Wow - Aquila concert stings on my Kamaka soprano!

janeray1940 · Mar 21, 2011

Following up on my recent inquiry about putting concert strings on my Kamaka soprano - I went ahead and did it after my uke instructor assured me that I wouldn't likely damage the uke in doing so.

And - amazing! It sounds almost identical to my concert uke that is strung with Aquilas. It's so much louder than it was before (when strung with soprano Aquilas, Worth CLs, or Fremont Blackline Hards) and has a lot more sustain, especially higher up the neck.

Here's a quick and dirty sound sample.

hmgberg · Mar 21, 2011

Sounds nice, Jane. Glad you found something you are happy with.

janeray1940 · Mar 21, 2011

Thanks hmgberg

Happy with it for now, anyway!

My uke instructor also recommended Martin Crystal Nylons, which I'll keep in mind along with the Martin fluoros for future experimentation. I had a boatload of Aquila concert strings on hand so I went with those, but who knows, maybe I could do even better...

uncle phil · Mar 21, 2011

Very relaxing piece . . . great that you are really discovering the ins and outs of your ukes!

pat rock · Mar 21, 2011

Sounds great! I might try the same thing with my soprano - is the tension different? We also put Martins on my daughter's ukulele and they sound great and are a nice feel.

roxhum · Mar 21, 2011

Wow, that sounds really good, very clear and distinct.

joeybug · Mar 21, 2011

Wow, that sounds great! And the same song I did last week

You play it better than me!

guitharsis · Mar 21, 2011

Very nice!

janeray1940 · Mar 21, 2011

pat rock said:
Sounds great! I might try the same thing with my soprano - is the tension different? We also put Martins on my daughter's ukulele and they sound great and are a nice feel.

The concert Aquilas have a lot more tension than the soprano Aquilas. Not quite as much as the Fremonts, but enough to keep me from unintentionally bending the A string, which has been a problem for me on this uke.

pdxuke · Mar 21, 2011

janeray1940 said:
Following up on my recent inquiry about putting concert strings on my Kamaka soprano - I went ahead and did it after my uke instructor assured me that I wouldn't likely damage the uke in doing so.

And - amazing! It sounds almost identical to my concert uke that is strung with Aquilas. It's so much louder than it was before (when strung with soprano Aquilas, Worth CLs, or Fremont Blackline Hards) and has a lot more sustain, especially higher up the neck.

Here's a quick and dirty sound sample.

Strings sound good Jane! If you have a mo, I'd love to here some strumming with those strings!

Do you also have them on the concerts?

janeray1940 · Mar 21, 2011

pdxuke said:
Strings sound good Jane! If you have a mo, I'd love to here some strumming with those strings!

Do you also have them on the concerts?

I have them on the reentrant concert (played here, another campanella piece). My low G concert has Fremont Blacklines, which I also really like.

I might mess around tonight with a soprano uke/concert uke comparison sound sample...

pdxuke · Mar 21, 2011

janeray1940 said:
I have them on the reentrant concert (played here, another campanella piece). My low G concert has Fremont Blacklines, which I also really like.

I might mess around tonight with a soprano uke/concert uke comparison sound sample...

I love that cover of Greensleeves!

The Aquila Concerts sound good! When I change the kamaka strings from my concert out, I may swap the Aquilas off the Ohana CK25 and put Martins on the Ohana.

janeray1940 · Mar 21, 2011

pdxuke said:
I love that cover of Greensleeves!

The Aquila Concerts sound good! When I change the kamaka strings from my concert out, I may swap the Aquilas off the Ohana CK25 and put Martins on the Ohana.

Thanks Thom

The Aquilas will be a lot louder than the Kamaka strings, and will have a lot more sustain (at least in my experience with Kamaka strings, but the ones I've encountered may have just been old to begin with).

All this talk of Martins - I think I need to order some

janeray1940 · Mar 21, 2011

joeybug said:
Wow, that sounds great! And the same song I did last week You play it better than me!

Aw shucks Joeybug! Not better, I've just been playing longer is all

Did you post a link to your version?

pdxuke · Mar 21, 2011

janeray1940 said:
Thanks Thom The Aquilas will be a lot louder than the Kamaka strings, and will have a lot more sustain (at least in my experience with Kamaka strings, but the ones I've encountered may have just been old to begin with).

All this talk of Martins - I think I need to order some

I'm really tempted to try them on the Pineapple!

Ambient Doughnut · Mar 21, 2011

I'm quite surprised that concert strings are heavier - I'd have imagined it to be the other way round - what with the longer scale length an'all. Shows how much I know!

SweetWaterBlue · Mar 21, 2011

It does sound great. I agree with Thom - more strumming is always the real test of a soprano, since that is what most people do with them.

janeray1940 · Mar 21, 2011

Ambient Doughnut said:
I'm quite surprised that concert strings are heavier - I'd have imagined it to be the other way round - what with the longer scale length an'all. Shows how much I know!

If you scroll all the way down this page, there's a chart that shows the string thicknesses and tensions. If I'm understanding correctly, concerts are slightly heavier/thicker.

One thing worth pointing out is that the concert C string just *barely* fit into the slot in the bridge on my soprano.

janeray1940 · Mar 21, 2011

pdxuke said:
I'm really tempted to try them on the Pineapple!

What do you have on it now?

SweetWaterBlue said:
It does sound great. I agree with Thom - more strumming is always the real test of a soprano, since that is what most people do with them.

Good point. I'm not sure I even did any strumming when I restrung it last night, so I probably should

perep · Mar 21, 2011

Great sound , I will try them also. Thanks
PEREP

Wow - Aquila concert stings on my Kamaka soprano!

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