the wound strings felt kind of strange under my fingers in a way I wasn't really happy with. (There's a bit more string noise too IIRC. ) I haven't used them since.

Thinking back (and we're talking close to a year), I might also hazard that they could end up sounding a bit thin on a solid wood uke, but would be nice at sweetening up a darker laminate sound. If you can get past the tactile thing. Worth a shot anyway.
 
Hey Ahnko, just checked MGM and he had some of the Kala Red on his site. Hope that helps.
 
I have Kala reds on my wife's spruce top concert. They sound great and they are easy on the fingers. They did take me a little while to get used to them.
 
Just ordered a set from MGM to give them a try.
 
on the back of the kala red strings packet it says do not trim off the wraped string ends of the red nylon wound strings! doing so will cause the strings to unravel. do they only mean the C and E strings? or all the strings? my C and E strings have this thread like material wounded around the top and bottom of the string. G and A doesnt have any.
 
on the back of the kala red strings packet it says do not trim off the wraped string ends of the red nylon wound strings! doing so will cause the strings to unravel. do they only mean the C and E strings? or all the strings? my C and E strings have this thread like material wounded around the top and bottom of the string. G and A doesnt have any.

don't trim the wound ones. the G and A strings are okay to cut.
 
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