Another string thread.........I need your help

I have a Pete Howlett tenor that is on the bright side and although it sounds nice I want it much more mellow, with high G. Here are the strings I have tried

Oasis warm, both high and low G = higjer tension than I like, kinda warm but not enough.

Aquila Reds, yes they are bright and loud but I liked the tension.

Worth CM ( concert size to try and mellow it out) not bad, medium tension

Aquila nylgut, great tension but standard Aquila sound.

Worth Brown BT = Weird string on this uke, high tension, very bright when finger picked, warm and muted when strumed with flesh. Metalic sounding when strummed with nails. It is like WB has a dual personality.

I like a medium tension at most, this action is on the high side, larger diameter strings than the browns and something that will give me a warm full sound.

What do you guys and girls suggest I try next or next or next.

How about one of the Southcoast soft sets? Are you willing to go lower than C tuning? How much lower? HU-NW set would get you reentrant G tuning with lower tension and fatter strings. Gotta be about as mellow as you could get on a tenor.

If you need C tuning, medium tension, you'd have to go up to the SLMU set. No idea how those would compare with the other strings you've tried.

Try some koolau strings found on hms website. There pretty mellow in sound. I really liked the koolau golds and aolihi

tangimango said:

Try some koolau strings found on hms website. There pretty mellow in sound. I really liked the koolau golds and aolihi

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I'd agree except for the fact I consider them a very high tension string. I think they are beautifully mellow strings. I'm thinking of taking them off my Pono due to the high tension issue and that makes me very sad. I haven't heard a better string anywhere.

Icelander53 said:

I'd agree except for the fact I consider them a very high tension string. I think they are beautifully mellow strings. I'm thinking of taking them off my Pono due to the high tension issue and that makes me very sad. I haven't heard a better string anywhere.

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If you're thinking of taking them off anyway, how about tuning them down to Bb or A and see how you like it. I'd be curious to know

I enjoy Fremont Black Lines quite a bit, give them a try, I think you'll find them quite nice. Or Southcoast, he has a very wide range to experiment with.

Jim Hanks said:

How about one of the Southcoast soft sets? Are you willing to go lower than C tuning? How much lower? HU-NW set would get you reentrant G tuning with lower tension and fatter strings. Gotta be about as mellow as you could get on a tenor.

If you need C tuning, medium tension, you'd have to go up to the SLMU set. No idea how those would compare with the other strings you've tried.

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Strings can get pricey. I agree with Jim. AT this point, I also suggest you contact Dirk at Southcoast and provide him that list of strings you've tried and what sound you are going for.

hammer40 said:

I enjoy Fremont Black Lines quite a bit, give them a try, I think you'll find them quite nice. Or Southcoast, he has a very wide range to experiment with.

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I agree with hammer40. They sound very nice (to me) on my Gretsch G9120 tenor SM. The solid mahogany top certainly came alive. Jim

I agree with Eugene, Living Waters are well balanced with rich mellow tones.

@ Jim Hanks, thanks for the info on South Coast. I like the idea of the "soft" series. Only problem is shipping to Canada is expensive. A set of strings with shipping will be over $20.00

Thanks for those who mentioned Living Waters, been curious about them and wanting to giving them a try. Same goes to those mentioning the Freemont Black lines.

Uke Republic carries Living Water and Blacklines, also carries Orcas. I will order those three sets and give them all a test. As a foot note I don't cut my strings when I take them off to try another set. That way I can use them again on something else. A great excuse to buy more ukes" Hey look at all these string sets that need a home"

Some people may think all this string changing is a bit wacko.

*Gretsch came with Aquilas, love the sound, still on there.
*Koahola stock strings, love the sound, still on there.
*Islander came with Aquilas gave it 3 weeks switched to Martin M600 and love them, never switching.
*Pete Howlett has a tone in there I can't seem to find. All strings have sounded good, some higher tension than I like. But I feel this uke has a great sound that is dieing to be discovered with the right strings. So I keep looking.

Jim Hanks said:

If you're thinking of taking them off anyway, how about tuning them down to Bb or A and see how you like it. I'd be curious to know

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That would be worth a try. I've never done that and don't know how that works so I'll do some research.

Edit: OK I tried Bb and was not wowed by the sound. I like that C tuning on the songs I'm doing. Made it sound duller and a little more guitar like to my ear but I only tried it for a few moments. I have a practice session in a few minutes so I may go back and play with it later.

Edit 2: I tried it on my Moku Spruce top with Oasis warm strings and it actually sounds quite good on that uke. How very very interesting.

eugene ukulele said:

Try some Living Waters, Dave. They are a well balanced set that leans toward the mellow side.

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Thanks to "eugene ukulele" and "stevefjc" for recommending the Living Waters strings. They have been on the Pete Howlet for 5 days now and I love the sound, just what I was looking for. They are on the medium to quite side compared to other strings I have tried on this uke but the tone is there so I can live with less volume. I did order Freemont Blacklines and Orcas at the same time but I think I will leave the Living Waters on for a good while, or until I am bored . Thanks to all those that made suggestions.