Steel String Acoustic Kanilea K1 Deluxe - Yep!

Hi there, in my quest to try all the strings out there for ukes, I was talking to various folks about the issue of finding the right tension set of strings for a tenor uke that would not damage the bridge or saddle.

In my discussions with Dirk at Southcoast (Dirk you are the string professor!) he suggested a set that should work fine without risk of damaging the uke. (safe tension)

I ordered a set and decided to convert my Kanilea K1 Deluxe Tenor. I am not sure how to measure the exact tension but that will be my next step. So, here are the results of my "older" newly refreshed steel string acoustic Kanilea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrTr2qsQcuo

I was really surprised at how well it works...I mean REALLY surprised. The tension on the fingers to me is not that noticeable compared to other strings. I did not have to press any harder to get a nice tone on the strings and the ability to bend on these are fantastic! If you like playing blues, these will let you bend like nobody's business.

Cheers!

wow thanks for sharing. could you send me links to where I can get the same set so I can try. thanks

Thats interesting.
Yes that would be nice to know what strings and diameters you are using.
Not sure I would be brave enough to try it on a K1 first!

Are you sure you don't get more tension than regular strings?
Are they made specifically for ukulele?

Thanks

I would love to try these out. Where are they listed on the site?

Thanks for sharing. If Dirk says they're safe, they're safe.......he's the string tension wizard. This also means you could put a magnetic pickup on a solid body uke. I want to try a set on my solid mahogany Kala tenor, my surrogate "blues guitar"

Very interesting...

Surprisingly, the sound doesn't lose any of its "ukeness". It does, however, gain some shimmer. I like it a lot.

I have been wanting to use steel strings on my ukes for a while now, but the general wisdom is the tension is just to much for them. I saw these, the former name was G650 linear with classical metals, at Southcoast but didn't want Low g (linear). While I think these do sound good, and its great to finally hear a set on a uke, I wish there was a re-entrant set of metal strings available.

Very cool. Now I have to try a set.
Thanks for sharing

Sairil said:

Thats interesting.
Yes that would be nice to know what strings and diameters you are using.
Not sure I would be brave enough to try it on a K1 first!

Are you sure you don't get more tension than regular strings?
Are they made specifically for ukulele?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Yes. They are for uke. I am going to find someone to test the tension but I did not have to wind then very much to get them to tune up. Yeah the K1 made me think twice to test but it had the deep rich sound I figured would balance nicely with the steel.

hammer40 said:

I have been wanting to use steel strings on my ukes for a while now, but the general wisdom is the tension is just to much for them. I saw these, the former name was G650 linear with classical metals, at Southcoast but didn't want Low g (linear). While I think these do sound good, and its great to finally hear a set on a uke, I wish there was a re-entrant set of metal strings available.

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Correct. Low G. I have never heard a uke with them and have been wondering about it for years hearing everyone say you can't or shouldn't do it. They are right if you just pick out any old set of metals. I think a re-entrant might be too overpowering with both a high G and A but if you like that sound it would probably work well with the correct tension string. I was skeptical about it sounding too over the top but I am really loving the sound. I hope Dirk checks out the before and after. I am very happy with the outcome.

PhilUSAFRet said:

Thanks for sharing. If Dirk says they're safe, they're safe.......he's the string tension wizard. This also means you could put a magnetic pickup on a solid body uke. I want to try a set on my solid mahogany Kala tenor, my surrogate "blues guitar"

Click to expand...

Absolutely. That is why I got them. I trust The String Professor (my name for him)

Wicked said:

Very interesting...

Surprisingly, the sound doesn't lose any of its "ukeness". It does, however, gain some shimmer. I like it a lot.

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Exactly! This adds that sparkle and ring to the upper mid and high end and pulls up the lows so they have more clarity. I really like the result,

Good morning all -

I woke this morning to a number of e-mails on this subject, and then found Jay's video here. As usual, Jay has done a very cool video and his sound work really nails the difference between our set (ML-CMs) and a more traditional set-up. This set is very different from anything else we have, and as Jay also noted, there tends to be very little middle ground on the sound. Some will absolutely not like it at all, while others find it gives exactly what they've been looking for all along.

There is one confusing point, however, and I wouldn't want anyone to ruin their instrument. The term "steel" is not entirely correct. The term "metal", which Jay also uses, is accurate. There is indeed one true steel string in this set - the 1st. It is thin enough to where there is no danger. The other three (heavier) strings, however, are not steel. On our Materials page we go into all the differences, but I saw in this thread that some were wondering about what "steel string gauges" would work on their ukuleles.

The answer is almost none of them. I'd like to emphasize that - the old adage of not putting steel strings on an Ukulele is absolutely true. Any string needs to be brought to a certain tension to sound good, and with a true steel string, that tension, coupled with an almost total lack of flexibility, is a good recipe for deforming your soundboard. We can do it with the 1st string only because it is such a thin gauge.

As to a reentrant set, we could consider that. It would have two of those thin steel strings on the outsides, with the Classical Metals in the middle. As the 1st string is the brightest of the linear set, a reentrant set like this would end up very bright. Still, we're working on a number of new introductions at the moment - we'll throw this into the test mix and see if we feel it is too much of a good thing.

Thanks again to Jay for another fine presentation!

Thanks Dirk for clarifying! I am glad you enjoyed the video. As always I appreciate all your info and education! What a great treat being able to use "metal" strings. ;-)

Cheers!

Good to hear from you, Dirk . . . how's the ukulele side goin?

blue_knight_usa said:

Thanks Dirk for clarifying! I am glad you enjoyed the video. As always I appreciate all your info and education! What a great treat being able to use "metal" strings. ;-)

Cheers!

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Just sent you a text...can you bring the K with you tomorrow?? Love to hear it in person...

Kanaka916 said:

Good to hear from you, Dirk . . . how's the ukulele side goin?

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Hey, Hey - Special K!

It's been keeping me way too busy. We sold out of the initial offerings of the small sizes before we even got the website done or decent photographs up.

We're now pretty much finished with the writing portion of the website and got our detail photos (the Features page) up just a few days ago. We've got Tenor Largos coming out in October. then Lyric Baritones in November. We won't make the same mistake as before and let them leave before we get some web-worthy pics.

I can just imagine. Looking forward to seeing the updated pages and other future offerings.

Overall I prefer the sound of the non-metal set...
...but, the low G on the metal set sounds less boomy, and better balanced to the others.

I got all excited because you used the words "steel strings"! Thanks for the demo and also to Dirk for clarifying, I need these strings!!!

I have a Lanikai baritone second from Butler Music that I sacrificed to steel strings in extra extra light tension. I posted on it awhile back about using a string tension calculator as an experiment and just got the usual "don't do it", though I included the links to others that have done this before me and how. I was not recommending it just commenting on it. Yes it has deformed the top which is showing some bellying in standard bari tuning, but it's about the same amount as my white label Kamaka concert which is wearing Worth Brown Lights. There also seems to be a few hairs more relief in the neck when leaving it strung up under tension. It's a mediocre quality uke, the frets need to be leveled and the action is way too high, even though I have reduced it by half (it is still too high for steel), yet for $69 out the door plus another $15 for several batches of strings I got a steel string bari to experiment with, and I love the sound and it's a kick.

I can't stretch to a 23" scale on a tenor guitar without hurting my arthritic joints, I tried one and had to sell it. So I am all for the strings, and am also saving up for someone to build me a steel string tenor uke, or a 19" scale bari. Even 20" is a little bit too much for me but it makes for a great sound. But no I would not string up my Kanile'a with these real steel strings, so again appreciate the clarification..

Dirk, ever think about adding a shorter scale steel string acoustic to your line?