Soutcoast clears low G on Tenor Fluke!

Olarte · Apr 11, 2012

I received my beautiful Surf Tenor uke.

Since I have a flea with high g, I decided to tune the fluke to low G.

I Tried the southcoast linear stirrings which has a nylon wound G, and is much more,balanced than the regular wound G.

It is sweet, and gives the fluke a very nice sound a bit more clear, and with more sustain!

By the way, it's one of the few ukes I've seen where a nylon G string fits perfectly without having to alter the nut...

nix · Apr 11, 2012

Olarte - I'm in the same boat! I have a Flea tuned to high g and I'm thinking about purchasing a Fluke which I would want tuned to low G. So glad to hear that the low G fits. Did you have any trouble getting it into the bridge slot? I really like the nylon low G clear Worth strings but I may have to try a set of the Southcoast since they worked so well for you.

Nix

rook · Apr 11, 2012

Yes, Southcoast Low G strings are the best...I have them on two Tenors and they impress the heck out of me. Unfortunately, I currently have a Fremont Low G on my Fluke and I couldn't be more unimpressed.

markallen · Apr 11, 2012

rook said:
Yes, Southcoast Low G strings are the best...I have them on two Tenors and they impress the heck out of me. Unfortunately, I currently have a Fremont Low G on my Fluke and I couldn't be more unimpressed.

Funny you should mention this as I just put a set of Fremont Low G's on my Pono koa tenor last week and I couldn't believe how poorly they sounded. It was like suddenly the whole uke had gone dead. I'm going to be restringing with something new this weekend.

As a side note, I purchased the strings in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle at Dusty Strings. In my humble opinion one of the best places on the face of the Earth to buy a stringed instrument.

Olarte · Apr 11, 2012

I thought it was going to be tight but no it works great. and for the first two strings I double knotted them by the way as the southcoasts are very thin.

I saw you thread about the Hibiscus fluke, so nice, I hope you spring for the Pegheds.

I called them and got $50 off from a 2nd surf board which had a minor fading on the design on one spot. but hey it goes with the surfing motif... so that phelped towards the pegheds. And I asked them to throw in the original tuners which I now have on my ohana Vita.

Great deal overall!

southcoastukes · Apr 11, 2012

Hello Ivan et al -

I had to take a look back at your order to see for sure what set you had, Ivan. It's still listed on the site as the "Linear Ukulele Strings". It's going out these days in new packaging, saying "C20 Linear String Set - No Wound Strings" (a mouthful). The reason for the change is that we'll be releasing another version of the set shortly. It will be for the same tunings, but will have two wound strings. Thus the name for the new set will be "C20 Linear String set w/ Round Wound Basses".

The reason this thread caught my eye is the way you are using them. We use the name "C20" to signify that you tune it to key of C (g - c' - e' - a'), on a 20" scale. That's the size of a standard Baritone. Scale, by the way, is the aproximate distance from nut to saddle. For a 17" scale (standard Tenor), we recommend you tune up one step to key of D for best tension.

This is the first time I've heard of someone using it for C tuning @17". I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. A lot of the companies who offer these sets have a very low tension on the 4th string. The difference with our set is that since it's really designed for a higher tuning (and better overall tension) our other 3 strings have less tension than, for instance, a Worth "Low G Tenor" set.

Now our 4th is as fine a material for this application as I've ever found. Maybe you're onto something here, Ivan. I'm going to be out of pocket for a few days, but I'll have to give this a test run next week. Just the same, unless you play in a group, or really need to be tuned to C for some other reason, try tuning this set up - at least a half step, if not a full step.

Beleive it or not, in spite of the fact that so many people tune standard Tenors with a low G note, that string is borderline low for the volume of the Tenor body, and it's one reason so many people have trouble getting that note right (poor strings being the other). If you want to see a little science on it, take a look here at what one of the most famous (former) ukulele luthiers, David "Kawika" Hurd had to say. Towards the bottom of the page he starts a paragraph on Tenor tuning with "why should we be interested in D tuning" (one step up):

http://www.ukuleles.com/SetupnCare/TenorTune.html

Why don't you try tuning up - next week sometime, I'll try tuning down and we'll see how we like it!

Olarte · Apr 11, 2012

Thanks Dirk, I'll have to give it a shot...

I wonder if it sounds ok, because of the acoustics of the plastic body of the fluke. in any case I first tried an aquila wound low g and di not like it at all... so I remembered I had the southcoast strings and presto, it worked way better...

I'll get back to you on the D tunning.

southcoastukes said:
Hello Ivan et al -

I had to take a look back at your order to see for sure what set you had, Ivan. It's still listed on the site as the "Linear Ukulele Strings". It's going out these days in new packaging, saying "C20 Linear String Set - No Wound Strings" (a mouthful). The reason for the change is that we'll be releasing another version of the set shortly. It will be for the same tunings, but will have two wound strings. Thus the name for the new set will be "C20 Linear String set w/ Round Wound Basses".

The reason this thread caught my eye is the way you are using them. We use the name "C20" to signify that you tune it to key of C (g - c' - e' - a'), on a 20" scale. That's the size of a standard Baritone. Scale, by the way, is the aproximate distance from nut to saddle. For a 17" scale (standard Tenor), we recommend you tune up one step to key of D for best tension.

This is the first time I've heard of someone using it for C tuning @17". I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. A lot of the companies who offer these sets have a very low tension on the 4th string. The difference with our set is that since it's really designed for a higher tuning (and better overall tension) our other 3 strings have less tension than, for instance, a Worth "Low G Tenor" set.

Now our 4th is as fine a material for this application as I've ever found. Maybe you're onto something here, Ivan. I'm going to be out of pocket for a few days, but I'll have to give this a test run next week. Just the same, unless you play in a group, or really need to be tuned to C for some other reason, try tuning this set up - at least a half step, if not a full step.

Beleive it or not, in spite of the fact that so many people tune standard Tenors with a low G note, that string is borderline low for the volume of the Tenor body, and it's one reason so many people have trouble getting that note right (poor strings being the other). If you want to see a little science on it, take a look here at what one of the most famous (former) ukulele luthiers, David "Kawika" Hurd had to say. Towards the bottom of the page he starts a paragraph on Tenor tuning with "why should we be interested in D tuning" (one step up):

http://www.ukuleles.com/SetupnCare/TenorTune.html

Why don't you try tuning up - next week sometime, I'll try tuning down and we'll see how we like it!

Olarte · Apr 11, 2012

Uhm I tried it up to D tunning (one step up) and it actually does sound better on the fluke. Interesting. more resonant, punchy and clear.

It's easy enough to tune up or down one step... might have to try the same on my mya moe which I keep in low G as well.

Soutcoast clears low G on Tenor Fluke!

Olarte

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nix

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rook

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markallen

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Olarte

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southcoastukes

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Olarte

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Olarte

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