I always string up my sopranos and ship them with Aquila Nylgut strings..but on almost every occasion first thing the recipient does is change them to some other brand..Why? what wrong with em' Co's they sound OK to me.
i was going to open a discussion on this topic, as i'm thinking about trying a different set as well for my upcoming uke,
i myself really love the Aquila strings, but i was wondering if i may get a totally different sound using a Martin set which i happen to have for some time.
would it give me a brighter or mellower sound (i was thinking brighter).
Fashion. I LIKE Aquila's myself. Great harmonics and a not so overbearing fundamental tone. I've picked up a Mele 8 string tenor recently and its got a set of HILO strings on it. The Hilo's have a sweet midrange sound. A little boxy if your being critical. Since I have so many ukulele's with Aquila's I will leave this one with the HILO's but to be honest, if the 8 string Mele was my only instrument I would fit a set of Aquila's in order to open up the instrument and tame the midrange boxiness.
If I got a uke with Aquilas already on, I would use them
until it was time to change them.Then I would go with
Worth Browns which are my preferred string of choice.
Why? Personal taste I suppose, I just prefer the sound
of Worths on most of my ukuleles!
I always string up my sopranos and ship them with Aquila Nylgut strings..but on almost every occasion first thing the recipient does is change them to some other brand..Why? what wrong with em' Co's they sound OK to me.
always wanted to ask...
as a builder do you have the time to test all the uke strings on the market? or do you get a nice bulk price when you order your strings...
do you try different sets of strings on the uke before you send to a new customer?
for some reason I believe that is one reason the factories in China use Aquillas....
I have too much time on my hands(haha) so when I get a new uke I try different sets of strings on them,,,,if the Aquilla's had the nicest tone/sound I would go back to them
as you know there are all kinds of different strings out now....just wanted some feedback from you...thanks
A non-builder, just player point of view: I have replaced Aquila strings on different ukes and then put Aquilas back on them. My ukes all have Aquila
Nylguts now.
Collings used to put Aquila Nylguts on their ukes, too. But they have switched to fluorocarbon strings (Worths CT and Savarez). To my ear the fluorocarbon strings sound much better on the Collings ukes. On my koa soprano I found the same thing, the fluorocarbon strings sounded significantly better to me. Now I do like and prefer Aquila Nylguts on some of my ukes (Kanilea, King). It all depends on the uke and the listener.
I always string up my sopranos and ship them with Aquila Nylgut strings..but on almost every occasion first thing the recipient does is change them to some other brand..Why? what wrong with em' Co's they sound OK to me.
Well, strings are one of those things that only the buyer can decide. Everyone hears something different no matter what the string and all swear this string is better than that string. I just put on whatever string I happen to have, mostly Worth brand right now. I always figure a well made uke will sound good with any string brand and the buyer will decide what works for them no matter what I think.
Strings do make a difference to the sound of the instrument. Unfortunately, years of Deep Purple, Santana etc at full volume have dulled my hearing's ability to detect some of the subtleties that other contributors mention. I like Aquilas and Living Waters on different ukes because they instinctively sound better - I'm not quite sure why, they just do.
If you're going to experiment, do it at the new owners' expense. When they order, ask them what strings they want, string the uke up accordingly and listen to to the results. Over a time, with your prolific output, you'll build up a picture of what strings sound good on your instruments. You may even want to do some recording and fancy waveform analysis - or delegate that to Mrs T.
Miguel
I do not care for the sound of Aquila strings. It is as if I am hearing the string and not the instrument. I think that Aquilas are loud; that benefits lower quality laminate ukes. On my solid wood instruments I prefer fluorocarbon strings. Actually, I have some brand of fluorocarbon strings on all my ukes. To my ear, I hear more from them: overtones, brightness, and sustain. On a good uke the various harmonics will "dance" with one another in a very pretty way. I never hear that from Aquilas.
I personally find Aquila strings great on cheap laminated ukes,but find them a bit loud and brash on better quality ukes.I tried Aquila reds on my Ken Timms uke and hated them,they made it sound like a guitar,they didn't suit it at all.It's now strung with my string of choice,Living Water strings,i just love the tone and feel of them.
Our local music store was out of Aquila, so I used D'Addagio(sp) on my last uke, and noticed it was much easier on my left hand fingers. The tone was sweeter and more mellow. I think just a personal preference.
Anne
I liked the old version of Aquilas but not the newer version; they are less tension and don't like the feel. I play linear G and found the 4th string was always fraying after a short time; would replace the 4th with a Hilo. I tried the Reds and took them off pretty quickly. I feel the Aquila linears aren't balanced or something between the 3&4th strings. Tried many different brands after, for a non wound 3&4 I like the Living waters. For wound 3&4 I really like new Southcoast hml-Rw's for the higher tension and great balance between the strings. Was on Chuck Moores site last night and noticed he is using Oasis strings now.
I agree string choice is a personal preference. For me, I can't get an Aquila set off fast enough. Never tried their reentrant sets which may have a better balance and feel.
I liked the old version of Aquilas but not the newer version; they are less tension and don't like the feel. I play linear G and found the 4th string was always fraying after a short time; would replace the 4th with a Hilo. I tried the Reds and took them off pretty quickly. I feel the Aquila linears aren't balanced or something between the 3&4th strings. Tried many different brands after, for a non wound 3&4 I like the Living waters. For wound 3&4 I really like new Southcoast hml-Rw's for the higher tension and great balance between the strings. Was on Chuck Moores site last night and noticed he is using Oasis strings now.
I agree string choice is a personal preference. For me, I can't get an Aquila set off fast enough. Never tried their reentrant sets which may have a better balance and feel.
Patrick, I think you and I have the same preference. I like the wound new SC HML-RW as well. At first, I thought it sounded too metallic but after a few days, it's better than the smooth mediums.
I absolutely hate Aquilla's.....Never had so much trouble with bad sets and inconsistencies in the same string sets. I can measure the intonation on the same string from 2 different sets and it will be completely different. Not just a little. But way, way off. To the point that I'm scratching what's left of the hair on my head and trying to figure out if I've stuffed something up. It always comes back to the strings. Swap them out to something else, and no worries.
For my money and ear.....and my clients, the strings of choice are various offerings from Sout Coast Ukes. And Worth Browns.
I think Aquila's are the new standard. the strings are so good that every Chinese manufacture use them as oem strings.
because its the standard choice of string, its possible to get a even better sound maybe switching to a floracarbon. or it might sound worse , then you just go back to aquilas or some other type of strings.
i agree with blackbear , strings are one of those things that only the buyer can decide.
but Aquilas can make most ukulele sound good, especially all made in china brands. so the question is does your ukulele sound good because of Aquilas or is your ukulele so well built you can put any stings on it and will sound incredible.
I do not care for the sound of Aquila strings. It is as if I am hearing the string and not the instrument. I think that Aquilas are loud; that benefits lower quality laminate ukes. On my solid wood instruments I prefer fluorocarbon strings. Actually, I have some brand of fluorocarbon strings on all my ukes. To my ear, I hear more from them: overtones, brightness, and sustain. On a good uke the various harmonics will "dance" with one another in a very pretty way. I never hear that from Aquilas.
I agree, I think the same about Aquila Nylguts, they make sound each instrument the same. They're the perfect advice for friends who start playing the uke with a very cheap instrument though. I don't like their feeling too, I find them floppy and too big.
I personally find Aquila strings great on cheap laminated ukes,but find them a bit loud and brash on better quality ukes.I tried Aquila reds on my Ken Timms uke and hated them,they made it sound like a guitar,they didn't suit it at all.It's now strung with my string of choice,Living Water strings,i just love the tone and feel of them.
Last time I put a set of Aquila Reds on my concert Pono and I really liked them, now I have to change the strings and I'm going to pun another set of Reds, let's see if I change my mind. The interesting thing is I think Aquila Reds make my uke sound A LOT more like a uke than every other set of strings I tried. The only problem I found with them so far is that they took a long time to wear out, but then they suddenly become completely out of intonation along the fretboard. I mean it was not a gradual process as with other strings. Don't know if it was only an impression or a problem with that particular set or what.
I don't like the feel of Aquila strings, so just changed out my new Timms yesterday with Oasis brights. They sound great, but are higher tension than I expected on a soprano, so if I don't get comfortable with them in the next few days I'm going try switching again.
Co's they sound OK to me. 
