Low G String On A Fluke?

Hey! (That's Philadephian for "Aloha" )

I have a used Fluke concert on the way -- yippee! I like the sound of the low G string on tenors, especially for jazz chords. But I do not have a tenor -- yet

Does anyone have their Fluke strung for linear tuning? I'd love to hear what you think, pro or con.

I did when I had my Fluke's. I mainly had them in D tuning though. Sounded great!

No reason a concert can't have Low G.

But if your Fluke has the plastic fretboard, make sure you use a plain (NOT wound) string, as the metal windings can damage the plastic frets.

I'm a happy user of linear Living Water Strings on my Kala Concert - these would equally fit on a Fluke...

If you like linear tuning go for it, it works on a concert size. (Just follow the advice above and go for plain strings, not wound)

Here is another unwound low G option I like PhDs. Currently, I have some on my tenor flea, but they have concert, and soprano size as well.
http://www.ukulelecreations.com/Accessories.html

I don't have a fluke but it would be fun to try a Fremont "Soloist" polished squeekless low G, perfectly smooth. One string will let you string a concert and soprano with low G. Of all the wounds this one takes the cake and it's on my 1932 Martin if you want to hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EfUjao1BFg I mention and show it about 4:30 into the video and you can jump to 7:24 where I play it.

I love a lot of strings (All my ukes are now strung with either Ph.D, Living Waters or Savarez) but when it comes to the low G, I have tried almost all, from D'Addario's to Worth, Aquila Reds (both old and new formula) and Savarez and this new Fremont is pure heaven when playing. The sound is fantastic, and I like it better than unwound low G's from any of the other set. In the end it's all personal preference and what sounds best to you but the Fremont was a shocker to me. I never heard a low G on a soprano and it brought out such a richness at the same volume as the other strings on my Martin that I was really shocked.

I think the polished is so smooth it would not do any harm to your frets if they are plastic unless you play the blues and are constantly pressing and bending the low G which usually you don't bend much doing the blues. Even then I don't see these strings chewing up plastic frets like a regular wound. If I had a Fluke I'd definitely try it out.

Cheers!

BigMamaJ40 said:

Hey! (That's Philadephian for "Aloha" )

I have a used Fluke concert on the way -- yippee! I like the sound of the low G string on tenors, especially for jazz chords. But I do not have a tenor -- yet

Does anyone have their Fluke strung for linear tuning? I'd love to hear what you think, pro or con.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input, guys! Looks like I'll be putting in a few string orders tonight.

BTW, I really enjoyed you video, Jay. What an awesome find -- so clean! A vintage Martin 2M is high on my "someday" list. I love the sound of the mahogany and the appointments. An "0" is almost too plain for me. The "2" is classy, without being flashy.

Thanks a lot. Good luck and I am sure you'll find something you really like. You just have to experiment to find that sound you love.
Cheers!

BigMamaJ40 said:

Thanks for the input, guys! Looks like I'll be putting in a few string orders tonight.

BTW, I really enjoyed you video, Jay. What an awesome find -- so clean! A vintage Martin 2M is high on my "someday" list. I love the sound of the mahogany and the appointments. An "0" is almost too plain for me. The "2" is classy, without being flashy.

Click to expand...

I have a tenor fluke with the plastic fretboard. I put a Freemont Blackline low G on it with the stock Aquillas and it sounds great.

Fremont unwound low g is pretty good.

It's Here!

The Fluke is in the house -- thanks, Tom! I gave the lovely orange top a Virtuoso clean and polish, which removed the schmutz and strum marks, and now it looks brand-spanking used.

I put the first 3 strings from my Southcoast light, low-G, unwound pack on with no problem. But the low-G is too fat to fit in the bridge slot

So I either have to modify the bridge or wait for my Fremont squeak-less to show up to see if it will fit "as-is". I am hesitant to file the slot wider because I do not know if I will like low-G tuning or not.

I put an Aquila high-g on for the meanwhile. It was too late to play last night, and my daughter has a friend over right now ("Mom, DON'T play your ukulele while she is here!), so I anxiously await some "me" time this afternoon with my new uke-baby!

Ok, the rules are the same here as on the UMGF, pictures, or it didn't happen!

BTW, are you coming to Nazfest this year? We could sneak off into a corner and have a little Fluke jam!


Scooter

So true! I just figured out how to attach a picture, but I do not know how to embed one yet. Here she is...

Yes, I'll be at Nazfest. Flukes away!

I wanted to try a low G on my concert Flea and neither the Worth low G nor the Fremont black low G would fit in the bridge slot. I ended up filing it wider, very slowly and carefully with sand paper. It worked great and I've had the low G on for about a month. I haven't tried to go back to high G yet but I'm hoping that I can still knot a high G string in the slot and have it work. Good luck with your new orange friend!

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