Anyone tried the new Kala Pearl strings???

Haven't heard of them, but they sound intriguing. I may have to email my contact at Kala and dig up some more information.
 
One Bad Monkey said:
Haven't heard of them, but they sound intriguing. I may have to email my contact at Kala and dig up some more information.
Click to expand...

I'd be VERY interested to see what you find out. If you dont mind would you PM me if you get any more info?
 
Review of the Kala Pearl strings

I was given a concert set to try a week ago.

They settled in quickly. Loud, bright and resonant and easy to depress. They sound fine when strummed. BUT....

when I did some fingerpicking, because of the outer windings, it sounded like I was running my nail along a zipper. The 'finger squeak" these strings are supposed to eliminate has been replaced by the 'zipper rasp".

Kala puts a warning on the package: "Do not trim blue wrapped string ends. Doing so will cause the microwound strings to unravel." Take this warning seriously. These wrapped ends are rigid and about 3/4" in length.

The Kanile'a has a pin bridge so the wrapped ends of the strings are hidden. At the nut end, you have a choice: have these ugly wrapped ends sticking out, or run the risk of the string unravelling if you don't have enough windings around the tuner post. This is what happened to the high-g string. Once it started to unravel, there was no way to stop it.

On ukes with tie or slotted bridges, these rigid wrapped ends might be an aesthetic and/or technical problem.

Here's a picture of the unravelled string showing the fibre core, the outer winding and the wrapped end.

View attachment 35843
 
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I was also given a set to try, and woooo boy do they feel interesting to do slides on. It was like trying to run my finger along sand paper. The sound was not unpleasant, but the 'zipper rasp' (to borrow a phrase from the previous poster) was very distracting. Combine that with the sandpaper slides and the untrimmed ends is a deal breaker for me.
 
I tried a set. They sound fine, not extraordinary, but very good. What I don't like about them is covered in the two previous posts of this thread. Striking them with the top of the nail produces an unpleasant sensation and sounds a bit irritating. I'm supposing, however, if you keep your nails clipped, you may have a different experience with these strings.
 
Well, thanks to the reviewers for their input!

I may end up giving these things a chance at some point, but I think I will be less likely to do so now. I dislike wound fourth strings precisely because of their size, their feel, and the sound they make when moving along them. That squeak is cool on a guitar, but not on a uke. The rasp probably isn't any better.

You gotta give credit to Kala for trying to do something different and try and be innovative in the string area. But like anything else, some experiments work (iPod) and some don't (Newton).
 
I just got a set to try out too, will be doing a review in a few weeks. Kinda scared to do it now hearing about the whole don't cut here part. I just know how I'll accidentally cut there and screw up the string
 
CoLmes said:
I just got a set to try out too, will be doing a review in a few weeks. Kinda scared to do it now hearing about the whole don't cut here part. I just know how I'll accidentally cut there and screw up the string
Click to expand...

Just remember not to cut the strings with blue ends.

Blue = bad. Don't cut.
 
Gillian said:
All the strings have wrapped ends. Don't cut ANY thing!

Like I said, I think they have a nice, loud, rich tone and sound great when strummed. Just not so nice when fingerpicked.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought...but I wasn't sure if I was having a brain fart. :)

Colin! Don't cut anything!!
 
PoiDog said:
Well, thanks to the reviewers for their input!

I may end up giving these things a chance at some point, but I think I will be less likely to do so now. I dislike wound fourth strings precisely because of their size, their feel, and the sound they make when moving along them. That squeak is cool on a guitar, but not on a uke. The rasp probably isn't any better.
(Newton).
Click to expand...
I didn't think I liked wound 4th either, until I put a set of T2's with a wound 4th on my MP tenor That log g soundds so good when softly fingerpicked. could just be the combo of wood [cedar] and build with these strings. The MP has a funny body shape[in a good way], and is very lightly built.
 
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I've got a couple of sets to demo for the blog but I haven't had a chance to do it yet. I'm looking forward to trying them.
 
Is there a chance that somebody could put up a sound clip of the Pearls? Just so we can here the 'zipper scratch'. Much thanks guys!
 
Offered a set to try. Will report back asap.
 
Got the set on my Kala Concert today. Need to let them stretch a bit before I can come to any serious conclusions. The un-cuttable, hard ends do make for some ugly stringing though.

Hope to do a full write up over the weekend on my blog.
 
Using Pachelbel's Canon. I strummed a few chords, then fingerpicked a few.

I thought about whether fingernail length made a difference, so I trimmed them short, except my index fingernail, which we need to be a bit longer, right?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71058131/Kala pearl test.mp3

I would think that as the string stretches, the spaces between the winding become greater, like stretching a Slinky, making the 'rasp' even more noticeable.

Maybe the solution is to have the outer winding filament even thinner so the string feels practically smooth.
 
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