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.
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