Newby with new strings

Hi to everyone on the forum,

I've recently brought a Makala Dolphin with aims of one day taking it into my Year one Class (New Teacher full of ideas!) I've no experience with string instruments and have bought the 'Ukulele from the beginning' by Chester Music Limited.

Anyhow I have been advised to buy the 'proper strings' as aposed to the standard ones on the Uke.

I have some D'addario j65's but on investigation I've noticed they are strung to ADF#B rather than the standard GCEA.
If I tune these as instructed how will this affect my fingering when playing simple chords i.e. C chord third finger third fret.

Should I swop these string to standard or tune them to a C or just continue as the book suggests.

Much Thanks

Joe

ADF#B is 1 step up (e.g. C becomes D) I think you could get away with stringing them GCEA, they might be a bit loose, give it a try though?
Aquilas and Worth Browns are very highly regarded (I use both, Aquilas on my soprano, Worths on my Concert)

I had the same problem as you. What I have learned since then is that some sopranos are stringed that way. After checking ukemaster it does indeed require different finger placement.

I shelved my d,adarrio strings and ordered some aquila's. You can get them for under 6 dollars shipped

I'd definetly recommend you put the Aquila Nylgut strings on your Dolphin, we have two of them strung that way and they are great. I've only tried the plain D'Addario's on my old Baritone and wasn't impressed, I recently put some Aquila low g's on it and the improvement was amazing.

You can purchase Aquilas and have them delivered in no time from www.juststrings.com. I was amazed at how fast they shipped.

ADF#B is the way ukes were tuned years ago. From what I understand, many folks in Canada still use it. I have one of my Sopranos tuned that way. It makes the uke nice and bright. I tried it on my Dolphin though and didnt like it at all.

The consensus is that for low end ukes, Aquilas do wonders for the sound quality. I would try those and go from there. I also love Worth Clears but I cant give any advice on them for Dolphins as I havent tried that.

Have fun and try a bunch of different strings, you never know what you'll like...