Why No Love for Aquila?

Many uke ads boast the uke comes with Aquila strings. Conversely, many posters here say the first thing they will do to their new ukulele is remove the Aquila strings!

Does this distaste have to do with the sound, feel or quality of the Aquilas? Or is it a song-style issue? Or???

I am ready to restring my Pono MC. I have a pack of Living Waters and a pack of Aquilas. Which to choose? I am new to the uke, and am learning 20's style songs right now.

It goes in waves, like most things. When I started here it was all about Aquila. Now Living Water is the darling. Next it will be something else...


String it up and see what happens. The only opinion that matters is your own.

Put on the Living Waters.

My opinion: good Fluor carbons like Worth or Living Water let you hear your instrument, Aquila lets you hear the strings. I'm no fan of Aquila but on some ukes they can sound good.

I play with fingernails, and Aquilas have a very strange feel & sound when you play with fingernails.
It also depends on the instrument ... I use Savarez strings (custom set) and D'Addario strings on all my tenors.
I use Aquila strings on my banjoleles and soprano - they work great there.

When I buy a new instrument I always try different sets of strings to find the ones I like the most. I encourage you to try both sets ... and pick the one you like better.

When I first stared playing about 3 years ago, as others have said Aquilas were all the rage. You could put them on a cheap instrument and they would make it a lot louder. I also found them a bit harsh. When flouro-carbons (Martin, Living Waters, Diadorio, etc.) became widely available for ukes a few years ago, I switched to them and like the sound much better.

My Collings UT-1 tenors came from Bill Collings with Aquilas. They were ideal for that uke.

I have Ko'olau Alohi's on my Pono concert....love'em, Southcoasts on my Pono 6 string tenor. Aquilas now come on many ukes that sound a little too bright, or brash with them. They are rarely the best string for an all mahogany instrument. Odd how they make some ukes sound muted....counterintuitive, but usually they make most sound brighter. For the Pono, I'd go with the Living Waters or other high quality flourocarbon. I have Aquilas on my KPK and they sound awesome, but I have an ebony nut and saddle and wonder if they tame the strings a bit. They also occasionally sound awesome on some Martin O's If you want that Pono to have a bright bark, try the Aquilas.

I have Aquilas on my cheapie Mahalo soprano and they transformed it. I don't like them on my banjo-ukes, I like nylon - inexpensive nylon strings sound great on those. And on my better wooden ukes I like Living Waters. My used Kiwaya KTS 4 came strung with Aquilas - not good - too brash....horses for courses......

Strings are a matter of taste. Aquilas are fine strings. They are a whole lot better as standard, on your uke strings than the old G*S strings were.

But I like the feel of and sound of fluro carbon strings. Martin 600s on my Mahogany ukes are exceptional. I just put the 620s on my Martin tenor. Amazing difference in sound and feel. Not being an engineer, I don't know why.

I still have Aquilas on my dolphins, and it makes them punchy little colorful bundles of joy.

I'd like to try those reds, and the low g red. Heard good things about them.

I love Aquilas on many inexpensive ukes. If a uke doesn't have much "voice" of its own Aquilas can definitely bring some volume and "brash" to the table. I think that is one reason they are popular with manufacturers, especially of inexpensive to mid-range ukes; any uke, unless it is complete crap, will sound at least "ok" with Aquilas on. The problem is that I want more than just "ok."

However, when you have a uke that has decent volume and a nice, complex voice, that same "brash" characteristic of Aquilas tends to bury the finer nuances of such a uke. I heard a KoAloha with Aquilas on once - when I first heard it the guy who was playing it had his back turned to me and he was talking about his new-to-him KoAloha as he played - I innocently asked him if he'd brought it too, not realizing that he was playing it! KoAloha sopranos have about the most distinctive, wide-open, sound imaginable but it was pretty much completely disguised by the Aquila strings!

There are two other things I don't like about the Aquilas - high humidity can make them kind of dull and lifeless and they sometimes take days to recover from that, and I play with my nails a lot so they simply don't last very long for me before the coating starts flaking whereas fluorocarbon strings last almost forever.

However, with all that said, if someone brings me a uke that seems lifeless or dull the first thing I'll try to perk it up is throw a pack of Aquilas on it. I have Aquilas on all of the grandkids laminated ukes, etc.

John

The above post is right on...Aqulia's are good for the low end laminates. Your Pono (I have two) will like the Living Water strings more. However, I prefer Southcoast strings on my non-koa ukes. Southcoast and mahogany sound best to me. Again, opinions will differ.

I had Aquilas on my Mainland mahogany tenor when I received it. I switched to Worth Browns for a while but then I heard my wife playing her Mainland mahogany concert with Aquilas, I thought they sounded great and I switched back and that is all I use on this uke now.

I also really enjoyed Bosko and Honey's Ukulele Safari tour of the Aquila factory in Italy. It seems like a business I want to support.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Cwe_pz0Uo

Nothing Wrong with Aquilas.... every brand string works well on certain ukes....best way to know is to try them....slap them on your uke...
not sure I would have used that post heading though....

Aquilas simulate gut strings very well IMO. So if you want a sound authentic to the old school, that's simply the only choice. People forget that. They think aquila are for cheap ukes and that's wrong. Aquilas are for authentic sound. Of course, sound preference has changed, and even though I root for them and think of them as one of only a handful of uke string companies researching and innovating...I don't currently have them in rotation. But generally koa + Aquila = earthy and authentic.

First, I want to say I admire Mimmo Peruffo's commitment to the art of string making.

I just had to change the Worth Clears on my Kamaka longneck concert because they developed sharp edges underneath where the string hits the fret and looked like they were all ready to snap. The only strings I had on hand were some Aquila Nylguts and they sound great on this uke. I'm now liking the Aquilas better than the Worths...on this uke, anyway.

String/ukulele combinations are so subjective to what an individual thinks sounds good. I asked Troy Fernandez when he was playing on Kalakaua Blvd. what strings he uses on his Sonny D and he said GHS!

Aquilas are low tension strings. I like the feel of them for jazz chording and I like the softness of them for finger picking - I use them on my Collings. But my Mya Moe Beansprout has Worth CT's and on that instrument the higher tension is great - I can use a flat pick on them sometimes and the higher tension is balanced with very low action. I think it depends on the setup and the function of the instrument. Each has there place. This is also true in the violin and banjo world where a balance between string tension, action and style make all the difference - one shoe just doesn't fit all.

Duk

Thank you for your comments! I am a guitar player, and I hate changing my guitar strings, so I was looking for the easy way out. Also, I read a bit about how long it could take for strings to settle in, so I want to make at least an educated choice. The difference in perceived value of Aquilas between the sellers and the users just struck me as odd, is all.

I honestly didn't mean to ruffle any feathers. I know what I like when when I hear it, but I don't know much about ukes, so your insight is truly helpful. I am hoping the ukulele will be kinder to my left-hand arthritis than my guitars, and I look forward to being a contributing member to this forum. Or at least not annoying.

The strings on the Pono MC now (Martin 600 or something) are nice, but I think it is necessary to change the strings to make the instrument "mine".

I am going to try the Aquilas first, because they are a different material than the Flourocarbon strings I have on now. Wish me luck!

Plainsong said:

Aquilas simulate gut strings very well IMO. So if you want a sound authentic to the old school, that's simply the only choice. People forget that. They think aquila are for cheap ukes and that's wrong. Aquilas are for authentic sound. Of course, sound preference has changed, and even though I root for them and think of them as one of only a handful of uke string companies researching and innovating...I don't currently have them in rotation. But generally koa + Aquila = earthy and authentic.

Click to expand...

FedEx man delivered my new old Kumalae B today. Koa w Aquilas...sounds GREAT! In time I'll try out some flouros on it, too. But it does, as you say, sound "earthy and authentic" -- not that I was around 80 or 85 years ago to judge authenticity today, nor have I heard gut strung ukes except in recordings.

Aquilas certainly are good strings and there's good reason that they are preferred by many people. Horses for courses as someone said above.

I try to remember, too, that we're playing music, not equipment. Great music can be played on binding twine...well, you know what I mean. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em.

I don't like them because they don't feel as gentle on my fingers as fluorocarbon strings do.

As others have said, it's horses for courses. I started with Aquilas on most of my ukes. They made a huge difference to nondescript cheapie I started out with and most of the ukes I have bought since came with them as standard. I have gradually changed most to fluorocarbon strings (A mixture of Worth and Living Water) because I find them make the uke less "in your face". I have left them on one laminate soprano because they just seem to suit that uke. I initially left them on my only concert uke until I tuned it down to Bb tuning. I liked the overall sound of the uke with the lower tuning but I thought the "C" string sounded dead at the lower pitch, so I changed them for a set of Living Water and it made a difference and brought the uke back to life at the lower pitch. So even the tuning can have an impact on the choice of strings.