Strings..yet again?! Mahogany, tenors, Mainland and NOT Aquilas

Gwynedd

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Ok. I'm playing my new Mainland Tenor for about two-three weeks now and it is a superb instrument. However, I'm feeling the Aquila strings, which added so much to the Dolphin, are not bringing the very best out of the mahogany Mainland.

I have SouthCoast clear strings on a baritone, and I don't like the slacker tension though the sound is superb. (Cuatro strings.)

I'd love to hear (as in hear samples or hear stories) from anyone with a similar tenor, either Mainland or at least mahogany, and what strings work for you. I'm thinking Worth Clears, but I'd like some info.

I feel sad to take these Aquilas off as they were a fine choice but the sharpness of the sound I think overshoots the mellow tone hidden inside my tenor. Ideas?
 
Oh Aquilas... are a really bad match to Mainlands.
Actually, there are many ukes where Aquilas don't work well.


I think Mainlands would do really well with a more mellow string.
D'addario Pro-Arte would be my choice on that particular uke. No sound samples, but they have a really warm, full, sweet tone.

Wanna hear some samples of these strings on a uke other than Mainland?
Listen to Jake Shimabukuro's recordings :)
 
Interesting that you mentioned D'Addario Pro-Arte because I just replace some VERY old stock strings on a Yamaha classical guitar that was so blah my late husband never liked it. I replaced the strings last week (after 10 years! huh?) and put the Pro Arte on the guitar. Suddenly, it had the most warm, ringing tone. It went from a flat instrument to something special. I have not played guitar in DECADES (played in college, by ear, learned piano and flute the standard way with a teacher) and so I really don't consider I play. But what a sound! No one mentioned string technology in the olden days--possibly because there were few choices in music stores for amateurs.

I will order up some Pro Artes--easily obtained. I agree the Aquilas just don't suit the Mainland at all.
 
I agree with Kissing, I put D'Addario J71s on my Mainland Tenor and they really make the Uke sing, I find Aquilas too harsh sounding, the J71s give it a mellower sound.
 
Thanks, both of you. I've just ordered a set of the 71's and we will see how it goes. In fact, I found a video on Youtube that demos Aquilas vs D'addarios on what looks like a Mainland. And the sound of the Aquilas is just what I don't like on mine--sharpish.
 
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The Aquilas and the D'Addario strings are about the opposite ends of the spectrum. There's a lot in between.

I would try the U71s and also try the Worth clears. You may find that the D'Addarios are a little duller than you want for your ukulele. The classical strings are intended to bring out the warmth of the wood, like you're trying to get. The drawback on some ukuleles is that you lose punch. That, which you describe as sharpness, is what you're trying to get away from, but you may overshoot with classical strings. They work well on ukuleles like Jake's because his is an exceptional instrument, it has electric amplification, and he has the skills to bring out the sharpness he wants when the music calls for it.

Happy experimentation.
 
I would vote for Worths, I don't have a Mainland but I do really like the sound and feel of the Worths on my solid mahogany ukes as well as spruce tops. I have the Pro Artes on one of my lams and haven't been overly impressed, but agree they would probably sound better on a solid. I use the Pro Artes on my classical guitars and love them. But that's one if the great things about ukes, the strings are fairly cheap and easy to change so you can get the sound you're after.
 
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I'm going to throw out a name I never heard of until a Luthier sent me a pair to try and I have switched all of my ukes to them.
SVAREZ REDs. Made in France, you can order them online, clears and to my ear the sound blows away the Aquilas. They are also not as spongy as the Worths seem to be when I tried them, although the Worths did sound good.
I do have Worth Clears on my Mya-Moe which once those strings are dead, will switch them to Svarez's for sure. I never heard of them before someone sent them to me.
Might want to check them out and if you do, please drop me a line and let me know what you thought. My Kanilea K1 Tenor just rings with these strings, and I just put them on my Collings concert and removed the Aquilas and it sounds so much richer sounding (which is the sound I personally like over the brighter punching sound the Aquilas had on it). Check em out.

They make a Uke set now but for Tenor's use the Guitar strings., they have a -1, -2, 3- and those are exactly where you put them, 1st string, 2nd string, etc.
 
I love the Ko'olau Alohis on my mahogany Pono
 
This thread and a lack of surf inspired me to change out the strings on my Mainland Slot head Tenor. I had the Aquilas on there and switched them to some Worth Browns. They seem to be still pretty bright. Similar to the Aquilas I would say. Maybe I'll try some Worth Clears next time.

I forgot how much I hate changing strings. Now I spend a lot of time tuning after every song. I'll be happy when these Worths are broken in.
 
KoAlau Golds work really nice on my Mainland mango tenor. Worth clears were decent, too. I definitely didn't like the Aquilas on that one. Curiously, I have a Mainland cutaway mahogany tenor with Aquilas with a wound low G and on that uke I love them. Go figure. :) I gave my Mainland red cedar & rosewood tenor to my son-in-law but when I had it I prefered some heavy nylon strings (not sure of the brand) over either Worths or Aquilas.

The bottom line is that while you can make some generalities about strings...at the end of the day it really pays to try a lot of different strings on every uke you get. I would never have tried Aquilas on that Mainland mahogany if it hadn't come to me that way! As it was, they were a perfect fit - it's the first uke that I've really liked Aquilas on and the first low-G setup that I've liked.

John


John
 
Update: I got the 71 style D'Addarios in the mail today and installed them, along with Bridge Bone Beads (courtesy of South Coast Strings) on the Mainland tenor. (btw love dem beads. Makes restringing a pleasure and they are purty.) Of course, D'Addario is too lazy to relabel the guitar strings, so you have to look for the teensy tiny upper right on the envelope where it gives the diameter, then follow the chart on the back of the package as the strings are labeled for guitars despite the outer package clearly saying tenor uke. They are settling out right now but I noticed:
1. the sound is bright but more mellow
2. the high registers, where Mr. Jake likes to play, are far clearer and bell-like.
3. the higher tension is a bit annoying at first on the fret fingers, but the thinner gauge compared to the Aquilas is easier though not as soft and squishy on the fingertips.
4. Strumming definitely more beautiful sound than the Aquilas. Plucking goes well--high tension helps that.

I'd say, a success. Shame to take off a perfectly new set of Aquilas, but they sounded so bad.
 
Worth Clears might help...I've actually not found a uke yet that I prefer Aquila to Worth on. My Johnny Marvin didn't take to Martins very well but maybe it was my fault and inexperience...I'm giving flourocarbon another go soon.

Flourocarbon is where it's at! Love the sound, and the feel.
 
Well, I didn't like them. I did like them on the Dolphin--huge improvement. And I love the way Aquilas feel on the fingers--they are squooshy and have a bit of grab that I like. But the sound was tight and bright, no mellowness.

I did a more (slightly more) indepth review of the D'Addarios. As I play on them, I'm really liking the diameter. Can do a lot more and the sound is so much richer. I will put up samples:
1: Aquilas
2: D'addario E17
 
Aquila manufactures strings that seem to be among the highest tension in the market place, and I believe, probably THE highest tension polymer strings for individual ukuleles. I have a mahogany concert with a spruce top. The Aquilas made it sound better than the cheap, black nylon strings that came on it when I first tried to improve the tone by changing strings, but there was still something not quite right. I computed the tension of the Aquila strings and others for the same instrument fairly recently. The range of tension was shocking. My solution, since I don't play in ukulele orchestras, was simple; I tuned the strings uniformly downward. I would strongly encourage any individual (and particularly those with an environmental instinct) to not toss their undamaged strings or encourage the production of more CO2 producing nylon by buying new strings IF you can simply tune your strings down to alter the harmonic profile of the strings. If you tune your ukulele down as far as you can without compromising the string tension so much that you can't play the instrument, you will find that you have accomplished your goal of altering the tonal profile of the ukulele, by changing the harmonic profile of the strings and the instrument. (With Aquilas and my concert scale and string set, my lowest tuning is, to the best of my recollection on that instrument, which I have set aside for my fret-less, cookie tin ukulele, Re-entrant E - A - C# - F#, which is a tone above a baritone ukulele.) Very low tension (as low as you can comfortably go) produces a wonderfully intimate sound that brings a new dimension to the ukulele's tone. You can then go anywhere between the two extremes. Good luck.
 
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I have Worth CDs on my mainland mahogany soprano. It sounds so much better than the Aquilas. The Worth Browns I had on before sounded just as good, and were a little louder, but not as bright. I may prefer the browns, but both sound so good that I am a convert to Worths.
 
I am still breaking in the Browns....What would you say the difference is with the Clears vs Browns?? I feel like the browns are pretty close to the Aquilas...at least not a huge difference.
 
For me the browns have a wonderful dry, plucky sound. The clears are brighter than the Aquilas, but not as rich as the browns, and actually, may not be as loud as the browns. this is just on my particular soprano uke, and I cannot see any resemblance to Aquilas, the strings are very different. For me, it is going to be browns for a while.
I am still breaking in the Browns....What would you say the difference is with the Clears vs Browns?? I feel like the browns are pretty close to the Aquilas...at least not a huge difference.
 
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