String Illness / Combining, customizing sets

UkeKiddinMe

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I have been around music all my life. [drums, rhythm guitar, bass]
But, I'm new to the uke world. As I write, I'm probably at about the whopping month and a half mark. :)

One thing I noticed when I came here was that there was quite a focus on string experimenting. I'm afraid - I have succumbed to the illness.
Big time. In my short uke life, I have already worked with GHS Hawaiians, Aquila Reds, Living Waters, and Aquila Nylguts.

Do you have the illness, and, do you experiment with combining, customizing sets?

I'm sitting here with my latest experiment - that I, currently, am enjoying very much. A baritone set containing:
- High D Living Waters, G Living Waters
- B Aquila Nylgut, E Aquila Nylgut.

Warm down low, little more sparkle up high.

Do I need help? :D
 
Be very careful. SAS (String Acquisition Syndrome) is a gateway to UAS (Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome).
 
I don't know if I should be happy or sorry that I skipped the gateway syndrome and went right to the hard stuff.

...or wait, maybe I didn't. I just counted and I have 37 sets in my backpack. I just rarely use them.
 
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Do you 'guys' use string winders? I've only used them once or twice, but boy are they handy - for both geared and peg tuners!

I got a bag of 5 for $5 (or less, I forget) via eBay and they worked so well, I donated one to our SUPA Raffle where the motto is, "It's NOT the Prize, it's the Winning!"... but that's because people donate their unwanted Tupperware
among other 'goodies'. Sometimes it really is neat stuff... and newbies always seem to win, at least one item :)

Anyway, in case you don't use string winders, please try them out as they'll save a lot of time and wrist/fingertip pain.

keep uke'in',
 
I don't know if I should be happy or sorry that I skipped the gateway syndrome and went right to the hard stuff.

...or wait, maybe I didn't. I just counted and I have 37 sets in my backpack. I just rarely use them.

Never know when you'll break one. Good to have a spare.
 
Be very careful. SAS (String Acquisition Syndrome) is a gateway to UAS (Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome).

Beware. If you start making videos, you might get infected with REAS (Recording Equipment Acquisition Syndrome)

Do you 'guys' use string winders? I've only used them once or twice, but boy are they handy - for both geared and peg tuners!

Anyway, in case you don't use string winders, please try them out as they'll save a lot of time and wrist/fingertip pain.

keep uke'in',

I use them with gear but not with friction tuners and then only for removing strings. I prefer to wind strings on manually, but string winders are useful.
 
I experiment with different strings but not THAT frequently! I did try to mix and match different brands on a ukulele but was not usually happy with the results except for adding a low G to replace an existing high G.
 
I'm about to jump into that string mixing pool. I'm breaking in a pair of Kala reds on my baritone Pono. To my surprise they sound much better than the Worth clears, which sounded quite good, but something about that 'b' string just doesn't match up to the rest.
It sure is worth trying out different strings- what a difference the right strings make!
 
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