Width of C strings in a set of Aquilas; is the ratio greater than in other brands?

beautifulsoup

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Shoulda put the word "diameter" in the title, as opposed to width. Ah well, I can't seem to change that in the edit.


I don't even know if that topic title makes sense. And this might be a dumb Noob question, but I'll try anyway...

Every uke I've acquired in the last 15 months came strung with Aquilas - (or Aurora; made by Aquila, correct?).

On every uke, the first and second frets are sharp - only on the C.

Seems odd.

Which makes me wonder if the ratio of the width of a C string to the others in a set of Aquilas is greater than the ratios of C strings to others in say, Martin, or Worth, or any other brands.

I've had one uke adjusted to widen the groove in the nut for the C string. But then, if I restring with another brand, would that throw things out of proportion again?

Or could every uke ostensibly really be out of tune at the frets?

Sorry I don't articulate this as well as I'd like; arrrgh. :confused:
 
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I don't know if Aquilas are the thickest or not, but every brand has its own gauge for each string, but I wouldn't think the difference can be so great as to cause an intonation problem. There must be another problem there.... let's hear what the more experienced forumers have to say.

Hmmm... except if the nut slot of the C string has a very acute angle, or if it changed width suddendly, making the thicker strings sit higher in it... Can you post a picture of the nut slot? I didn't understand, is the problem with the Aquilas or the other strings?
 
the C is going to be your thickest string if reentrant, and if your ukes are straight from the factory with no setup than the C may be sitting higher than the others and causing it to be sharp at the first few frets. we need more info, like what brand are your ukes. I've not had too much problem with changing string sizes as far as intonation goes, even going from low to high g. you say every uke you have acquired, is that 2 or 200? the larger the sample the stranger this would be, unless they are all coming from the same maker.
 
Aquila C strings are .92 - .97mm (unwound)
See this page for a full overview of all diameters and tensions (scroll down, it's somewhere at the bottom).
Note that the string specs are listed in numerical order 1 -2 -3 - 4 (= AECG)
 
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The problem is that most of the molded plastic nuts used on ukes tend to have the same size slots for all four strings. The slots aren't wide enough for the C string. I don't think this is necessarily an Aquila-specific problem. More likely, it's common across most if not all Nylon sets. Fluorocarbon strings tend to be thinner across the board and that would explain why putting Martins or Worths on reduces the pitch problems on the C string.

Generally, if you purchase only from dedicated uke sellers with good reputations here at UU they will have set the instrument up to intonate properly for the strings on it.

John
 
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