Anyone using Kala Reds?

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Knit-wit
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I've seen ads recently for strings called Kala Reds. From what I understand, they are red in color and have (nylon) wound C and E strings.

Has anyone tried these, and if so, how did you like them? What would you compare them to?

I don't understand the desirability of wound strings on a ukulele. What is it supposed to accomplish? What does it do to the tone? Is it harder on the fingers?

Thanks for any input you can offer....
 
I tried a set of low G Kala Reds. These are the first wound strings I have tried on the ukulele. I put them on my Mango Tenor, and the sound was good. Nice sustain on the lower notes. But, I didn't like the loud finger squeaks that came from running my fingerprints over the wound strings. And, even though I didn't trim the wound strings, it wasn't long before they started unraveling from the tuner end. I would suggest adding a drop of white glue to the end of the wound string to help control that problem. Each string is a different texture, and in my set, only the A string was smooth.

If I got Reds again, I would go for a non wound/ all smooth set. The red non-wound string was very pretty, the way the light would catch it.
Here is another thread on the matter:
http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15394&highlight=kala+reds

–Lori
 
Thanks, Lori, for the link to that other thread.

I'm still left wondering.... why wound strings at all? What's the intended purpose? Sounds to me as if most who had tried/would try them (from the other thread) were doing it more for the look of the red strings than for any other reason....
 
I put Kala Reds on my Honu Fluke, and love the sound and look. ;)
 
I like the kala reds more than aquilas. They were hard to get but now I'm starting to see them more often. I had them on a mitchell uke and they made it sound a whole lot better. I'm not sure about the wound thing. That is a technical question outside of my technical expertise, however I felt like the kala reds were softer than any other strings I've owned.
 
I'm currently running them on two of my ukes - I don't mind the squeak on the wound strings... it gives more of an acoustic guitar feel, it's pretty cool 'character' to add to your sound when you're sliding barre chords etc

The one problem I do have with them though is plucking - because I don't use a pick, and I keep my nails fairly short, plucking (i.e. with fingertips) on the wound strings comes across as a weird buzz/rubbing noise.

Apart from that, they're great all-round strings IMHO
 
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