About the new Thunderbrown Aquila strings for bass ukuleles 20 -26 inches scale

[Kimosabe]

Without posting any videos let me give my initial impressions:

1. I am happy with them.

2. They are louder.

3. The feel is nice, maybe a little or a lot more tension.

4. They have settled in rather quickly, three days and carreful installation, with Magnus Sjöquist‘s recommendation that you pull them to approximate pitch before wrapping or tying the knot, trying not to have too much string around the spool. My Kala Ebony fretless came from Sweetwater with way too many rounds about the spool.

5. Intonation is great as measured at 12th fret. Is that my ubass or the strings?

6. Hard to compare with Pahoehoe strings because I don’t have those on a copy of my present ubass and my aural memory is only so good.

Do I regret replacing my Pahoehoes? No. Did I love my Pahoehoes? Yes.

Do I think videos give very good illustrations of string sound? No.

Honestly yours,

Kimosabe

 

[mimmo]

Are any UBasses now being sold with these new Thunderbrown (or Black or Red) already installed?

No. the new U bass from China factory will be soon equiped with the upgraded Thunderblack. maybe some will be still equiped with the traditional Thundergut.

 

[tm3]

No. the new U bass from China factory will be soon equiped with the upgraded Thunderblack. maybe some will be still equiped with the traditional Thundergut.

Thanks, Mimmo. Which specific Ubass from China factory are you referring to (there are a lot of different brands)?

 

[mimmo]

Thanks, Mimmo. Which specific Ubass from China factory are you referring to (there are a lot of different brands)?

Kala in first instance and every kind of similar instruments of other brands that are made in China (as that our strings are equipped on all the brands than make u bass instruments). There are however a few brands that are still testing the improved version of Thunbderblack but we thinks that they soon will switch on these.

 

[SailingUke]

I could not them to tune at the correct pitch.

 

[KohanMike]

I tried them on a custom bass uke I had made by Bruce Wei that I took over to my luthier, Eric's Guitar to install a piezo preamp, pickup and Gotoh tuners I had, but did not really like the feel of them over the Kala/Galli flatwounds I now use.

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Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
8 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 16 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 40)
•Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
•Member The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

 

[tm3]

I tried them on a custom bass uke I had made by Bruce Wei that I took over to my luthier, Eric's Guitar to install a piezo preamp, pickup and Gotoh tuners I had, but did not really like the feel of them over the Kala/Galli flatwounds I now use.

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Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
8 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 16 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 40)
•Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
•Member The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

Mike could you please comment on how you think they compare to the black Pahoehoes?

 

[KohanMike]

Mike could you please comment on how you think they compare to the black Pahoehoes?

I found that the Browns still have a texture to them, and they still stretch more than the flatwounds I now use. I may try a humidity test on another bass uke soon just for informational purposes. As I've mentioned in other places, I gave up on all poly strings because in humid conditions, they got sticky, and the Pahoehoe also stretched and wrapped the spool too much for me. I thought I read a comment from Mimmo that they're testing flatwound synthetic core like the Galli.

 

[Kimosabe]

There is definitely something sensuous about Pahoehoe strings but the Browns allow a more staccato effect than the Pahoehoes do, which means that 16th notes are clearer and sliding is more defined, especially with the greater tension. I play fretless and therefore don’t have the fret buzz which I had with my Pahoehoes on my fretted Hadean. I now play my Ebony Kala exclusively here in Hawaii but will return in May to California where I will return to a fretted Oscar Schmidt with Pahoehoes. Then I will really notice what the difference is, maybe! What we really need is someone with two identical basses strung with the different strings.

It‘s remarkable how little I have to turn my tuners to adjust tuning with the Browns. There was a lot more turning with the Pahoehoes.

In a way I think one must factor in what kind of music one wishes to play. Do you need a more sharply defined attack or can you relax with the slower Pahoehoes? Are you playing two to the bar country or James Jamerson back end 16ths?

Sustain is great with the Browns because of the tension and the string material, much better than with the Pahoehoes and that is very important to approximate the stand up bass sound.

 

[mimmo]

Yes guys,
I am going to design our own Aquila flat wound strings. They will be different than the already excellent Galli strings as that we are luky to run extruder plants and to have at our disposal some pretty new bio plastics whose performance are indeed excellent.

They will be made in flat bronze or maybe copper (these material are softer than Nickel and they has higher density than Nickel -or Steel- and does not produce allergy, so they are better) and I am going to produce a string that it is louder, absolutely punchy but with some balanced degree of sustain. I do not like the sound of the round wire strings: it is too guitar-like. And this is a bass, not a guitar.
Nickel is a metal that it is too hard and stiff, yes, I know: it is nice to see but less efficient for the sound.

But I take this job slow, as I am still fully involved with doublebass strings ( I have just re- create the legendary Kaplan Red o Ray as well as the Golden Spirals...). The Thunderbrown should be not affected by the moisture, as the moisture absorption of the material is 0.1 % only and the surface has a special texture in order to make strings less sticky. In short: they are no sticky as demonstrate now by several video available around and related explanations.
It is not possible to compare Thunderbrown to flat metal strings as they are totally different in the way how they are designed and made, the different tension and some other things.

On metal strings (flat wound especially) the tension MUST be very high because the performance works on the material's density only and not both on elasticity and density that works together (this is the principle of the Thunderbrown). Instead, when a string works only on elasticity the tension can be very low (Thundergut, Phaoehoe etc) but there are other kind of damn issues. The secret of the best sound in lower frequencies is the collaboration between elasticity and density: it is the best mariage ever! Take care
Mimmo

 

[chrimess]

Would my ubass strung with pyramids need a setup after switching to the Browns? TIA for your advice

 

[UkerDanno]

Would my ubass strung with pyramids need a setup after switching to the Browns? TIA for your advice

Not familiar with pyramids, are they flatwound or roundwound strings? If so, from what I've been reading, I would think it would work fine.

 

[chrimess]

Not familiar with pyramids, are they flatwound or roundwound strings? If so, from what I've been reading, I would think it would work fine.

They are roundwounds, similar to the Kalas

 

[tm3]

I have a question similar to the one by chrimess ......

If a UBass comes from the factory with the black Pahoehoes, would it need a setup (or more extensive work like a new bridge or nut or whatever) for a change to the ThunderBrowns -- or would it just be a straight swap with no mods?

 

[UkerDanno]

I have a question similar to the one by chrimess ......

If a UBass comes from the factory with the black Pahoehoes, would it need a setup (or more extensive work like a new bridge or nut or whatever) for a change to the ThunderBrowns -- or would it just be a straight swap with no mods?

I think the Thunderbrowns are a little thinner, probably a pretty simple swap. For best playability, maybe lower the action a bit.

 

[Kimosabe]

Didn’t change a thing and they fit fine on my Kala Ebony. Yes, they are a little thinner. Didn’t ever think about lowering the action but then maybe I have extra Neanderthal genes.

 

[chrimess]

Didn’t change a thing and they fit fine on my Kala Ebony. Yes, they are a little thinner. Didn’t ever think about lowering the action but then maybe I have extra Neanderthal genes.

Thanks Kimosabe! Yes, the action on the Ebony is indeed a bit high.

 

[Kimosabe]

Thanks Kimosabe! Yes, the action on the Ebony is indeed a bit high.

Not on mine. I’d be buzzing if I lowered it. Actually I could raise it a little for the G string.

 

[groan]

I'm sorry to revive this old thread but I just discovered it.

I have an Oscar Schmidt Comfort model and it had white thunders on it. They sounded great but I wanted to try the browns. I loaded them up and the E buzzes around the 2345 fret area. I brought it to my luthier and he noted some raised frets, very slightly, in that area (my whites had no issue) but he's still hearing the buzz. His thought is it might be coming from the body fibrillating. Did not do this with the whites so maybe the vibration of these strings are just a bit different compared to the whites?

If he can't figure it out I'll try them on my Kala and put the whites back on.

EDIT Update just now from my Luthier:

He believes the Brows have a different tension and a wider elliptical arch than the Whites because they're thinner. (There is relief in the neck, in case any one asks @mimmo )

 

[groan]

So, Update, For some reason these strings just are not compatible with all Ukes. My Oscar being one of them.
My luthier swapped back and forth the Whites and the Browns and the browns always buzz around the 345 fret area.
All he can figure is the tension and diameter of the strings just don't lend well to this uke. He's going to try raising the action a bit but I'm disappointed it's not working out. If the action change doesn't help I'm going to try them on my Kala.