Mahalo Soprano with Wound LOW G String

Someone gave us a Mahalo uke, which made our whole family fall in love with the uke. I restrung it with Aquila and it has good action. After we bought an inexpensive vintage uke on CL with amazing tone, I lost interest in the Mahalo.

When I restrung an 8 string tonight, my daughter asked if she could have the abandoned steel wound Low G string for the Mahalo. We put it on and I don't think it's stressing the uke. It gives this little Soprano such a wonderful tone. It doesn't sound overly low - it gave the tone the perfect balance it needed. Falling in love with it all over again!

Glad you love the sound. You'll find out soon enough if you are over-stressing the uke.

If that's a wound steel string as opposed to a metal-wound nylon string you've fitted, I'd have reservations about leaving it under tension full time, keep it slack and just tune it when you want to play. PereBourik's comment about finding out soon enough could also imply finding out too late!

By coincidence the instrument I have set up with a low-G is also a Mahalo, albeit with Aquila "reds", and yes, it sounds great. A fourth ("D") string from a set of nylon guitar strings works fine as a low-G on a ukulele and is under a lot less tension than a steel string

Ahh. Thanks for the tip. I'll unwind it. I'll look for a nylon guitar D string. I need to ck out reds for an 8 string tinny sounding lanakai.

You can order single strings from various vendors. When I order a couple full sets I usually order a couple single extra wound low-G as they tend to funky after a while.

SteveZ said:

You can order single strings from various vendors. When I order a couple full sets I usually order a couple single extra wound low-G as they tend to funky after a while.

Click to expand...

Ahh thanks for the funky tip. I need to order some Treholipee strings so I'll add some extra G's. I have Aquilas on an 8 string - not sure if it's the right strings for that uke though.