RESULTS Aquila and Worth strings compared

Ken Middleton

Ken Middleton

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A couple of weeks ago I posted this video where I compare Worth and Aquila strings on very similar mahogany tenors


Aquila and Worth strings compared

Here are the results:

19 people said that they preferred Worth strings

5 people said that they preferred Aquila strings

16 people said that they liked both or could not decide

5 people commented that the Worths sounds better when they are picked and the Aquilas when they are strummed


I have always thought that on a mahogany instrument Worths sound better. I may at some point do a comparison using a koa uke and see if the results are different.

Thanks very much to those who gave their detailed opinions.

Coyote asked me to comment on the feel of the strings. Here goes.

The Aquila feel thicker, harder and rougher. Because they are thicker, they feel tighter when fretted. But they do have a very precise, firm feel under the fingers.

The Worths feel smoother, thinner, softer and slacker. Sometimes you can hardly feel them at all.

I believe that both are truly excellent strings and none of the above characteristics make one a better string than another.

I don't know the people at Worth Strings, but recently I talked at length with Mimmo of Aquila. He is constantly experimenting and is really enthusiastic to produce the best string that he can. Expect some new exciting products in the near future.



KEN
 
I do like my Worths better. I like your testing, I did similar testing on my own but it is nice that some shared. I got pretty much the same results. I am trying Proarte now.
 
I have been doing my own mini test purely because I wanted to try something different.

The first strings after using Aquila for the longest time were Worth Browns.

I have since used Martins, D'Addario's, and have some Freemonts waiting.

While there is nothing wrong with Aquila's I dont think I will be going back to them. The Worths are my clear winner so far and I like the feel, sound, look, and how they play, better.
 
Both sound nice though i think i prefer the Aquilas-just that bit brighter. I'll have to give Worths a try for myself nextime i need new strings. btw- nice fireplace! :D
 
Ken Middleton said:
And the colour of the strings makes no difference.
Click to expand...

Aloha Ken, are you saying there's no difference between the clear, and brown Worth strings? I bought both colors to try.
 
Ahnko Honu said:
Aloha Ken, are you saying there's no difference between the clear, and brown Worth strings? I bought both colors to try.
Click to expand...

People imagine that they sound different because they look different. The website quotes the same characteristics for both colours and makes no claims about different tonal properties. It's just that dark looks better on some instruments and clear better on others. I've just put a set of brown Worths on my Kanile'a because they look better than the clears. They sound exactly the same to me. Some people say that they can hear the difference - I can't. The brown strings have a colourant added, that's all.
 
Ken,

Thanks for such an in-depth report. But I do hear a difference in the Worth clears and browns. My custom Boat Paddle came with clears and I put browns on it. The browns sound more mellow to me, at least on this uke. Or is it my imagination Mr. M? : )
 
jkevinwolfe said:
Ken,

Thanks for such an in-depth report. But I do hear a difference in the Worth clears and browns. My custom Boat Paddle came with clears and I put browns on it. The browns sound more mellow to me, at least on this uke. Or is it my imagination Mr. M? : )
Click to expand...

It is not your imagination, but you need to compare them side by side. If there were a difference, wouldn't Worth strings make a claim about it to get more sales? No, they are happy to let people continue to think that there is a difference.

Why not email Worth and ask them? I shall.

KEN
 
This is an interesting thread. I've always wanted to try Worths properly on my Kala tenor, but I'm not sure which ones I am supposed to use.

So, for a solid mahogany Kala tenor, which would be the correct ones?

So many variations. Too complicated... I wish their labeling was more explicit about which strings are for which size of uke.
 
buddhu said:
This is an interesting thread. I've always wanted to try Worths properly on my Kala tenor, but I'm not sure which ones I am supposed to use.

So, for a solid mahogany Kala tenor, which would be the correct ones?

So many variations. Too complicated... I wish their labeling was more explicit about which strings are for which size of uke.
Click to expand...

Their labelling is quite strange. Don't use their fat strings as they have very little of the beautiful tone of their normal strings. Their normal strings really only come in two sizes: one for soprano and concert and the other for tenor. It is the length of the string which determines which instrument it fits. If you look carefully at the diameters of the 2nd and 3rd strings they are either:

0.026 inch or 0.291 inch for either 2nd or 3rd string.

It is the LENGTH of the string that mainly determines which instrument it fits.

There is some variation in the 1st and 4th strings and they give these sets a different name.

I don't think I have explained this clearly.

However, to make it easy, I use BM and CM for soprano and BT and CT for tenor. I keep it simple for myself.

For your Kala mahogany tenor I would use BT's.

Hope that helps a bit.

KEN
 
Thanks for doing this, Ken - it was very educational (and your playing is terrific)!

I don't know that you've ever come out and stated it, and it may be obvious to some viewers, but am I correct in this conclusion?

  • The cutaway was strung with Aquilas
  • The regular tenor was strung with Worths

I've got two main ukes, one strung with Aquilas and one with Worths, and I like them both very much. To me the Worths are a little more clear and bell-like, while the Aquilas have a bit more "thud" in their sound and are perhaps a little more brash, which may explain why some people prefer the sound of Aquilas for strumming. And I do think Aquilas are miracle-workers when it comes to getting the most sound out of a cheap laminate uke. My Lanikai LU21 soprano sounds surprisingly nice with Aquilas.

Thanks again - this was great!
 
Thumper said:
Thanks for doing this, Ken - it was very educational (and your playing is terrific)!

I don't know that you've ever come out and stated it, and it may be obvious to some viewers, but am I correct in this conclusion?

  • The cutaway was strung with Aquilas
  • The regular tenor was strung with Worths

I've got two main ukes, one strung with Aquilas and one with Worths, and I like them both very much. To me the Worths are a little more clear and bell-like, while the Aquilas have a bit more "thud" in their sound and are perhaps a little more brash, which may explain why some people prefer the sound of Aquilas for strumming. And I do think Aquilas are miracle-workers when it comes to getting the most sound out of a cheap laminate uke. My Lanikai LU21 soprano sounds surprisingly nice with Aquilas.

Thanks again - this was great!
Click to expand...

Yes, you're right of course. And I agree with your assessment of the strings. I (usually) use Aquilas for singing with and Worths for picking.

KEN
 
Ken Middleton said:
And the colour of the strings makes no difference.
Click to expand...

I have read online (at Elderly) that the clears are brighter more forward sound and browns have a softer more mellow. I haven't tried either but have recently order several sets of different strings including some Worth Browns. I can't wait to try them all out.

Thanks for the reviews. Great job!:shaka:
 
i like aquila's, i have worth's... but having put them on yet...

so.. AQUILA'S ALL THE WAY!
 
:) What a great comparison! I enjoyed listening to it quite a lot, lovely playing! Still got it on a third time now while typing. Its great to have such an easy comparison. I couldnt really say which were which, but i had a feeling the cutaway had aquila's.

I came just recently to the ukulele and coming from the guitar i knew i need good strings on my cheap uke to get a nice sound, after some internet-digging i found some other guy comparing the strings on youtube and went for aquila, because i liked the high spectrum of them and they seem somewhat more balanced to me when strumming. I cant say i have changed my mind now after seeing your video, still the cutaway for me with aquila's.

It has this nice ring to it, lots of definition on the attack and high ring, without the bit weird sound the worth's while strumming, they sound a bit out of it somehow to me. Hard to explain, a bit like out of tune, ever so slightly. Maybe its the broader sound of them in the lower mids.
They sure do sound great for picking tho, so i will try them for sure.

I did the same with my guitar at the beginning and it is great you can change the sound around so much for the better with the strings, to get it to a sound one likes.

Thanks for taking the time and doing the video!
 
thanks for reporting out on your string test Ken! very interesting to read the results. that said, i rarely find myself thinking/debating about string brands. my donkey ears can't tell the difference. it's blissful really. :)
 
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