favorite uke strings?

NukeDOC

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since rayan posted up for fav guitar strings, i was curious what people like on the uke.

when i bought my leolani, it came with aquila nylguts. the guy at the flea market at aloha stadium told me that they were the best strings out. i didnt know any different. i didnt even know how to play at the time. it wasnt till i got back to san diego that i was able to compare it to others. so far i cant tell if it is uke itself or the strings that make mine sound soooo much nicer than others. but i like them nonetheless. i have several packs ordered now and will re-string all my other ukes with them.

so which do you like and why?
 
since rayan posted up for fav guitar strings, i was curious what people like on the uke.

when i bought my leolani, it came with aquila nylguts. the guy at the flea market at aloha stadium told me that they were the best strings out. i didnt know any different. i didnt even know how to play at the time. it wasnt till i got back to san diego that i was able to compare it to others. so far i cant tell if it is uke itself or the strings that make mine sound soooo much nicer than others. but i like them nonetheless. i have several packs ordered now and will re-string all my other ukes with them.

so which do you like and why?

i use Aquila Nylguts also on my Ceniza by T&K ukulele. i love them, and they do make the Ukulele sound better!!!
 
i remember aldrine, doc trey, and a couple of other people recommending the d'addario pro arte ej46 classical guitar strings. i started to use it and liked it. i havent had much experience with other strings so i wouldnt how it fares compared to other strings. i also learned that they made uke strings based on the ej46 since jake shimabukuro also used them.
 

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i remember aldrine, doc trey, and a couple of other people recommending the d'addario pro arte ej46 classical guitar strings. i started to use it and liked it. i havent had much experience with other strings so i wouldnt how it fares compared to other strings. i also learned that they made uke strings based on the ej46 since jake shimabukuro also used them.

Tried and true.

I tried the aquila's recently and I didn't really like them. They didn't ring out as much as I hoped they would. The sound was nice, but then later on, it started to sound really bright... TOO bright.

For me it's the D'Addario's, best ones I found so far.
 

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I really think you have to try out several different brands of strings and see what work best on your uke. I've had some ukes that sound great with Aquilas and some that were just completely dead sounding with them on. Another good brand are Worth Clears or Browns. Browns are a little "mellower" and both are available in soft, medium and hard densities.
 

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are these the ones youre talking about?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/DAddario-J71-Pro-Arte-Tenor-Ukulele-Strings?sku=101683

if so, i may have to order a few sets and try them out as well.

I think Aldrine actually uses guitar strings on his uke. Not sure, he may have to clarify.

I think all ukes are different and some strings sound great on some ukes and some don't. Also the sound you are after should affect your string buying decision. Aldrine has a very specific sound he's always after. He loves his sustain because he solos a lot and I guess the D'addarios give him that. It might not be the best bet for someone who plays a lot of Hawaiian music and strums a lot. Or maybe it is.

Hopefully we can do some string reviews too on the new site. Probably we'll have everyone send in their experience with the strings they are using with their ukulele because I'm sure it'll be different for everyone.
 

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ive heard about those worth strings. i just did some research on them and turns out they are made from fluorocarbon polymer. as an avid fisherman, i know a bit about these lines. not affected by UV light, flexible but low stretch, very abrasion resistant, and virtually invisible to fish when underwater because of the low light refraction properties (not that it makes an difference to us as uke players hehe).

i think i will head to my local tackle shop and ask for samples of different line strengths to test out on one of my ukes also.

basically, im trying to see what can make my Hilo sound halfway decent since right now im using some old classical strings coupled with some 30lb test monofilament Ande fishing line hahaha. yeah sounds like pupu.
 
i also tryed worth on my uke nearly a year ago... (but then switched to daddario, too)

well, they are very bright and clear. sound nice if you like the sound. i had them
on my jenny. they get a little damage on bending and tapping i used.
also for my fingers they are little too thin. the handling was not as much as i expected. they cutting too much in my fingertips and i just can play an hour than must quit cause of too much pain.

i like the daddario. if their brand new on the uke it takes a week of beeing in tune. than sounding very good and with the right thickness. after a couple of weeks their getting a little harder and you see the strings getting some marks from the frets. than i cange them. (a set of singlestrings are about 4 €/ 5 $ i think)

i think about of testing other nyon guitar strings; are nylon not eaqual to nylon? but i dont know.... never checked out other strings since daddario.
 
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I use Worth strings on my tenor. all nylon. I just love the way these strings sound. They have a beautiful tone to it. Its great for recording or live sounds.
Mahalo,
Bruddah Brandon
 
Fishing line sounded better than I expected. :D

wow thats crazy didnt think it could be done! good stuff. i went to the store today and the guy was all aquila's are probably the better sounding strings out. so ill stick with my aquila's
 
when i was in hawaii this past august, they said at the polynesian cultural center that a stringed instrument they were using (looked like a solid wood guitar with no sound hole... dont remember what it was called) just used 30lb test fishing line. so thats what gave me the idea, when i restrung my baritone from DGBE to gCEA, to use some of the fishing line i had to fill in the two courses for lighter strings.

i had the opportunity to play ibcruzn's custom kamaka last night. he has the worth strings. i know it was a combination of both the ukulele and the strings. but man that was sweet. i gotta get me a set of those too. hahaha.
 

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when i was in hawaii this past august, they said at the polynesian cultural center that a stringed instrument they were using (looked like a solid wood guitar with no sound hole... dont remember what it was called) just used 30lb test fishing line.

sounds like a tahitian ukulele to me. did it look something like this?
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/8/80/Tahitian_ukulele_1.jpg
i remember one of the teacher's assistants in my woodshop class had this.
 
thats it! but the one i saw had green fishing line haha... like it matters. thanks for finding that though.
 
that pic does have green fishing line lol. i guess its common cuz thats what the assistant in my class had on his uke.
 
appologies for the necroposting, but i didnt want to just go and start a whole new thread for this.

anyway, so i think ive concluded my research on string options. and because of the properties and my fishing experience with fluorocarbon, im intrigued to see how well they perform on the ukulele. the options are narrow. worth strings, or bulk fluorocarbon fishing leader material.

so here is the dilemma...
do i spend the $65 to string up my two 6 string and one 4 string ukes with the tried and true worth strings? i basically just need to put them on and probably wont have to worry about having to change them for years. once stretched they wont have to be messed with anymore, they wont react to temp changes, they are not affected by UV light, and they are a helluvalot more abrasion resistant than regular nylon monofilaments.
or...
do i let my inner pioneer run wild? i can buy 6 x 25yd spools in the diameters that i need for double what i would have to spend for one set of strings. string up my ukes, then cut up and sell the excess as sets for DIRT CHEAP. i would be the guinea pig, basically, and test out the strings. i could put up some before and after videos on youtube to show the difference, if any. i could possibly sell a 4 string set for $5 and a 6 string set for $8. if i sell 10 sets, i will have gotten enough money back (not all... not trying to make a profit here) to justify the purchase, and still have enough material left over to make new sets for myself.

so...
1. has anyone here or anyone you know tried this?
2. if i make them, will you buy them?
3. should i just have someone smack me because i think too damn much about this, knowing that the d'addarios are great strings already and only go for $4 a set, even though all i have to do is mickey mouse the two extra strings for my 6 string ukes?
 
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