Which strings would you guys reccommend for my ukes

kaizersoza

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Hi guys n gals,

I currently own 5 ukes of different persuasion and 2 on the way, if you guys owned them what strings would you prefer on them an why? At the moment they are all strung with aquila nylgut, they are as follows:-

Fluke tenor neck

Kala solid mahogany soprano

Kala spruce top flamed maple concert

Makala sparkly blue dolphin soprano

Mainland red cedar tenor

Eleuke tenor solid rosewood

Luna tattoo pineapple soprano

Can't wait to see your string choice thanx for takin the time

kaizer
 
OK- lemme see- where would I go with this? That is a lot of ukes innit?
Righto- I have tried them all, so this is how I would string:
Makala and Luna will definitely be pretty happy with Aquila's.
The solid mahog- I run Worth Browns on mine, but it is a different beast. I like Guadalupes on Soprano, Martin's are good too (I like the Guadalupes better, but I like some punch.
The Maple- that begs for a set of Southcoast medium's. Because of the scale length, the tension will be a little harder than "medium", but I have these on my tenor and they should be very hard, but are better than Fremont's (which lost out to them- way better tone and not as hard on my fingers). FO the tenors, again, Southcoast mediums.
Hope that made sense, and remember strings are totally subjective.
 
Fremont blacklines. Highly regarded strings by many on this forum, and the best strings I've used on various instruments of different sizes and woods. I don't think you can go wrong with Fremonts.
 
Ditto what oldtimes said, I also really like Orcas. As many others have said on this forum, most quality fluorocarbon strings will play well on a uke. Preferences here seem to be Fremonts and Worth's clears or Browns in medium. But then Martins have their fans as do Aquila's. I've tried them both and prefer Fremonts or Orcas to either. Southcoast strings have gotten some rave reviews and they're the next type that I'll try. IIRC their strings are all the same thickness because the density of the string varies, which could make fingering easier. I get the impression though, that many folks have a "favorite" without sampling many other string types. Maybe this should be called a "sufficient" string <g>. There is no doubt that some ukes play significantly "better" with a particular type of string so it probably pays to switch strings if you have a dull sounding uke. ciao baby, g2
 
See the FYI - Uke Strings thread . . . String selection really comes down to personal preferences. You gotta try some of afore mentioned brands to determine how you like them.
 
Yup Danny is right...your preferences..and each uke will sound different with each string...and depends on how you want that particular uke to sound...example..it you had a rich uke and
you wanted to brighten it up and hear the high tones..You would put on aquila's ... and so forth..good luck in finding what works for you...no individual string is good overall...
 
Aquilas on the laminates. Fremonts on the Eleuke. Worths on the rest.
 
long skinny ones.

:p
 
I'd probably stick with Aquila's myself - I prefer them on my ukes and banjoleles too.

I have a concert uke that I strung with "Martin" strings and that sounds great... but no doubt at some point that'll get Aquila too! :)
 
thanx for the input guys i ask because you guys have tried lots of different strings whilst i have only tried aquila, i was thinking of putting worth browns on my solid mahogany to make it mellower and warmer, TCK when you say different beast do you mean louder, better sustain, quieter or more mellow? The fremonts sound like a good bet on the others as do the southcoast mediums, orcas are not available in the UK so that rules em out and will probably rule the southcoast mediums out as well but depends on the shipping costs,
once again thanx for all the input guys
 
I mean my mahogany is a 70 year old Martin Style 3...but it sounds amazing with Worths on it. The strings have better note separation, longer sustain and are really solid in terms of volume on it. Aquilla were louder, but only because the bass was so booming.
Send Dirk at Southcoast a message- he is really reasonable, and I promise you will like them better than the Fremonts, which I liked, but found to be WAY too hard in the tension department (tore my fingers to pieces)- way better sustain and note separation from my Southcoast strings anyway, so it was good they tore me up so bad. The Southcoast strings are phenomenal and totally worth it.
 
Fluke tenor neck: Worth Clear clear hard tension
Kala solid mahogany soprano: Worth Brown BM
Kala spruce top flamed maple concert: Worth Clear CM
Makala sparkly blue dolphin soprano: Aquila (I use a tenor set on my cheap korala for powerful volume)
Mainland red cedar tenor: Worth Clear CT
Eleuke tenor solid rosewood: Worth BT. I just compared factory aquilas with worth and the worths sound a lot better
Luna tattoo pineapple soprano: Worth BM
 
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You've got a lot to work with. I suggest trying every kind of string you can. I wouldn't want the Aquilas on the Mainland, though. Aquila seems to make their strings for the sole purpose of adding as much punch as possible, without regard to the character of the sound. Your Mainland is too high quality an instrument to need that. The Mainland will give you plenty of sound without all that harsh brightness. I'd try really good florocarbons on it. Florocarbons seem to give the instrument added warmth. I use Worth Clears on my Mya moe. Although I am very happy with the colorful sound I get, I continue to experiment. I'm going to string it next with some classical strings (I think I have a set of D'Addarios around somewhere.)
You may be happy keeping the Aquilas on the Makala. Anything else may reduce the amount of sound you can get more than you'll like. Maybe the same with your Kalas. But, I'd keep experimenting with them (one at a time of course. It's nice to have some of your ukes in tune.)
My last advice would be listen to the advice you get on UU, but then listen to your ukuleles without prejudice. Take your time, years for sure, and you'll find what pleases you on each instrument. And you can be sure each uke is an individual. The same strings will not be best for you on all of them.
 
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hi guys big thanx for your posts, i won't be buying all the strings at the same time, but i was just interested in fellow ukers opinion and the experiences and sounds they all favour, i will be buying some worth browns for my kala solid mahogany when the aquilas go off and coz they come doubled up i will keep the other half for my tattoo, the Mainland will get preferential treatment and that will be the one uke i want to bring the best out of, then so on and so forth until i have tried all of the suggestions out so this will take years probably
 
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The day I stop replying to string threads will be the day I stop visiting UU. Here're some quick ideas:

Fluke tenor neck: Ko'olau Gold. Played a Fluke with these at a local shop---sounded and felt great.

Kala solid mahogany soprano: Martin strings bring out mahogany's sweetness very nicely.

Kala spruce top flamed maple concert: Hilo. Mellow strings for a bright uke; black strings for a light uke.

Makala sparkly blue dolphin soprano: D'Addario. I like nylon strings on plastic and half-plastic ukes. Or Aurora pink or purple for style.

Mainland red cedar tenor: Ko'olau Mahana. Mmm, warmth.

Eleuke tenor solid rosewood: Aquila for sustain and brightness.

Luna tattoo pineapple soprano: That tattoo is stylish. So are Kala Red strings.

Ahhh, string thread. So relaxing. Thanks, kaizersoza!
 
If this was my personal collection, here's what I would do:

Fluke tenor neck - Hilo black nylon. Mellow, deep, rich sound.

Kala solid mahogany soprano - Martin Fluorocarbon, bring out that mahogany warmth

Kala spruce top flamed maple concert - Aquila, if you want a bright sprucey sound, GHS black nylon if you want to mellow it out a bit.

Makala sparkly blue dolphin soprano - Aquila, make the most of a beater uke.

Mainland red cedar tenor - D'addario Pro-Arte. Mmm Mm it'll have a deliciously sweet and deep tone, I can just imagine it.

Eleuke tenor solid rosewood - Fremont Black Line (for bright sound) or D'addario Pro-Arte (for mellow/sweet), or Aquila dGBE tenor (if you want the alternative tuning). I highly dislike regular Aquila on Eleukes though. Brittle and harsh to my ears

Luna tattoo pineapple soprano - Aquila
 
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Eleuke tenor solid rosewood - Fremont Black Line (for bright sound) or D'addario Pro-Arte (for mellow/sweet), or Aquila dGBE tenor (if you want the alternative tuning). I highly dislike regular Aquila on Eleukes though. Brittle and harsh to my ears

I was totally guessing on Aquila for the Eleuke---never played one. As is usual in life, it's likely best to go with kissing.
 
Aquilas on the lams, high tension worths on all the others.
 
I was totally guessing on Aquila for the Eleuke---never played one. As is usual in life, it's likely best to go with kissing.

It's just a personal preference thing :)
Eleukes do come standard with Aquilas now (like many companies do). But I never liked Aquilas on Eleukes.
The Eleuke electronics make the sound quite strong and trebly to begin with... With the Eleuke, it's not so much a matter of having 'enough' tone/sustain/volume.. it's being able to control it.

In fact, I'd deliberately put more mellow sounding strings on it to balance out the hot-trebly electronics. I love D'addario Pro-Arte <3
Doesn't work on every uke.. but when it finds a good match, it is such a sweet and mellow string that is beautiful when fingerpicked.


Makala sparkly blue dolphin soprano: D'Addario. I like nylon strings on plastic and half-plastic ukes. Or Aurora pink or purple for style.

I hate being a nitpicky buzzkill :(
But I didn't have a great experience with D'addario's regular clear nylons. They feel a bit too loose and weak sounding on cheap sopranos for my liking.. the Martin clear fluorocarbons would do a better job, in my opinion.
 
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