smellofstrings
Well-known member
Hi guys,
Wanna share with you my experience with the strings for Collings uke. I got my Collings UC1 (mahogany, satin finish) in Dec 2011 and the UC1K (koa, satin finish) in Feb 2012.
The UC1 comes with Aquila strings (as stated in Collings' website) and I really love its sound. Some may think that Aquila is too bright. But as I usually do chord solo on my ukes, brighter sound somehow helps clarify the melody and reduce the muddiness while chords are played simultaneously.
On the other hand, the UC1K was a NAMM 2012 display model and surprisingly it came with Worth Clear strings. After strumming and picking a few chords, I found that the sound was too "thin" to my ears. I like the "bolder" sound of Aquila. Of course, this difference may be partly due to the different woods (Koa vs. Mahogany). But I assumed that changing the Worth to Aquila should bring me back the sound that I like. So I did it.
After stringing the UC1K with Aquila, the thickness of the sound did improve. Yet... it was muddy!!! At first, I thought that muddiness was "warmness" or "mellowness". But no no. That's negative to me. When I play chord solo on it, higher notes just don't come out nicely.
Tonight, I finally decided to switch back to Worth strings! I put Worth Brown strings on my UC1K and it looks so damn cool! Back to the sound, Worth strings do give this uke more clarity! This makes me understand why Collings strung this uke with Worth! I think they had experienced the same muddiness with Aquila on this uke!
Any Collings uke owners can share your thoughts? What strings do you guys use?
Thanks!
Wanna share with you my experience with the strings for Collings uke. I got my Collings UC1 (mahogany, satin finish) in Dec 2011 and the UC1K (koa, satin finish) in Feb 2012.
The UC1 comes with Aquila strings (as stated in Collings' website) and I really love its sound. Some may think that Aquila is too bright. But as I usually do chord solo on my ukes, brighter sound somehow helps clarify the melody and reduce the muddiness while chords are played simultaneously.
On the other hand, the UC1K was a NAMM 2012 display model and surprisingly it came with Worth Clear strings. After strumming and picking a few chords, I found that the sound was too "thin" to my ears. I like the "bolder" sound of Aquila. Of course, this difference may be partly due to the different woods (Koa vs. Mahogany). But I assumed that changing the Worth to Aquila should bring me back the sound that I like. So I did it.
After stringing the UC1K with Aquila, the thickness of the sound did improve. Yet... it was muddy!!! At first, I thought that muddiness was "warmness" or "mellowness". But no no. That's negative to me. When I play chord solo on it, higher notes just don't come out nicely.
Tonight, I finally decided to switch back to Worth strings! I put Worth Brown strings on my UC1K and it looks so damn cool! Back to the sound, Worth strings do give this uke more clarity! This makes me understand why Collings strung this uke with Worth! I think they had experienced the same muddiness with Aquila on this uke!
Any Collings uke owners can share your thoughts? What strings do you guys use?
Thanks!