NUD! and a question of opinion.

So I just got a new Pono ATD, which looks lovely. But now I am on the hunt for the perfect strings for it. In your opinion which suit this ukulele the best? thanks!

Granted, mine is a baritone and not a tenor, but I've settled on Southcoast heavies (that's a re-entrant set) with the addition of a wound G.

If you go re-entrant, consider a wound bass. It's really made a difference on my Pono.

Congrats!

Thanks for the tips, I'm considering trying out every recommendation on here, so ill definitely get around to those ones, they seem harder to find, where did you get yours?

trowacat said:

Thanks for the tips, I'm considering trying out every recommendation on here, so ill definitely get around to those ones, they seem harder to find, where did you get yours?

Click to expand...

Suthcoast strings: http://www.southcoastukes.com/stringuide.htm

Dirk -- the owner -- also haunts the UU from time to time and is generally excellent at answering questions and talking tones and tunings. If you can articulate what you want, Dirk can set you up.

Cheers.

Southcoast or Oasis....depending on how is sounds with your current strings... Happy Strummings

Southcoast is getting a lot of love! Pretty reassuring.

My friend Robin has a Pono, with regular old Aquilas on it, lo G....it sings! I've tried to trade her out of it, but she won't budge!

BTW....congratulations!

Thanks! I've actually got a low g on it right now and it sounds pretty good! But i prefer reentrant, I might throw some aquilas on there, why not!

I also think Southcoast or Oasis would work just fine. There is now "works best" or "perfect strings" for every uke so keep that in mind. There are brands that play consistently well on many different ukes but every uke is different and gets it own personality based on the type of string you put on the uke (and the material it is made out of).

I just put a new set of Oasis with a wound low G (which they call "Bright Low G") and replaced my Southcoasts that were on one of my ukes and it has a completely different sound now, so you'll over time try different sets (you should) and find what you like. I really never thought Titanium T2's would be something that would work on my ukes for my liking but I put the T2's on my KoAloha thin body and it was amazing. Best re-entrant sound to my ears on this particular uke compared to other brands I have tried on it, so you just have to try. Oasis and Southcoast will definitely pull out the sound of the instrument and I have found both to be great strings.

There are others but for the sake of not causing confusion and brevity, those are two excellent brands of strings. I use the Linear sets of Southcoasts so if you want low G you will want those. Otherwise you will want the re-entrant set. The Southcoast site can be overwhelming for some due to the massive amount of incredibly good information on that site and I would highly recommend you read Dirk's information as you'll learn a lot from his site. Southcoast sells wound C's which I highly recommend for a concert scale instrument. I believe I have the MU-W3 on my Collings.

See my wound v. unwound C test. The difference is .... well you be the judge ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jVhplcDLmg


Cheers,

I really like the wound c! Forgive me but when you have a wound string can you just tune it in the normal reentrant tuning or is there a different tuning you must do? Also, the intro to that comparison was by far the most epic intro I've seen to a ukulele video! sweet.

I currently have reentrant worth browns on one pono and living water low g on the other. Very happy with both. I didn't like the wound strings that were on my MT when it first came, but am thinking about giving a set a try again.
Haven't tried oasis or south coast yet.

I have worth browns on my other ukulele and they do sound great! I have the clears on the pono and am not a fan. Is there a difference between the clears and the browns sound wise?

What, Jay - no plug for the Freemont Squeakless Low G? You talked me into trying those and I have never looked back!

In particular, on my Kanile'a Super Tenor, Savarez with a Freemont made an entirely new, rich and fantastic sound, but your Pono may be different.

I currently have fremont Black Lines on my AT. I tried quite a few and these were by far the best for me in how they feel and sound. If I were to go back to a nylon string, I liked the Ko'olau golds w/wound 3rd string a lot.

I'm also using Southcoasts on all my ukes these days. Low G, High G, Tenor, Concert & Soprano. They sound great on all! Love the tension level, no squeaky picking fingers, and they stretch and stay in tune quickly! Great for string changes a day before a show. I used to let strings (worth and daddario) settle in for a month before playing live! These make it easier to get a fresh set on my main players. I don't own a Pono, but thought I'd throw my experience in to the mix.

Good luck and Congratulations!

I've never tried any fremonts, I'll be sure to try them considering the AT is basically the same model!

flyingace said:

I'm also using Southcoasts on all my ukes these days. Low G, High G, Tenor, Concert & Soprano. They sound great on all! Love the tension level, no squeaky picking fingers, and they stretch and stay in tune quickly! Great for string changes a day before a show. I used to let strings (worth and daddario) settle in for a month before playing live! These make it easier to get a fresh set on my main players. I don't own a Pono, but thought I'd throw my experience in to the mix.

Good luck and Congratulations!

Click to expand...

The shipping on the strings is 10$ to Canada, but with all these recommendations I think I might give it a go regardless!