Moore Bettah String Trials

I started this thread to log each string type I try on my Moore Bettah "Not So Basic" tenor ukulele. You can see the initial review, with D'Addario J71's, on it here. Chuck makes an incredible instrument. I recommend you all take a look at his stuff here.

I'll try to make at least one video with each set of strings so you can hear the difference.

Aquila

Initial thoughts; Chuck strings his ukes with Aquila strings stock. I immediately changed those strings without getting a video. (oops!!) The Aquilas sounded good on the uke and had a very Hawaiian sound.

Final thoughts; it was a very complete sound when strumming. I played Bruddah Iz's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and thought it fit that style very well. The problem I have found with Aquilas is that if you play with nails it will have a weird 'clicking' sound. Because I am an instrumentalist and use my nails heavily, they were not an ideal fit.



D'Addario J71:
Crosscurrent

Initial thoughts; a little muted. It feels like the instrument wants to sing more than the strings will let it. Good tonal balance though.

Final thoughts; these strings have great balance for all sorts of playing. While they do lack lots of volume, they really make up for with their balance when strummed or picked. The strings sound good through an amplifier too.

Final grade: 6/10


Worth Clears:
Going to California
Spanish Improvisation

Initial thoughts; much more volume and sustain than the D'addario J71's. Finger picking sounds much better and more 'harp like' to my ears. More 'uke' sounding when strummed. Not as balanced as the J71's, maybe a bit too bright.

Final thoughts; Spongy. These strings deceived me. Because the D'addario J71's were more dull sounding, the bright sound of the Worths were a pleasant surprise. I soon realized that even though they sound very good finger picked, I feel that when strummed they sound very thin and incomplete. Spongy is the word that comes to mind. They were not very clear and were actually a bit muddy compared to the other strings.

Final grade: 6/10


Savarez Traditional
Thriller

Initial thoughts; The strings were purchased from Stringsbymail.com and are extra high tension, classical guitar strings. (G 521J, C 523J, E 522J, A 521J) Very clear tone. Right out of the package these strings have a great response. Percussive sounding when strummed, and clear as a bell when picked.

Final thoughts; Only got better. These strings are a good fit. They have a clear, crisp, responsive tone and it holds that tone no matter what volume I play at. When strummed and 'chunked' they have a very percussive sound which compliments the instrument very nicely. They are not too bright, but definitely not 'dull' like the D'Addarios. Sustain is the best yet. The only qualm I had with these is that they give back some feedback. When I strummed very loudly it would almost be 'too' percussive. This could be a problem for certain songs.

Final grade: 7/10


D'Addario Titanium T2's
Frosty the Snowman

Initial thoughts: Much warmer and ringing than the Savarez. They seem to really mesh well and while individually the strings don't sound quite as good as the Savarez, it sounds much more complete when strummed. These are High Tension strings I bought from Stringsbymail.com.

Final thoughts: Ding ding ding. We have a winner. These strings are so well balanced, they are almost a fusion between the Worth Clears, D'Addario Pro Artes and others. They have a great tone, very clear and complex, and they sound good strummed and picked. I am now on my second set of these and this may be where the string trials end. I may still try the Savarez Alliance strings yet though.

Final Grade: 9/10



I'll keep updating this thread with my string changes. Maybe it could be some help of people that are wondering what strings they'd like to use. (Every uke is different though!)

If you have any suggestions, it would be GREATLY appreciated. I will be trying all sorts of strings with this uke to find a great fit.

IMO it sounds way better with Worth !

I got some Ko'olau Gold low g on my concert 'NSB' sounds good to me. I can only compare to the aqullia string that came on it though. I have some Orca and Worth Browns to try out still.

Flea

Have you noticed a difference between the Worth clears and browns?

I like Aquillas and Worth clears.

I never hesitate to change strings if I find that an uke can probably sound better if I change them.

I have had a few customs where a string change was needed done immediately.

With my MBU/Spoonah-lele...I knew at first strum that it was Aquillas all the way.

Previously I never tried out the D'addarios but I got to check them out on Aldrine's new uke. They are kinda like a hybrid of Aquillas and Worth clears and they sounded pretty good.

I am not sure about the clicking you mention. Is it your nails on the strings or is it possibly your nails hitting the uke?

If it is slight and just a string thing...I would think to the listener it would give a slight percussive sound. Then again, I do not know what you are hearing.

As for me...now...I can't see me putting anything other than Aquillas on mine. The sound is just too damn good.

I hope you find the right mix for you.

BUMP!

I put on Savarez a few days ago and now that they have settled I updated the post. These strings are GREAT.

Matt,
Thanks for your review, as you well know, I love my Savarez strings. These strings are a bit more expensive than others, but they are good quality strings.

You can compare the thickness of the ones you purchased to the Alliance ones. If you don't mind a thinner string, the Alliance may be a good choice, but they are very bright. Sustain is unreal, almost like playing with reverb. Savarez strings are very clear, picked or strummed and they are durable and last a long time. They do have a percussive sound, which is nice when chunking, really adds to the playing experience. Perhaps I need to do a picking piece on my next string review. FYI, Jake use to use these strings when he had the spruce top KK during his Pure Heart days, I know because I was his string supplier .

Keep the reviews coming. Let me know if you'd like to try any of the strings I reviewed, I have extra sets I can send you. Looks like you are narrowing down which strings will be your choice, very exciting!

Perhaps I need to contact Savarez again about distributing these strings for ukuleles, will save customers the time and hassle of playing the guessing game.

Aloha!

uluapoundr's review of Savarez Alliances is what made me go get some for my Pono. I actually have Augustine Classical Guitar strings on now, and am going to the Savarez next.

I've tried many types of strings on my ukes, and have ended up with Koolau golds on most of them.

Can't wait to see the video. Thanks for doing this!

thejumpingflea said:

BUMP!

I put on Savarez a few days ago and now that they have settled I updated the post. These strings are GREAT.

Click to expand...

Yeah I just strung my Kanile'a with those strings (G 521J, C 523J, E 522J, A 521J), they really are good strings, the Worth got a very clear and bright tone in the high notes, but the Savarez got kind of a "high definition sound" in the middle notes, a bit noisy when you're touching the strings but it will disappear with some time I think.

And Matt, the Worth needs some time to really fit your uke and sound completely.

So, this thread peaked my interest enough to try out the Savarez strings. I figured if TJF and Uluapoundr liked them so much, they must be pretty good, and they are. I think there is a noticable increase in the sustain compared to the Pro Artes I just removed (in all fairness those strings were wore out)
I think I like the appearance of the Pro Artes better, they are transparent and the Savarez are translucent, and there is more string noise due to the texture on the strings, but these are the only 2 down sides. The string noise really is only an issue if your playing very softly and UkuCous may be right that the string noise may lessen the more they are played.

Overall, I agree that they are awesome strings.

Good recommendation guys!

DeG said:

So, this thread peaked my interest enough to try out the Savarez strings. I figured if TJF and Uluapoundr liked them so much, they must be pretty good, and they are. I think there is a noticable increase in the sustain compared to the Pro Artes I just removed (in all fairness those strings were wore out)
I think I like the appearance of the Pro Artes better, they are transparent and the Savarez are translucent, and there is more string noise due to the texture on the strings, but these are the only 2 down sides. The string noise really is only an issue if your playing very softly and UkuCous may be right that the string noise may lessen the more they are played.

Overall, I agree that they are awesome strings.

Good recommendation guys!

Click to expand...

Which ones are you using, the Traditional series? I haven't tried them but I know Matt liked them. The Traditional is rectified, which means they are ground to consistent diameter, which will give it it's rough texture which some like and some don't like. I have used mostly the Alliance, which I still like. Those are clear and smooth, which also some don't like cause they have less feel for fingerstyle playing. I also tried the New Cristal Corum strings, they were pretty good, less bright than the Alliance and a bit cheaper, and clear like the Alliance. The two above strings seemed to be more responsive and clear in sound than the J71s on my uke.

What's it going to take for you guys to admit that Aquilas are simply the best?

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

What's it going to take for you guys to admit that Aquilas are simply the best?

Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. I've tried several strings and keep going back to Aquilas. I understand everyone has their own personal preference but I just feel Aquilas are hard to beat on any uke. Just my humble opinion of course I'm glad people are out there experimenting to find "their" perfect sound.

I committed what some consider the unforgivable sin: I put Aquilas on my Kamaka Koa pineapple.
I like the combination especially since I play this one outdoors with allot of surf and wind noise in the back ground, punches thru very nicely. I don't believe in hell but some believe I'm going straight there for doing this.

uluapoundr said:

Which ones are you using, the Traditional series? I haven't tried them but I know Matt liked them. The Traditional is rectified, which means they are ground to consistent diameter, which will give it it's rough texture which some like and some don't like. I have used mostly the Alliance, which I still like. Those are clear and smooth, which also some don't like cause they have less feel for fingerstyle playing. I also tried the New Cristal Corum strings, they were pretty good, less bright than the Alliance and a bit cheaper, and clear like the Alliance. The two above strings seemed to be more responsive and clear in sound than the J71s on my uke.

Click to expand...

I got the traditional that Matt recommended. What are the numbers of the Alliance strings that you use for each string? I think I would like to try them as well. I'm going to give the rough strings a chance to see how I like them in a few weeks, but my first impression is that I prefer the clear/smooth strings.

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

What's it going to take for you guys to admit that Aquilas are simply the best?

Click to expand...

If they sponsored my UAS, I would admit it. Actually, I don't dislike Aquilas, I use them on my sopranos and concert, but they start to feel.."spongy" (I guess is how I would describe it) to me on longer scale lengths. Maybe they are too soft or something? Just IMHO

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

What's it going to take for you guys to admit that Aquilas are simply the best?

Click to expand...

Hahaha! Look we already said your ukes are the best!!!

DeG said:

I got the traditional that Matt recommended. What are the numbers of the Alliance strings that you use for each string? I think I would like to try them as well. I'm going to give the rough strings a chance to see how I like them in a few weeks, but my first impression is that I prefer the clear/smooth strings.




If they sponsored my UAS, I would admit it. Actually, I don't dislike Aquilas, I use them on my sopranos and concert, but they start to feel.."spongy" (I guess is how I would describe it) to me on longer scale lengths. Maybe they are too soft or something? Just IMHO

Click to expand...

G 541J
C 543R
E 543R
A 541R

The Aquilas sounded good plucked with my thumbnail and they sound good with softer strumming, but with really hard strumming, or 5 finger strums they do make a "twang" sound, just my opinion. It will boil down to personal preference.

Thanks! I actually just noticed the link in your sig and I'm watching the video right now, they seem pretty nice.