drmosser
Well-known member
I just wanted to share my experience with the use of beads for stringing ukuleles. I had good luck stringing non-wound strings onto most ukuleles by just using small glass beads. However, the wound strings proved a challenge. I lost two wound strings on my baritone due to the wire wrapping just unraveling and then the string would pull through the bead and continue to unwind destroying the string. I've come to the conclusion that wound strings just don't respond well to knotting that might pinch or break the metal wire wrapping of the string.
So I gave some specialty bridge beads a try. I purchased mine from a seller on eBay and they are called Diamond Bridge Beads. They are made by a company called Rosette Guitar Products and look like they were originally designed for classical guitars. I bought some of these being sold as a ukulele set to give them a try. So far they are working great for all strings on my Mainland Red Cedar Baritone. I don't know that these make string changes any quicker, but they sure make it easier than trying to cinch down a stiff wound string onto the bridge.
I did contact the eBay seller and he verified that the bridge beads in the "ukulele" set are the same size as those being sold as the ones for use with "classical guitars". You get 7 beads in the packet of the ones sold for guitars while you only get 5 beads per packet for the ukulele set (1 for each string, plus an extra). The guitar sets were a little less expensive per bead, so I ordered a few more guitar sets so I will have enough to string multiple ukes. I just received the guitar bead sets and, indeed, the beads are the exact same dimensions as the ones in the ukulele set. I find these bridge beads to be an elegant product that performs as claimed. I only wish they came in colors, not just black and white. An amber color would be nice to match the tuner pegs on my baritone.
So I gave some specialty bridge beads a try. I purchased mine from a seller on eBay and they are called Diamond Bridge Beads. They are made by a company called Rosette Guitar Products and look like they were originally designed for classical guitars. I bought some of these being sold as a ukulele set to give them a try. So far they are working great for all strings on my Mainland Red Cedar Baritone. I don't know that these make string changes any quicker, but they sure make it easier than trying to cinch down a stiff wound string onto the bridge.
I did contact the eBay seller and he verified that the bridge beads in the "ukulele" set are the same size as those being sold as the ones for use with "classical guitars". You get 7 beads in the packet of the ones sold for guitars while you only get 5 beads per packet for the ukulele set (1 for each string, plus an extra). The guitar sets were a little less expensive per bead, so I ordered a few more guitar sets so I will have enough to string multiple ukes. I just received the guitar bead sets and, indeed, the beads are the exact same dimensions as the ones in the ukulele set. I find these bridge beads to be an elegant product that performs as claimed. I only wish they came in colors, not just black and white. An amber color would be nice to match the tuner pegs on my baritone.