Strings On A New Uke

establish · Sep 8, 2011

I bought a new mahalo cheapo ukulele and it came with some strings.

They're like clear plastic or something.

Anyways I think they might sound like s**, but I haven't heard any ukuleles in real life to compare. Even though supposedly all my strings are in tune, all my chords strummed sound like horror movie scores.

What do quality strings look like?

Also, the only place selling uke strings locally is selling Martin's. How good are these?

TheOnlyUkeThatMatters · Sep 8, 2011

The strings on Mahalos are not usually quality ukulele strings. Quality strings can be clear, black, brown, yellow, white, purple, red, ...

Martin strings are great. Try them out, you'll notice a world of difference.

Another good brand to try out when you can pick them up is Aquila.

Have fun!

janeray1940 · Sep 8, 2011

TheOnlyUkeThatMatters said:
Martin strings are great. Try them out, you'll notice a world of difference.

Seconding the Martins - just make sure they are Fluorocarbons, and not Crystal Nylons. I use the former on most of my ukes and love them; the latter I haven't personally tried but have only heard bad things about.

Tikas · Sep 8, 2011

Hello!
I second the Aquila vote,I put them on a Malhalo "Cheapo" Uke, and it really improved the sound!
see if you can source some from the internet, thats what I did, Most places will ship strings at quite a reasonable price
Hat-Sam

Kanaka916 · Sep 9, 2011

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?39969-FYI-Uke-Strings

vanflynn · Sep 10, 2011

I have the same problem with the local availability of strings. Almost any strings you find will be an improvement. All I could find locally for my concert were Martins and it made a great improvement. There almost too good for my playing ability. It's like a blue haired granny driving a Ferrari! Happy strumming.

bazmaz · Sep 10, 2011

Def try Aquilas on a Mahalo. They have the power to drive cheaper ukes and transform them.

Bear in mind though, based on my experience with Mahalo, no strings will sort a uke that is badly set up, and I've played too many Mahalos that needed work on that.

vanflynn · Sep 10, 2011

I'll second Bazmaz on the setup. I brought my mahalo to the local guitar shop to adjust the action. It made a world of difference.

Tootler · Sep 11, 2011

I bought a cheap uke and was almost ready to give up, but I read about replacing the strings on cheap ukes, so I got some Aquila strings and it transformed the instrument. It is now playable, not brilliant but useable and with reasonable intonation. Certainly £6 well spent.

As a result I got started again, and have recently bought a new concert uke which I am very happy with. It came fitted with Aquila strings and has I nice clear ringing tone - at least is does when I fret the chords properly.

Strings On A New Uke

establish

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TheOnlyUkeThatMatters

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janeray1940

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Tikas

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Kanaka916

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vanflynn

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bazmaz

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vanflynn

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Tootler

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