Baritone Ukulele String - Non Wrapped

Wooville

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I have been quite disappointed with all the wrapped strings I have tried on my Ohana Baritone, Aquilas and Martin 630's to mention a couple. The wrapped strings sound good after they are broken in, but by this time, they have already started to fray. Seems like everytime I break a string, it's in the middle of a gig or jam, therefore, I'm pretty much done. It's not a quick fix to change a string during a gig and then get the string stretched enough to stay in tune. Most sets on the market have the low D and the G as wrapped strings. I'm looking for a set that has no wrapped strings. Looking at Worths or Living Water or something similar. Any of you baritone pickers got any suggestions?

Wooville
 
I've tried unwound baritone strings and they sound very "snappy" to my ear - and I don't mean that in a good way.

I've been using some flat wound classical guitar strings on my linear baritone (the other one is strung reentrant and uses no wound strings). The strings are the Thomastik-Infeld "CF" series Chromium Steel flatwound strings for classical guitars. You can order individual strings from JustStrings.com.

John
 
I've tried unwound baritone strings and they sound very "snappy" to my ear - and I don't mean that in a good way.

I've been using some flat wound classical guitar strings on my linear baritone (the other one is strung reentrant and uses no wound strings). The strings are the Thomastik-Infeld "CF" series Chromium Steel flatwound strings for classical guitars. You can order individual strings from JustStrings.com.

John

ditto the flat wound polished sound great, feel like and unwound and wear much better than regular wound.
 
I really like the Living Water bari strings
 
Living Waters are good. Ken will make them either re-entrant or low D if you ask him.
Worth Browns are nice too but the low D is too floppy. Better to get single low D's to mix and match (like recommended above). But that gets to bet a lot of work
 
Living Water strings for me. I´ve a set running on my Pono and am real happy with them.
Cheers
Gary
 
I've tried unwound baritone strings and they sound very "snappy" to my ear - and I don't mean that in a good way.

I've been using some flat wound classical guitar strings on my linear baritone (the other one is strung reentrant and uses no wound strings). The strings are the Thomastik-Infeld "CF" series Chromium Steel flatwound strings for classical guitars. You can order individual strings from JustStrings.com.

John

Are you using two flatwound or just the one? I switched my new bari back to Living Water after experimenting with some SouthCoast heavy strings, and I'm kind of missing the clear low-d sound. The main problem with the SouthCoast strings was the horrible finger squeak on the third string, so I'm thinking of maybe just using the wound 4th. Also, what are you using for the treble strings?
 
Are you using two flatwound or just the one? I switched my new bari back to Living Water after experimenting with some SouthCoast heavy strings, and I'm kind of missing the clear low-d sound. The main problem with the SouthCoast strings was the horrible finger squeak on the third string, so I'm thinking of maybe just using the wound 4th. Also, what are you using for the treble strings?

I've tried both ways. With just the one wound string you do have to be very careful when doing finger rolls to match the volume across all four strings - with both the D and G strings being wound that is less of an issue. Either way sounds fine strummed. Since I do a lot of finger rolls I currently have it strung with the CF strings on both the D and G.

For the treble strings I am using some fluorocarbon fishing leader. Here are my baritone "formulas" for linear and reentrant DGBE tunings:

Linear:
D CF35 (Thomastic-Infeld "A" .035" chromium flat wound)
G CF30 (Thomastic-Infeld "D" .030" chromium flat wound)
B FC90 (Seaguar "Blue Label" 90lb fluorocarbon leader - .0358")
E FC80 (Seaguar "Blue Label" 80lb fluorocarbon leader - .0319")

Reentrant:
D FC80 (Seaguar "Blue Label" 80lb fluorocarbon leader - .0319")
D FP130 (Seaguar "Premium" 130lb fluorocarbon leader - .0410")
B FC90 (Seaguar "Blue Label" 90lb fluorocarbon leader - .0358")
E FC80 (Seaguar "Blue Label" 80lb fluorocarbon leader - .0319")

These sets work well on both my Mainland (short 19.5" scale) and Pono baritones.

Here is the reentrant set on the Mainland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqOea8cinmI

I thought I had a recording with the linear set on the baritone but it turns out not - both of my Pono videos were made right after I got it and with the original strings.

John
 
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Thanks a lot for all the advise....I finally broke down and ordered a couple of sets of Low D Living Water baritone strings. I've wanted to try them for awhile, but at around $15 bucks U.S., they've just been too pricey. But after going through set after set of Aquila and Martins, I really needed to make a change away from the wrapped strings. Wish me luck, and I'll follow-up with an opinion soon.

Thanks again, Wooville
 
For the treble strings I am using some fluorocarbon fishing leader. Here are my baritone "formulas" for linear and reentrant DGBE tunings:

Linear:
D CF35 (Thomastic-Infeld "A" .035" chromium flat wound)
G CF30 (Thomastic-Infeld "D" .030" chromium flat wound)
B FC90 (Seaguar "Blue Label" 90lb fluorocarbon leader - .0358")
E FC80 (Seaguar "Blue Label" 80lb fluorocarbon leader - .0319")

Reentrant:
D FC80 (Seaguar "Blue Label" 80lb fluorocarbon leader - .0319")
D FP130 (Seaguar "Premium" 130lb fluorocarbon leader - .0410")
B FC90 (Seaguar "Blue Label" 90lb fluorocarbon leader - .0358")
E FC80 (Seaguar "Blue Label" 80lb fluorocarbon leader - .0319")

I ordered the Thomastic-Infeld strings as you suggested, but they fell apart at the peg before I even got in a quarter turn. The strings hadn't even been pulled taut yet. The winding uncoiled right at the peg, so no room at all for me to stretch and reuse them. :(

I'm now trying Worth Brown Baritones, and even as they're settling in, I'm liking them at least as much as the Living Waters. They're definitely a little slacker, but they don't have the booming low-D of the LWs when I strum and overall they feel easier to fret.

FWIW, it looks like both the Worth's and the LW's use similar gauges except the LW's 3rd == the Worth's 4th and the Worth's 3rd is a little smaller.

Worth Baritone String Gauges:
0.62mm
0.74mm
0.81mm
0.91mm

Living Water Low-D Baritone Gauges:
0.62mm
0.74mm
0.91mm
1.05mm

So if you like LW's low-d baritone, but maybe want to mute down that booming low-d, give Worth's a shot. Bonus that they come two sets to a package, and more places carry them.
 
Finally getting back with a report on my string dilemma....I finally finished up my stock on the Aquila wrapped baritone strings. I went through about 5-6 sets real quick, probably all within a month. The wrapped strings either broke or frayed so bad the strings would go dead. So I ordered some Living Water strings from Ken Middleton. Took a month to receive here in Kentucky from England via a trip to Australia. Who knew! Anyway, as I waited for the arrival of my new strings, I couldn't help but wonder how long before my last string would break. Low and Behold, strings finally arrived and the Aquila wrapped strings that were on my Uke just wouldn't hardly wear out. I probably had this set on for a couple of months. Makes me wonder if maybe it was a quality control issue with the Aquila wrapped strings. Anyway, I think I'm done with the Aquila's.

Now for the Living Waters....wasn't too impressed with these strings at first. Took forever to break them in, but after a while they settled in and I really began to like them a lot. I did give up a little volume for what I hope...longevity. I've had these strings on for a month of hard play and they seem to be holding up just fine.
Still think these strings are a bit over-priced, and to order from England just adds to the expense. If I can get the life I hope for out of these strings, than maybe the expense wont be such an issue. Anyway....for now I'm a happy camper, plus just yesterday I received a brand new Blue Ridge BR -60T Tenor guitar and I'm really pumped about it, but I'll save that for another thread.
 
hmm, doesn't Aquila make a non-wound baritone set using their "red" strings?

it seems like the red series for baritone still have wound strings, which i found surprising considering i thought
the whole point of them was to get rid of having to use wound strings?
 
Hey Wooville:

If your strings are breaking, maybe you have an issue with your frets being in need of attention. There could be sharp edges cutting through the strings.
Metal wound strings don't last forever, the winding wears through after many hours of play and they unwind and start sounding weird, but I've never had one outright break on me.
Either way, flurocarbon strings will last longer.
 
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