I've posted about my concert-scale low G string quest in a few other threads, so, stop me if you've heard this one before... I finally gave up on UNwound low G strings since they were always too rubber-bandy for me (and they had a tendency to sound boomy yet dull, if that makes any sense at all). The Fremont that you've mentioned is my low G string of choice now, although I've actually liked using wound guitar D strings as well (the Savarez Red high tension is my favorite, but hard to find as a single). Neither of these is perfect, but the Fremont is pretty darned close - no squeak, and more volume than other "squeakless" wound strings I've tried.The guitar strings have a slightly more comfortable tension for me, but sometimes the squeak is distracting - plus they're expensive, hard to find, and wear out really fast.
I dont remember the thread, but thanks for restating it here...
Your experience is almost EXACTLY as mine. I would have just gone with the Fremont polished wound low-g and consider it solved for now, but on my best-playing concert uke, which is a Flea, with the plastic fretboard, it is ill-advised to use wound strings since it will prematurely chew up the fretboard. I love this uke, so I was hoping to get that solved.
For now, I have the Martin M600s on it in re-entrant tuning, and the only reason I can live with this is that I have other instruments where I can have low-g tuning. I like high-g for strumming more.
I mostly prefer low-g (coming from guitar) since with some of the finger-picking, the note intervals of songs I've written on low-g, really fry my brain if I play them on a re-entrant tuned instrument, I've tried to reprogram my brain for thumb-middle-pointer to get an ascending interval, as opposed to thumb-pointer-middle for the same on low-g.
Where you say "too rubber-bandy for me (and they had a tendency to sound boomy yet dull" is exactly what I've found, and tried to resolve.
This
problem was severe enough for me that in my last UAS effort, I ended up getting a tenor scale instrument (Koa tenor Fluke, with the hardwood fretboard) instead of concert.
I have been playing the daylights out of this instrument for 2 weeks now and when I return to play the concert scale instruments, the feeling is a bit cramped. Just means I need to put in more time on the concert scale as well.
The hardwood fretboard (as opposed to the plastic fretboard) means I can put ANY strings on it.
The big surprise to me in all of this, is that the SAME exact unwound low-g string that has the perfect amount of tension for me on a tenor scale instrument, is just too floppy, dull and boomy on a concert scale. Even with using the same type/set of strings that are for 'concert' and not 'tenor' on the label, the tension is too low. I think it is the same density and diameter material and they only change the packing label and cut the (actual tenor but re-labeled for) concert string 2" shorter before sealing them in the neat little envelopes. The same seems to hold true when I have tried 'soprano' strings on the concert scale.
I dont yet understand the physics of how the 2" scale length difference makes the string too floppy, but I hope to figure it out one day. I mean it's the same pitch, same audio frequency, but longer or shorter string length, but I am ill-equipped at the moment to understand how these affect the actual string tension....maybe another kind soul can enlighten me....
Also, maybe one day I will find and buy a 5-string uke that has both high-g and low-g (octave courses) and then the problem should be solved, permanently, no?
Anybody now of such an instrument? (I have not looked as of yet)
And speaking of strings obsession - with an 8-string uke, what do you do? I mean where do you begin? Are they all unisons, or are they octaves? Can you mix Aquila's with Martins if you want? My mind explodes when I think about all the possibilites....