Low G concert: Worth or Fremont?

NatalieS

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I've got a concert Kamaka on the way and I want to string it with an unwound low G set. Should I choose Worths or Fremont Blacks? Any strong opinions either way?

Thanks! :)
 
I have not tried the Fremonts but I really like the worth brown mediums. But like it's been said before it's a personal preference thing when it comes to strings. I agree that unwound is the way to go, wound strings seem to over power the others whenever I have tried them.
 
Congrats on the new Kamaka concert!

I have Fremont hard tensions, and a Fremont medium tension low G on mine. I haven't tried the Worth low G, but I definitely preferred the Fremont Blacklines to Worths on my Kamaka soprano. And I'll also agree that unwound is the only way to go.
 
I have used the Fremont clear single low g on one of my bari's with the rest of the strings Aquilas, and I really like how they balance, But I haven't tried the Blacklines yet (I think I have a set somewhere), I haven't tried the Worth low g either but loved their rentrant clear strings on my Kamaka before I sent it back to Kamaka for some repairs. I also use the clear lights on a couple of my vintage koa ukes and am quite happy with them.
 
It is really hard to beat the sound of wound G string, but I understand not wanting one. I've tried Worth low G in both in medium and hard versions on my Kanilea Concert. The medium low G string, was just too floppy, and could get a buzz depending on how agressive you play. The Worth CD was much better, I've still got them on and like them. I have not tried the Freemonts, but I've heard good things about them. The Freemonts are harder FC than regular FC strings. That harder FC seems to be important.

All that being said, I like the Kamaka HF-2 in standard tuning. You might try Freemonts (high G) and buy a single low-G string. That way you could easily try both tunings.
 
Ooh ooh Natalie congrats on the concert!!! Please let me know how the pineapple and concert compare sound wise. I want a concert too. The more I play my Pineapple the more hooked I get on Kamaka. I like the feel/fit of the soprano over the Pineapple though and I am very interested to know how the concert and Pineapple compare to each other. I love the looks of the wood on my 70's Kamaka but suspect that the newer Kamaka's sound better. I don't have any advice on strings other than I have low g Worth's waiting to be strung on my Ohana concert.
I am so excited for you!
 
I have Fremont blacks on my Cordoba. They don't seem to project as much as Aquilas but they have a nice warm sound and they have the nicest "feel" of all the strings I've tried - which does not yet include Worths. I wouldn't call them quiet though, just quieter and something harder for me to describe; less "bite"?

I also put the clear low G Fremont on two other ukes, one a soprano, both with Aquilas for the other strings. The Fremonts blend very nicely.
 
I've used both Fremont Blackline low g and Worth low g strings (regular CT, BT and hard heavy CHHD). I didn't care for the BTLG ones on my uke -- they sounded a bit dead. The CTLG ones were really boomy to me and the g string overpowered all the others. So I began using the Fremont ones. I was content with them, as the strings seemed balanced -- the g didn't overpower the others. But I missed the crispness, clarity and higher volume that Worth seems to have over Fremonts (at least on my uke).

On a recommendation, I got some of the Worth CHLGHD -- hard, heavy low g clear ones. And I haven't used anything else since. The strings overall seem much clearer and crisp than I got with the Fremonts, and it is completely balanced -- no boomy low g string like I had on the CTLG ones. The only place I have been able to find them is Elderly Instruments but I won't use anything else anymore.

My choice is the Worth CHLGHD ones. But my recommendation is to try both of them as each ukulele is different, and each player's ear and preference is different as well.
 
Thank you for the recommendations, everyone! I definitely want to stick with low G for this uke because... it's pretty much the reason why I'm buying a second uke, haha. I love Fremont blacklines on my Kamaka pineapple, but might have to try Worths for the new one. I will look into the options and let you all know what I decide!
 
Wickedwahine, are the CHLGHD's really thick? Any thoughts on how the tension compares to a wound G? Id be using it on a soprano so I don't want to damage it with to much tension. I've found the Fremonts to floppy for a soprano so currently use a wound low g which is okay after I learned how to control it.
 
Having heard Wickedwahine's tenor strung with Worths, I'm interested in trying the CHLGHD's too. However, Elderly notes that they are designed for tenors. I wonder if this would be problematic for a concert size uke?
 
I have tried Freemont Blacklines, Worth CT, and Worth CHLGHD, all in low G on some of my tenors. I have also tried wound low G's as well. I was the one that initially recommended the CHLGHDs to the Wicked one after Brian at KoAloha suggested them to me. As she has said in her post before me, they are the most balanced set of low G strings available, IMHO. I have them on three out of the four ukes that I have strung low G. A Tom Guy CBU, my Collings mahogany UT-1, and my Kamaka HF-3. They sound unbelievable on all of them. I had the Freemonts on my KoAloha tenor and they weren't bad, but didn't compare to the Worths.(I ended up stringing the KoAloha re-entrant)

As janeray pointed out though, Elderly lists them for tenors. Not sure how they would sound on you new Kamaka concert. But for $14.95 for a double set, I would give them a try.
 
I just changed my Fremont black line low g's yesterday to Worth brown low g's on my tenor and thought it better to add here than start another string thread ! These are just my impressions and I am certainly not a virtuoso. The Fremont's were only a couple of weeks old so It is apples to apples that I compare, I just wanted to try The worths as so many here recommend them.
First to me the worths are a much tighter string somewhere between the Aquila's and the Fremont's, therefore I assume they are preferred by those that finger pick more.
The tone is somewhere between the Aquila's and Fremont's also , mellow but I think the Fremont's are a little softer and more jazzy.
The Worths are more consistent in tension as the Fremont G is a bit loose.
For some reason and I can't put my finger on it, I think the A string on the Worth set doesn't sustain quite as well seems odd.
The Uke was set up at the shop with the Fremont's on it and the intonation was perfect , with my tuner, through the 12th fret. It was also perfect with the Worths. The strings are the same diameter within a couple of 10 thousandths . so i would expect similar results. the bridge on the Uke is compensated.
I also think the Worth are louder than the Fremont's and quieter than Aquila's.

My choice ,tough, I like them both for different reasons, I currently like the Fremont's primarily for the tone, If I need volume I can put on my amp. If I ever decide to start picking more I will probably go with the Worths. All that said I am leaving the Worths on for now for two reasons ,I want to try them for more than a day and I'm too lazy to change them back right now LOL.

a little update for any future perusal-- I ended up with the worth bm low g and the fremont blackline c,e,& a strings I really like this combo.
 
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