Orca strings

garyg

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Although I am a lover of Fremont Blackline mediums, I decided to step out on my favorites and sample some other strings. I have all soprano ukes both vintage (20's, 40's & 50/60's Gretsch ukes, 40's Favilla, 40's Martin 1M, 40's/50's Gibson uke 1) and current ukes a Nue Nue 1879, Ko'Aloha Pikake, Black Bear) and I have blacklines on most of them. I decided to try the Orca strings on my Pikake and found that they offered a warmer but more muted sound but also took a long time to settle. Oddly they also seemed to become less-muted with age. Are my ears playing tricks on me or has anyone experienced changes like this. Also have the Orcas taken longer to settle? cheers, g2
 
HI Gx2 :)
I can't say that Orcas take longer than Freemonts. It really seems to be the environment, how often one plays the instrument and sometimes even the individual set of strings for what ever reason.
You may have been playing Orcas and didn't know it. Your aNueNue's stock strings are Orcas.
The Orcas Low G sets for soprano/concert and tenor are really nice too if anyone is looking for low G without having a wound string.
 
haha

Hey Mike, well I guess that I have been -- I just assumed that they were blacklines because of the color. Can you tell me why you chose Orca's over other strings for that uke? And when you put Orcas on vs. when you put other strings on? ciao baby, g2
 
Hi
actually aNueNue chose those strings. Their solid tonewood bodied ukes come standard with them.
I have put them on a few instruments that seemed to compliment them very well.
 
I really like the Orcas as well. I can't really say I have noticed a longer break in period, but I have noticed they seem to improve after a few days and many tunings later.
The Low G are really nice, I have them on my KoAloha and it booms. I still have a few sets of Worth browns to use, but I want to try the Orcas on my DaSilva.
I put a set of Orcas on a Dolphin, all I can say is wow, came alive a little more than Aquilas.
I used a Tenor Low G set on a baritone and tuned it DGBE, surprisingly it sounds awesome and really booms.
 
Consider this another vote for Orcas. They are still really unknown here ... in fact every music store I called/visited had never even heard of them or just don't carry them. It's a shame, really, because they are some pretty fantastic strings. In fact. the only place I know I can get them is Uke Republic (thanks for carrying them, guys!)

From what I know, Orcas are a Japanese made string, so it makes sense that aNueNue (also a Japanese company) uses them. I've used both Orcas and Worths on my aNueNue koa tenor, and I have to say I think I prefer the Orcas. They have a more full sound, while still preserving the brightness one really wants. And their low G sounds fantastic.

As far as settling time, I didn't notice a significant difference between Orcas and any other string-type, including Aquilas, Ko'olau Golds or Alohis, Martin clears, or Worth browns.

If you get a chance to give a set a try, I would encourage you to not hesitate. You'll be very pleasantly surprised.
 
I just ordered a couple of sets of these from Uke Republic to try out. It seems that while my UAS has diminished, my SAS never will. I really like the Living Water low g on my Kanilea but thought I would change things up a bit with the Orcas.
 
Do they make a reentrent set for sop/con? I can't find them anywhere.
 
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