Strings wont stay in tune for long

Aloha!
I got a ukulele for my birthday (about a month ago) and didnt have a tuner. So i bought a tuner and now im having a question concerning my strings.
The uke came with these black nylon strings and they dont seem to stay in tune for long. I heard some people saying they'd have to tune their ukes once a day, but mine seems to be out of tune after like 1 hour :/
Is that normal ? if not what can/should i do?
sry if this is a dumb question but since im a "beginner" i have no idea how to deal with this

Hi UkeTom, sorry about your situation. I'm a newbie too so I won't give you my ignorant opinion. I'll suggest that you reply with the kind of uke you have, the experts will be able to give better advice knowing the quality, make and model of your instrument. Good luck
DAP

The black nylon strings many ukes come with are GHS and it is pretty normal for them. I have tried them on several ukes and can't stand them! Change them out with a set of Aquila's or Worth's, they will vastly improve the sound and playability of your uke. Keep in mind all uke strings stretch like mad for the first week or so and it's normal to have to tune them regularly at first.

Most likely it is your nylon strings stretching. Flourocarbons (Worth, Blacklines) and Aquilas all stretch when new, but do seem to settle in.
Nylon is much more sensitive to temperature and climate changes.
You don't say what kind of tuners are on your ukulele, but they can also be a source of the tuning issue.
If you have friction tuners make sure the set screw is tight enough to keep them from slipping, but loose enough to allow for tuning.
Another thing to check is the wraps on the tuning post. If your strings have streched enough you may have some overlaps. You should have only 2-3 wraps and the string needs to be on the post.
If you are confused ask a shop or a ukulele player who has the experiance for help.

If it assures you at all. I have a brand new uke with Aquilas and i'm doing the same. I've been told that it takes a while for the strings to stretch and stay in tune. I seem to pick mine up every few hours to play around with it or practice a few chords here and there and I tune mine about every second or third time just for good measure.

DustinCasler said:

If it assures you at all. I have a brand new uke with Aquilas and i'm doing the same. I've been told that it takes a while for the strings to stretch and stay in tune. I seem to pick mine up every few hours to play around with it or practice a few chords here and there and I tune mine about every second or third time just for good measure.

Click to expand...

I forgot to put in my post:
When I put on new strings I tune my uke up a half step before putting it away. I do this until I pick it up and it has stayed sharp.
I can usually get the break in period to a few days vs. weeks.

Aloha Uketom.
Your strings are in the breaking in period as everyone has said, to quicken the breaking in process, tune you uke and then bend your strings individually from side to side 3-4 times and retune and do the process
3-4 times a day until they break in..and your uke keeps it's tune..some will say it takes certain amount of days....for me it is how much you play your uke and break them strings in...good Luck....Have Fun and
enjoy your Ukulele and a belated Happy Birthday...Happy strummings and Have a Happy New Year!! MM Stan

Thank you for all the good advice everybody!
This forum/community is amazing I'll use the methods and hopefully it'll keep it's tune a little longer.
I already ordered a new uke cause i think my current one feels a little cheap/poor. Im getting an Ohana SK-35G and it comes with Aquila strings so hopefully they wont need as much time to settle in.
Thanks again for all the helpful advice !

mm stan said:

Aloha Uketom.
Your strings are in the breaking in period as everyone has said, to quicken the breaking in process, tune you uke and then bend your strings individually from side to side 3-4 times and retune and do the process
3-4 times a day until they break in

Click to expand...

Yeah this is what I do. I can usually get the uke to stay in pretty good tune after about half an hour of stretching and re-tuning, but it usually takes a few days for them to really stay put.

get used to constant tuning. Its funny I read the reviews on amazon, "this uke sucks cuz it goes out of tune".... well thats par .... .... but I will say if you get u some other strings like Martin Fluorocarbons or Aquilas your uke will sound better in my opinion....

Heh, heh. Reminds me of the story of the substitute double-bass player that gets called in for a gig with a local orchestra. He shows up late, rushes to his place and signals that he's ready. The conductor asks, "do you need a moment to tune?" "Why," he replies, "are we playing it in a different key this year?"

The cello player, overhearing him, turns to him and says, "you dummy, it doesn't matter what key we're playing in, you have to line the pegheads up parallel with the neck!"

John

I just got a uke for christmas and I notice mine don't stay in tune for very long either. I went to the store where I got it from and they said it would take awhile before the strings held the tune. I just tune mine after I play around with it.

Ha I currently have two ukuleles a small Ohana SK21 and a Mahalo Tenor (thingy??). I started playing on a 20 quid purple uke and then "treated" myself over the course of the year to the above two. The Ohana, I absolutely adore. The tenor, I am not so keen on, until I had my first lesson last month.

I have been playing (self taught - cough!) for about a 18 months now and doing ok. I took both ukuleles to my lesson and explained that I am not so keen on the tenor. It dose not help, he said, when I have used the wrong strings for the ukulele. He suggested that I might even like it with a set of Aquilas on it.

So I ordered these before Christmas and attempted to re-string the instrument myself. Oh dear oh dear!!!! Totally cocked the whole thing up. There were strings hanging everywhere and to top it all, the tread went in one of my tuners (forgive my terminology I am still very much a beginner!!).

I had no choice yesterday to take my ukulele back to the shop where I purchased it (some 12 months ago) and ask for help. The very kind man in Hickies of Reading re-strung it for me and sorted it right out. Hey-presto I now have a beautiful re-strung ukulele. Now, it has been re-strung, but is forever going out of tune (hence my interest in this thread). So I will have to persevere and keep tuning until the strings settle. At least I now know that's why it keeps going out of tune.

Oh and by the way, I work for John Lewis and with my bonus in March I will be treating myself to a Ohana PK-25 (all my budget will allow) and I am soooo excited about it. I keep looking at on the website. Do I need it? No. Do I want it? Yes of course.

Happy strumming guys



Fran
xx