guitar string on a ukulele

Darthouellet

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 25, 2010
Messages
74
Reaction score
0
Location
Québec, Canada
Hello UUers,
Last weekend I went to a store where they sell ukuleles. Most of them were made by Ohana. So I tried a couple of them and to my suprise, the tenor ukuleles had a string that looks like an accoustic guitar string (it was the C string). Is it me or something is wrong here ?
 
Some of the manufacturers have wound strings like Aquila. So it's not common to find an instrument strung with either a wound C or wound G. There are a number of members who use guitar string sets (Savarez, D'Addario) on their instruments, mostly tenors because they are able to take the higher tension. Here are some previous threads.

http://ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?9117
http://ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?14540
http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?7737
 
Last edited:
I think I heard kala reds have a wound C and E. Sounds crazy to me but that's what some crazy guy told me.
 
Unless they are for a classic guitar, wound guitar strings have a steel core and should never be used on a ukulele. The wound E string on the Kala Reds have a red nylon winding and should not be cut or it'll unwind.

Jude
 
Unless they are for a classic guitar, wound guitar strings have a steel core and should never be used on a ukulele. The wound E string on the Kala Reds have a red nylon winding and should not be cut or it'll unwind.

Jude
Thank you for pointing that out. I should have mentioned that in my post. The strings sets mentioned are classical guitar strings and the wound strings have a nylon core.
 
It all boils down to ... strings are strings. Length, gauge, material, construction may vary but your final choice is simply what works best and gives you the tone and tension you desire. String making machines don't really care what you put them on. That's up to the people marketing and packaging them for our convenience.
 
Top Bottom