Martin C1K String Choices... Koa string Choices....CONCERT String choices...

FrankB

FrankB

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LOL.... The Martin C1K is beginning to perplex me with it's tone. Martin M600's have a nice ring, but the volume is a little weak compared to Worth CM strings. The Worth's don't have that ringing quality that the Martins have, and I'm comparing new Martin and Worth strings. The Worths are MUCH higher tension as well. So then I tried Oasis. They have the chimey tone of the Martins, along with a little more horsepower.

I was looking at Kanileas, and they appear to come with Aquila strings. I have a pack of Aquila Comcert, so I'll have to give those a go soon. The reality is, I should have just bought a Kanilea, and still might. I spoke to the people at Elderly earlier today, and they're not shipping anything until Wednesday due to very cold temps in Lansing.

One note about the Worths. They were louder than the other two brands, but the g string sounded like Kermit's banjo! That was awful. The Martin g string was simply weak. The Martin a string is pretty wimpy as well, and has to be the thinnest nylon string I've ever seen. Maybe the Martin tenor strings would work better. I do have a set of Southcoast Light Mediums sitting on my coffee table, so there's another $10 trial. I was pretty excited about the C1K when it arrived, but my tenors make it sound a little anemic. It is fun to play......
 
Try the tenor strings on it - I use Martin tenor strings on my Kamaka concert when I need more volume (and I like the higher tension). Another brand worth checking out is D'Addario Nyltech - I sometimes use these on my koa ukes, it's a bit more "barky" sound but still has that nice ring.
 
FrankB said:
LOL.... The Martin C1K is beginning to perplex me with it's tone. Martin M600's have a nice ring, but the volume is a little weak compared to Worth CM strings. The Worth's don't have that ringing quality that the Martins have, and I'm comparing new Martin and Worth strings. The Worths are MUCH higher tension as well. So then I tried Oasis. They have the chimey tone of the Martins, along with a little more horsepower.

I was looking at Kanileas, and they appear to come with Aquila strings. I have a pack of Aquila Comcert, so I'll have to give those a go soon. The reality is, I should have just bought a Kanilea, and still might. I spoke to the people at Elderly earlier today, and they're not shipping anything until Wednesday due to very cold temps in Lansing.

One note about the Worths. They were louder than the other two brands, but the g string sounded like Kermit's banjo! That was awful. The Martin g string was simply weak. The Martin a string is pretty wimpy as well, and has to be the thinnest nylon string I've ever seen. Maybe the Martin tenor strings would work better. I do have a set of Southcoast Light Mediums sitting on my coffee table, so there's another $10 trial. I was pretty excited about the C1K when it arrived, but my tenors make it sound a little anemic. It is fun to play......
Click to expand...

I used the Medium Southcoast with wound C on my Collings UC3K, and it sings. The wound C is really a game changer on a concert. I just had RyanMFT do this test this weekend on his uke that had all Aquilas and hopefully he'll see this and chime in. The concert scale really plays better for me on the C with a wound. I say better (which is a word I have reserved) because I have not found a fluoro or nylon string that resonates and has sustain like a wound C on the concert. I get the UKU-W3 with the LMU set and do the wound 3rd. If you want to go linear I have put on the MU-W3 with a UKU-W3 for a wound G and C. Definitely a lot of options, but I'd go for the wound C for sure on the concert.

Good luck.
 
Excellent! Thanks for the responses, and I'll try them all.

P.S. I'm learning Jake S's "Kelly's Song" tonight, and it sounds great on the little C1K! Not a terribly difficult tune...
 
I love the M600's on my C1K, tried Worth CM's and didn't like the thicker string and higher tension, sound wasn't as bright...switched back to M600's. My C1K is loud and clear, but I don't have a tenor to compare, of course the bigger body of a tenor should be louder and fuller.
 
I had the Worth Clear medium tension on the uke. The volume and body went up, but the tone disappeared. I like to squeeze guitar and ukulele tops, just to see how much they'll flex. The C1K is pretty stiff. For comparison, I used an Ohana CK-35 and the Cordoba 15CM I bought for my niece. Maybe I'm expecting too much from a little uke. It did outperform the Ohana with its factory strings, so that's gotta be worth the extra $250... :D

Don't get me wrong, as this is a nice instrument. I might cannibalize a couple of string sets. The M600 C And E strings, and the Oasis G and A strings would be a start. I certainly have a lot of opened string sets here.....
 
UkerDanno said:
I love the M600's on my C1K, tried Worth CM's and didn't like the thicker string and higher tension, sound wasn't as bright...switched back to M600's. My C1K is loud and clear, but I don't have a tenor to compare, of course the bigger body of a tenor should be louder and fuller.
Click to expand...

To make matters worse, I keep my tenors tuned to Bb. That really makes them sound full and rich. I just had a chance to play the Martin, and the Oasis settled into a better sound overnight. I had time to play the first several chords of Jakes "143", and it's much louder now. Guess I don't have to rush over to the Fedex facility today... ;)
 
http://vimeo.com/90036745
Three posts in a row...LOL. I have a Vimeo account now, just for this ukulele. The iPad mic isn't the best in the world, and the instrument sounds much better in person (of course).

P.S. Those are Oasis strings, on for about 36 hours.

EDIT:
More videos. One with Martin M600, and the other with Oasis. The Oasis site claims Chuck Moore uses their strings, so that carries a lot of weight with me.

Martin M600 Strings:
http://vimeo.com/90047642

Oasis Strings:
http://vimeo.com/90048462

Oasis Strings with Better Mic Placement (on an iPad). I didn't use this first, because you can't see the ukulele....
http://vimeo.com/90049637
 
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