Wanting a new uke and strings (?)

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ahreeka

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So Christmas is coming up and I want to get my first ukulele. Right now I'm just borrowing my friend's "soprano" ukulele. I'm going to buy a Tenor from MGM on eBay. Isn't Tenor the preferred ukulele for beginners? If so that's why I'm getting one.

But also I want an ukulele with guitar-like strings. I don't even know if the strings on my friend's ukulele are "real".. afterall he said that it isn't a real uke and was meant as a souvenir. It's plastic looking and it doesn't play as well as the strings on my sister's acoustic guitar.

Are there ukuleles with guitar-like strings? Metal feeling, long lasting vibration even past the 6th fret? because there's almost no sound when I play like a Dbm7 for instance..

Thanks. :)
 
mhs619 said:
So Christmas is coming up and I want to get my first ukulele. Right now I'm just borrowing my friend's "soprano" ukulele. I'm going to buy a Tenor from MGM on eBay. Isn't Tenor the preferred ukulele for beginners? If so that's why I'm getting one.

But also I want an ukulele with guitar-like strings. I don't even know if the strings on my friend's ukulele are "real".. afterall he said that it isn't a real uke and was meant as a souvenir. It's plastic looking and it doesn't play as well as the strings on my sister's acoustic guitar.

Are there ukuleles with guitar-like strings? Metal feeling, long lasting vibration even past the 6th fret? because there's almost no sound when I play like a Dbm7 for instance..

Thanks. :)
Click to expand...

I'll throw in my 2 cents.

I don't think there is a perfered size for beginners. I started with a concert myself. It really depends on what kind of sound, style of playing, comfort, on and on. But as a bigginer you won't really know until you really start playing and experimenting with the different sizes.

I am not sure what you mean by guitar like string. I am assuming you mean metal, and I believe there are some ukes that can handle these types of strings I do not think they are that common. Classical guitars use nylon strings, which is what a lot of uke strings are made of. You may want to look for wound strings as they will physically feel more like guitar strings.

If you have a decent quality uke and good strings you will be able to play higher up the fretboard. Hope this helps some.
 
I think the problem is that the neck isn't straight with the body. I'm assuming that ukuleles are straight and that the strings are the same distance apart from the fretboard.

The strings are close to the first couple of frets here:


Then you have to press down further because the strings are farther away from the frets:


This is what the strings look like. I'm assuming these are nylon. What are the black strings that Aldrine uses? I like the sound.


So is this my problem? Remember my friend said that this was a "souvenir" so hopefully a "real" uke is 10x better.
 
mhs619 said:
I think the problem is that the neck isn't straight with the body. I'm assuming that ukuleles are straight and that the strings are the same distance apart from the fretboard.

The strings are close to the first couple of frets here:


Then you have to press down further because the strings are farther away from the frets:


This is what the strings look like. I'm assuming these are nylon. What are the black strings that Aldrine uses? I like the sound.


So is this my problem? Remember my friend said that this was a "souvenir" so hopefully a "real" uke is 10x better.
Click to expand...

Hey Aldrine uses clear D'Addario Pro Arte tenor strings (the same as Jake S) and you can buy them from the UU shop, you can get there from the UU home page. I have the concert versions on my uke and they feel really nice and sound good too.

The distance between the strings and the fretboard or action as most people call it is something a tonne of people have discussed on here. It does vary a lot between ukes and you are right it does get better on more expensive ones. Your action does seem pretty high there so I'm not surprised it's hard to play. What kind of uke is it? On my Lanikai concert it's pretty easy to fret a note at the first fret, but trying it at the final fret is much harder.

I hope someone more experienced with action will help out but I think that's the general idea.

John
 
Looks like it's bowed and I don't think any type of adjustment to set the action will help. IMO, regardless of the strings used, you'll probably still have the same problem because of the neck.

Jake and Aldrine do use D'Addario strings, but not the pre-packaged uke strings you're referring to (J-71 Pro Arte). I believe they it's the Pro Arte Guitar sets.
Rayan said:
Both Jake and Aldrine use D'addario strings, but they're not the readily available uke string sets that most dealers sell.
Click to expand...
 
Kanaka916 said:
Looks like it's bowed and I don't think any type of adjustment to set the action will help. IMO, regardless of the strings used, you'll probably still have the same problem because of the neck.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by bowed?

It's because it's crooked huh? Are all "real" ukuleles straight unlike the souvenir that I have where it looks crooked? Hopefully when I get a new soprano or concert (no tenor anymore) that it's going to be easier to play and many times better.
 
mhs619 said:
So Christmas is coming up and I want to get my first ukulele. Right now I'm just borrowing my friend's "soprano" ukulele. I'm going to buy a Tenor from MGM on eBay. Isn't Tenor the preferred ukulele for beginners? If so that's why I'm getting one.

But also I want an ukulele with guitar-like strings. I don't even know if the strings on my friend's ukulele are "real".. afterall he said that it isn't a real uke and was meant as a souvenir. It's plastic looking and it doesn't play as well as the strings on my sister's acoustic guitar.

Are there ukuleles with guitar-like strings? Metal feeling, long lasting vibration even past the 6th fret? because there's almost no sound when I play like a Dbm7 for instance..

Thanks. :)
Click to expand...
if you're looking for something more related to a gutair, i'd get the tenor. The fake strings are most likely peices of twine you would find at the dollar store for...well a dollar. Its your choice for metal or nylon. When i bought my first uke, the seller had all black nylon which were wonderful, but the 3rd string (C string) was metal. It was ok to have a metal strings, but nylons just felt more comfortable. If you're used to gutair, maybe steel strings are good, but drop by a local music shop. They should have some ukes, and if you're lucky, they'll have some nylon and metal stringed ukes. Try them out on those ukes, pick what string you like, then go buy your uke and the right strings. If all this is impossible, you may go for a hit and miss with just ordering strings.
 
Kanaka916 said:
Looks like it's bowed and I don't think any type of adjustment to set the action will help. IMO, regardless of the strings used, you'll probably still have the same problem because of the neck.

Jake and Aldrine do use D'Addario strings, but not the pre-packaged uke strings you're referring to (J-71 Pro Arte). I believe they it's the Pro Arte Guitar sets.
Click to expand...

Yeah you're right, I seem to remember they are some sort of variants of acoustic guitars. I thought the Pro Arte versions in the UU shop were the same as the ones Aldrine uses? As far as I'm aware Jake S selected the strings then D'Addario packaged them up as uke strings.
 
If you put Guitar type metal strings on a "normal" uke you will be lucky if it only bows the neck and doesn't rip the bridge off.

After all my reading and then talking to my Uke Shop guy you don't want Guitar type metal strings on a "normal" Uke.

The Metal strings you see on "most" Ukes are a "cored nylon/fiber metal wound" string.

As far as "Beginner Uke" it seems most guitar players like the Tenor as it is closer to size thatthey are used to, alot of non guitar players start on the Concert size as they think it it eazier to play than a Soprano.

But the Soprano is "the" Ukulele....:love:
 
Oh I don't play the guitar and never have. It's just that my sister has one and I just play around with it just to compare it with the ukulele.

I'm most likely going to start off with a new soprano from MGM then get a concert sooner or later. His sopranos come with Aquilas so that would be my first experience with a "real" uke with "real" strings.
 
What model are you thinking of getting?/How much are you planning to spend?

I didn't worry too much about strings on my first ukulele. It was only cheap. My new Lanikai has GHS strings on it, they sound pretty good. I wouldn't say no to new strings, but often the shipping to England costs match the price of the strings (doesn't seem worth it). Plus I have no clue when it comes to changing strings (my guitar playing dad might be roped in there).
 
Matt H said:
What model are you thinking of getting?/How much are you planning to spend?

I didn't worry too much about strings on my first ukulele. It was only cheap. My new Lanikai has GHS strings on it, they sound pretty good. I wouldn't say no to new strings, but often the shipping to England costs match the price of the strings (doesn't seem worth it). Plus I have no clue when it comes to changing strings (my guitar playing dad might be roped in there).
Click to expand...

Most likely something under $100 and I'm looking towards MGM's Kala Sopranos and Concerts with Aquila strings already.
 
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