Never knew Uke strings made a difference...

Ive played guitar for 14 years and bass as long. I know strings can make a difference but I never though about it for Uke, which Ive been playing for 3 years. I know there's arguments on the subject but I'd like to hear a general agreement on good average strings for my Concert Uke.

PS also a bit knew to the whole low g high G thing... currently low g. does high G make it a bit brighter or what?

also sorry if this sounds like it should be in the beginners section. I'm really not though.

thank you.

Uke strings, like classical guitar strings last a lot longer than metallic guitar strings, but sooner later they break or stretch to the point where they sound dead or louse up intonation.

High G AKA high G re-entrant sounds brighter and has a more "traditional" or at least a more expected ukulele sound.

Low G or linear has a more mellow sound and is more conducive to solo playing, by the nature of the G being low like a guitar.

It's all a matter of personal preference.

Same here, guitar player for many years and a uke player now. I am a stickler for strings and have tried many sets trying to find the right one. I stopped by for a visit with Brian Griffin of Griffin ukes today. He had three of his recently finished concert Pinecones, identical except for the strings. All were southcoast string sets of different guages, soft/light. light/medium and lights.

The differences were incredible. The softer strings had a more softer quiet sound while the light/mediums were robust and much more volume. All are rentrant.

For myself, I like a rentrant on my concert, linear C on one of my tenors and a rentrant tuned Bb on my second tenor. All are Southcoast. I may try Living Water strings at somepoint but out of all the strings I've tried I like Southcoast the best. Brian feels much the same way but on his Sprucetop maple sides and back tenor they didn't make it to his satisfaction so he put on a set of Auroras. Whew, really made that baby sing again.

From playing all his ukes and discussing various strings, we've come to the conclusion that it is just not the string that makes the difference but rather a certain string with a certain sized uke and types of woods.

Patrick Madsen said:

it is just not the string that makes the difference but rather a certain string with a certain sized uke and types of woods.

Click to expand...

:agree:
This is indeed the quintessence of many discussions around "the right" strings. It all depends on many factors, incl. personal preference (which is most probably the worst as it could change on a daily basis). That's why you need multiple ukes, btw...

Every brand strings will react different on different ukes....keep on trying them and choose wisely...I suggest if you use the right string for the right tone you like and comfort level too...
Happy Strummings...

Guys, I think you can be even more particular and mix string brands on one instrument. I love South Coast strings for their clarity and playing feel and response. I put them on a maple/englemann spruce tenor that had always had Auroras. They made a different instrument out of it. It is now almost my favorite, But then I put the same strings on a Koa Cedar tenor that has really warm rich tone and is my favorite uke. Something was wrong. The C string sounded brassy and metallic. I was about to change all the strings back to the Auroras but decided to replace just the C string with an Aurora first.Bingo, that string was the problem-now the instrument is wonderful, rich and mellow- so my message is Test and listen to each string and replace them one at a time, you might find a better combination that way. I am playing that uke with one red string. Looks a little odd but really sounds great.
Brian