Awesome gift there- yeah, we can sort this out for you.
First- welcome to the Underground.
Now strings- there are lot's of them. I can cut through all the debate there and tell you in my estimation that Nylon is going to sound a lot better on it than Nylgut (Aquila), mostly because you want the pluckiest strings you can find for it. I would go with Worth Clears (or Browns)- both at Elderly, and your uke is a concert length. You can go Aquila if you like the feel of them, but I think (having Aquila on all mine but two) that the tone of them may be lost in the resonator). Guadalupe makes wound strings for them too (all wound) and I bet they sound rad, but I have not played a set yet.
Next- string it up and tune it to gCea, if those are the strings you purchase. You could also go with GCea and get a linear sound out of it, like a guitar played with a capo on the fifth, and the two bass strings busted. Either one is a matter of taste- if you want a Uke sound that is more traditional, go with the high G set.
DO NOT PUT GUITAR STRINGS ON IT- No truss rod in there- will not handle the tension.
OK- what else- I have read these are not set-up particularly well out of the box, but that is pretty basic if you ahve a set of magic files laying around and have done a guitar or two. I have also heard they do really well with a better cone and bridge, but that is down the road.
Last bit- I have heard these may be a little rough on the cover plate where the strings pass through- I ahve also heard that the little rubber bit they make for a dremel will make that problem go away-
Hope that all helps- Enjoy
