Beginner question: Choosing string sets for my uke

I'm wondering about string sets in general, and also specifically the string set that came on my Uke. A tenor Kala KA-T from HMS. The HMS website says they are Aquilas. Since I'm just learning uke, the specific strings really don't matter to me, but I still want to increase my knowledge of them. My uke is strung with high-G.

The C string HMS installed is a wound string, all the others are plain strings. I opened up the spare set of Aquila strings I bought with the uke, and find they came with two C strings - one wound one and one non-wound one brown in color (all the other non-C strings are non-wound and white).

So what is the benefit of Aquila's wound C-string vs. the alternate (included) non-wound nylon C-string?

I'm thinking I might want to try a set of low-G strings sometime in the near future. Just to see what they are like. Should I buy a set of strings that come with the low-G (there are several available sets available on the HMS website), or should I just buy the stand-alone low-G single string from Freemont Soloist (also available from HMS) and install it with the rest of the standard Aquila set? Are such mix-and-match strings sets adviseable? When using the Freemont wound-G, would it be best to also use the Aquila wound-C or switch to the Aquila brown non-wound-C?

It looks like the Worth BT's are low-G, and all four strings are non-wound. What would be the plus/minus of this Worth set compared to the Aquila/Freemont mix-and-match?

I'm guessing this will all come down to "personal preference", so that's why I'm asking what other people's preferences are. Being so new to the uke, I have no preferences yet. But I don't want to buy things thinking I'll try them later, only to find what I've bought is a waste because it was ill-advised and I just didn't know any better.

haertig said:

So what is the benefit of Aquila's wound C-string vs. the alternate (included) non-wound nylon C-string?

Click to expand...

My experience is with wound/non-wound low G strings specifically, but I'm guessing this could apply to the C string as well. Some people have a preference for non-wound because they find the wound strings to have an annoying "squeak." Others, such as myself, don't care for non-wound strings - I find they lack tension and tend to sound kind of thuddy and dead. The squeak of wound strings doesn't bother me, it's the tone and sound that matter to me, but I've lately been using the Fremont Soloist low G and really like it - it's the best of all worlds, IMO.

As for Worth vs. Aquila vs. mix and match - you'll just have to test-drive them and see. A lot of people love Worths and Aquilas, but I've always preferred Martins - my strings of choice are usually Martins with a Fremont Soloist.