I love everything about the Worth Clears except...

the C string. Just a bit to "plunky" for my taste. I have them on my Kamaka tenor and while I really like them, I wish the C was a bit zingier. I tried a wound C in its place, but I liked that even less. Can anyone recommend an unwound C string that might work better? Thanks.

bearbike137 said:

the C string. Just a bit to "plunky" for my taste. I have them on my Kamaka tenor and while I really like them, I wish the C was a bit zingier. I tried a wound C in its place, but I liked that even less. Can anyone recommend an unwound C string that might work better? Thanks.

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Does your A string go out of tune faster than the others?

I don't play tenor, but I sometimes mix Worth Clears with Martin fluorocarbons on my concert uke, and it seems to work.

PinoyUker said:

Does your A string go out of tune faster than the others?

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Not that I have noticed. Why?

I guess my Worths are magic. They stay in tune weeks at a time. Even through temperature and humidity changes. I'm lucky I guess.

try some Ko'olau Alohi strings..your worth's may be too thin for you..

Get the Southcoasts. All I will ever put on any ukulele in my house after playing them all. Total Fanboy

Or D'addario t2's...

TCK said:

Get the Southcoasts. All I will ever put on any ukulele in my house after playing them all. Total Fanboy

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+1 I'm a fan of Worths, but occasionally, depending on the ukulele, I've experienced the same problem. I've used SouthCoast strings on those occasions. They are perfectly even.

Are the Southcoasts fluorocarbon like Martins and Worths?

Kayak Jim said:

Are the Southcoasts fluorocarbon like Martins and Worths?

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The ones I have used are. Mediums and light mediums.

Kayak Jim said:

Are the Southcoasts fluorocarbon like Martins and Worths?

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Depending on which sets you get . . . I find some of them to be thinner than Worths, IMHO.

Kanaka916 said:

Depending on which sets you get . . . I find some of them to be thinner than Worths, IMHO.

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Are the medium gauge Southcoast strings most similar to the Worth clears?

The medium is still thinner than Worths.

nongdam said:

The medium is still thinner than Worths.

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So that prompts another question, is thinner "better" (frets more cleanly? or more volume? or?) or "worse" (harder on the fingers? or ?) or just "thinner"?

Thought I would try to shed a little light on this. First, Worth makes a lot of "Clears". We make a lot of sets, too, so you've got to be a bit more specific to really compare.

Second, not all our sets are flourocarbon. I beleive every set has some flourocarbon, and some sets are all florocarbon, but flouros are not all the same. We have at least 2, more often 3 and very often 4 different string materials in each set, even when it's an all flouro set.

Thinner or thicker doen't mean much in itself. String material is denser (harder) or less dense (softer). This is true even among various flouro formulations. The harder material is usually brighter in sound, the softer material has a "softer" sound. Pretty much everyone but us uses the same material for all four strings. With the same material, thicker strings are "deader" in sound than the thin ones.

In mixing materials like we do, we put denser material on the inside (of a reentrant set), and softer material on the outside. That balances the sound, making the "treble" (outside) strings less bright, and the bass (inside) strings clearer and more responsive. We also try to keep tensions relatively even accross the board compared to a single material set.

The "Lagniappe" (south louisiana for "a little something extra") is that the denser material in the middle, specifically the 3rd string, is not as thick in relation to the other strings as with the single material set. Here's Ryan Rodriguez with a review of our "Soft Light" set. Note how he talks about the 3rd string:



So to sum it up, it may not be that our strings are thinner overall, but you don't notice as big a difference between the inside and outside strings, either in size or in tone.

p.s: Ryan's review was part of a "test" before releasing this particular set. The good folks here on UU noted a funny feel on the 1st string. It's since been changed.

I wanted to follow-up on this thread. I sent away for a bunch of strings to try, but I gotta say that mixing an Aquila C string in with the Worth clears really works well.

i have bad luck lately with the c string on my soprano ohana sk35g, i have tried 4 different brands and everytime the c string really resonateslouder then any other string and affects the sound when playing chords, i am at a loss, i like to use martins fluros and never had trouble in the past put a new set on and it happened same with Ko'aloa golds, worth BF, and aquilas, the shop i got it from reckon they spoke to ohana and it is a string problem, what every set got a defect c string ???? someone else said it is a problem withn the uke, could be, but i havent dropped it or mistreated it, and i have been told it is my strumming technique ???why has that suddenly changed , i think not, i really cant enjoy playing my uke now as it just does not sound right , should i keep trying different brands or do you think there is something wrong, as this problem only happened when i changed strings about 3 weeks ago it was fine before

TCK said:

Get the Southcoasts. All I will ever put on any ukulele in my house after playing them all. Total Fanboy

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Yeah, I've got nothing but respect for the Southcoast strings.

You can also try Worth Browns (a bit mellower than the clears) and both the Fremont and Orcas black fluouro strings. I've tried all of these on my Kanile'a and (when I had it) my aNueNue - both of which were solid koa - and those strings sounded the best. At least to my ears.

But then again, part of the fun is in experimenting, right?

Personally, Savarez Red Alliance strings bring the best out of my uke, but I think that's because they're so high tension and thick that they drive the soundboard better than anything else. Worths were alright, but I didn't hear the complexities as well as with the Savarez. It is a completely different instrument with the Savarez than without.