Lately I've been thinking that fluorocarbon string branding is just Snake Oil.
I can't definitively find any difference between various fluorocarbon strings. Some are thicker gauges than others, and sometimes that matters on a particular uke. But I can't tell the difference in playing between Worth Clears, Martin M600 and M620, PhD and Living Water. I find it hard to believe they are not just strings cut from the same fishing line. I asked the guy at Anacapa ukulele if the PhD strings were really any different than the Martins and he said that the PhD strings are monofilament and the Martins are braided, but I don't believe that.
Often I tend to just use the Martin strings because they are cheap. I've got Worth Clear on a couple of ukes and Living Water on one uke as well as a couple of packages of the PhD strings that I haven't used yet, but I did try some ukes that had PhD strings on them - I could swear they were repackaged Martin strings.
Am I crazy? Am I missing some exquisite sensitivity to feel or vibration that others have? Are these strings really different or is this string branding just a way to charge a higher price for a bunch of cheap fishing line?
I can't definitively find any difference between various fluorocarbon strings. Some are thicker gauges than others, and sometimes that matters on a particular uke. But I can't tell the difference in playing between Worth Clears, Martin M600 and M620, PhD and Living Water. I find it hard to believe they are not just strings cut from the same fishing line. I asked the guy at Anacapa ukulele if the PhD strings were really any different than the Martins and he said that the PhD strings are monofilament and the Martins are braided, but I don't believe that.
Often I tend to just use the Martin strings because they are cheap. I've got Worth Clear on a couple of ukes and Living Water on one uke as well as a couple of packages of the PhD strings that I haven't used yet, but I did try some ukes that had PhD strings on them - I could swear they were repackaged Martin strings.
Am I crazy? Am I missing some exquisite sensitivity to feel or vibration that others have? Are these strings really different or is this string branding just a way to charge a higher price for a bunch of cheap fishing line?