Aquila Strings: Honeymoon Over?

So are Aquilas losing favor in this community, or are other brands just gaining on them?

I wasn't happy at all with my last few sets of Nylguts (which, it turns out, may not have been Nylguts at all). However, many people here convinced me that I must have gotten a bad batch.

Now I see several members of this group trashing them in favor of other brands.

What's the story...and why can't good things (like the pasta and broccoli at my former favorite Italian restaurant) just stay the same?

I've heard those stories too, and they scare me. I still love my Aquilas. I've had a few sets stockpiled for some time, and they've been consistently good. Last week I helped a friend change strings, and she had a brand new pack of Aquilas - I was really worried that they would be the ones I've heard bad things about, but no, they sounded just as good as always.

I've always preferred carbons or rectified nylons.

Having said that, I might try the new Nylgut. I haven't seen it readily available yet. Mimmo offered samples to some classical guitar players but I was late to the online party.

As a relative newbie to the uke world, I had succumbed to the talk about Nylgut strings and
most of my new purchases came strung with them. My Martin S-O came strung with Martin
fluorocarbons and even though I liked the sound I swapped the out for the Nylguts. Didn't
like the resulting sound at all and am going back to the fluorocarbons. A similar story with a
mid-70s Kamaka I recently acquired. The Kamaka sounds much sweeter with the fluorocarbons.
My Mainland cedar/rosewood pineapple soprano came strung with Nylguts and sounds great, so
it will stay strung that way. In conclusion, I just think that each uke reacts differently with the
different types of strings. Much more so than my guitars.

What's nice about the fluorocarbons is, you can get fluorocarbon fishing line and stock up on a lifetime's supply of strings.

ConspiracyUkeist said:

What's nice about the fluorocarbons is, you can get fluorocarbon fishing line and stock up on a lifetime's supply of strings.

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I would be a little cautious about this. Jack and Frances, who I believe were once SF Bay Area natives before they moved to Mexico, tried that experiment with Seaguar brand flourocarbon on their classical guitars. At first they were excited to have found a less costly solution for carbon strings since they wear out their strings quickly from performances and teaching. In a nutshell, they found after lengthy experimentation that the material is inconsistent and doesn't play in tune. Your own experience may vary.

Of course, you would at least have strings for fishing!

I didn't notice any difference in my last batch of Aquilas. I am a little curious about the new ones though.

i've never been a fan of aquilas. I prefer fluro carbons. But that is me.

So far, my own personal rule of thumb has been:
laminate small body = Aquilas
solid top and/or long neck = fluorocarbons
low G = classical D string (nearly every low G uke string I've tried breaks within a few days)

I posted a question about this a while ago and got the answer that I may have had Bionylons instead of Nylguts.
Just restrung with Nylguts - so far so good.

gioconbrio said:

low G = classical D string (nearly every low G uke string I've tried breaks within a few days)

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This is so true. I love Aquila strings, but their wound string are sh!t. I started using a Hilo wound low G as a substitute and like it even better than a classical string (which I used to use)

I think they may have stepped in it with their new "biolon" or whatever they're calling it. General consensus seems to be that they're kind of dead. This is compounded by the fact that they and/or their retailers don't seem to be doing a good job of distinguishing between NylGut (which I beleive is still being made) and the new stuff - as a consequence it seems like a lot of people are getting what they think is nylgut and finding it kind of limp, or lame, or whatever.

I've never been a big fan of the Nylguts on really top notch ukes anyway. They seem great for livening up a somewhat mediocre uke but even my Kiwaya long neck soprano - which is "ultra thin laminate" - sounds better with fluorocarbon strings.

As for Nylguts on ukes that are naturally way bright (i.e. solid spruce top, etc.) - you should be required to get a license to use Nylguts on them!

John

GVlog said:

I would be a little cautious about this. Jack and Frances, who I believe were once SF Bay Area natives before they moved to Mexico, tried that experiment with Seaguar brand flourocarbon on their classical guitars. At first they were excited to have found a less costly solution for carbon strings since they wear out their strings quickly from performances and teaching. In a nutshell, they found after lengthy experimentation that the material is inconsistent and doesn't play in tune. Your own experience may vary.

Of course, you would at least have strings for fishing!

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I've had great results with Seaguar leaders - there is an awful lot of circumstantial evidence that convinces me that's all Worth strings are. I would avoid regular line - it's nothing like the leaders, which is why the leader material is far more expensive than the regular line.

That said, I don't think even the heaviest of the leaders would be suitable for the low strings on a guitar.

John

I've found that whilst aquilas boost the sound of my cheaper ukes to wonderful heights, instruments of a higher quality actually fare better with the clear strings provided by the local music shop- I think they're Worth? I'll have to ask if I go back.

Papa Tom said:

So are Aquilas losing favor in this community, or are other brands just gaining on them?. . . . Now I see several members of this group trashing them in favor of other brands.

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I used to install Aquila exclusively years ago, but gave all of my stockpile (as Jane refers to) away to MGM (again, years ago). I don't think other brands are gaining, I just think the players are getting more educated and experimenting more. Or, they're just getting better instruments and realizing what happens when they take off the stock strings and go to Aquila - I think in some cases its an issue of denial. . . "I can't believe these stock XXXXX nylon strings sound better on my midrnage $500-$1000 factory instrument than the Aquila's I just grabbed from my stockpile (like that term, Jane)." My statement was a little different - "I can't believe these Classical Guitar strings sound better on my instrument than the Aquila's I always install from my year's worth of stock." Yes, I gave away more than a few sets.

This forum is a victim of its own internet success - there was a point in time where someone would ask "what strings" and the answer would be Aquila. Everytime I saw that I thought "typical expert response based on what everyone else is doing", sort of like Wikipedia, sort of. At the time, I really didn't have anything nice to say, but eventually came to a medium where I could formulate a response. They have their place in the realm of bringing in some volume and brightness to cheaper instruments (as I'm typing, OldePhart and bunnyrawr posted the same). Unfortunately for Aquila, most high end instruments, and even midrange factory instruments don't need help in this area. This has been discussed ad nauseam, without Aquila trashing, but more from a preference standpoint.

For Aquila, from a business perspective, I get it, and I wouldn't change the recipe in targeting the low end instrument market. Of course, this forum supports the midrange market as well (as evidence by Jane's quiver) - its too small for D'Addario and Savarez to be worried about (but then again, D'Addario DID repackage their Pro Artes into `ukulele sets- that should send a message right there. . .maybe someday they'll get to the T2's ).

-Aaron

Aaron, you want what's left of my Pro Artes "stockpile"? I gave most of them to my buddy who fishes papio.

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

Aaron, you want what's left of my Pro Artes "stockpile"? I gave most of them to my buddy who fishes papio.

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If you got J50's and J46 T2's, absolutely. I'll take a stab that you're likely to have J46's, but there's a use for them on some instruments so you certainly can donate them my way.

I'll also guess its Laron who was the recipient of said previous stockpile? Of course, if I were you, and you ever got into other body woods (like Maple or Myrtle), I'd keep the J46's, you'll find they match well. . .

OldePhart said:

I've had great results with Seaguar leaders ...

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Sorry I should have been specific. Jack did use Seaguar leaders. He bout 25m and 50m rolls.

For me, out in the suburbs, all local music stores ever carried was Martin crystal nylons.....which are horrible in my opinion. It was always a little hard to get Aquilas quickly and easily when I picked up a used or vintage uke. So, when I found Aquilas I would buy a couple sets as I didn't want to wait several days to order them online. Now, local stores carry Martin flurocarbons and I like them more than I like the Aquilas on my vintage uke's......so, something in life actually got easier!

I can now get a good set of strings anytime I want them....so mostly I am going with what works well and what is convenient.

RyanMFT said:

Now, local stores carry Martin flurocarbons and I like them more than I like the Aquilas on my vintage uke's......so, something in life actually got easier!

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I've heard those Martin fluoros on a non-vintage Kamaka concert uke and they sounded great. Definitely trying them out on mine next time I get the itch for a string change.