Strings Kanilea String Discussion - Best Sound

My question is somewhat relevant to this discussion. I’m finding that most strings sound good when strumming basic open chords. I’m having problems finding a set of strings that sound good for Fingerstyle when playing from the 4th to the 8th fret. On my Pono tenor I have PHD strings, and like all the other strings I’ve tried, the volume drops off significantly. I’ve tried Martin Sets, several D’Addario sets, Aquila, fluorocarbon sets.

I just bought an Islander MSC-4 and hope I don’t have to go through the same expense. Aquila strings are voiced for strumming open chords. The stock Aquila strings have the typical thubby high G string. Why can’t they use the same string used for the A string.

If anyone has had similar experiences finding the strumming vs. Fingerstyle balance I’d be interested in your journey.

Ed
 
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I would've thought fluorocarbon strings are the best strings for playing higher up the fretboard. In my experience thinner strings retain their clarity a bit better than thicker strings when playing higher up, but if you've already tried Martins or Worths or other fluorocarbons then I don't think there's that much more to try. Certainly you shouldn't try nylon strings as those generally sound really dull when playing higher up the fretboard. Even though I was recently pleasantly surprised with the D'Addario Black nylon strings I wouldn't recommend them for fingerpicking specifically. Maybe you could try either Worth CLs which are even thinner than their regular strings or their CDs which are harder than their regulars. There's also something called CE which are Worth Clear Extra strings and are described as having "powerful stroke and interesting sound. Good sustain for the melody line." I've no idea what that would actually translate to in terms of sound of playability but I suppose it's worth (pun intended, as usual) a try.

I also have Uke Logic strings arriving (hopefully) shortly, both the soft and hard variety, and they have gotten a really good reception here. Not sure about whether they're particularly great for fingerpicking though. Also, I'm not planning to put them on my Kanile'a but I will test them on my sopranos and I can try to see how they feel fingerpicked vs. strumming. Keep an eye out for the Uke Logic topic.
 
I based my question on my experiences with my Pono tenor. This issue may not be an issue for the concert. Actually, in only a few days the Islander MSC-4 in opening up. I’m going to wait before going on a string changing binge.

Thanks,
Ed
 
Next on the test schedule for the Kanile'a concert was Martin M600s. These seemed to provide a bit more volume than, e.g., the black nylons but not substantially (I actually started to measure the volume because I don't fully trust my own perception). The Martins have that same bell-like chime that the Worth Clears had which I don't really like but it wasn't quite as pronounced, certainly tolerable. Also, intonation was sublime. Every string was almost spot on at the 12th fret... except for the A string which went ludicrously flat. This might be because I had a bit of a blunder while stringing. Typically with thinner strings, I hadn't made a big enough knot on the A string so it slipped out while tuning. Since it didn't break I used the same string again, but I'm guessing this can have an effect on the stability of the string so I'll assume the intonation won't be so massively off when I get it right the first time. I have another set of the Martins so I'll test them again later. Currently, the M600s are probably the best strings I've tried so far on the Kanile'a at least sound-wise. Because the intonation on the A string is so bad I'll probably move on to test other strings quite soon but there's a good chance I'll return to these once I'm done with my testing period. Then again, I would very much like to find a string set that has a slightly larger gauge than fluorocarbons typically have since I really like a larger gauge on the Kanile'a for some reason. We shall see...
 
I also have Uke Logic strings arriving (hopefully) shortly, both the soft and hard variety, and they have gotten a really good reception here. Not sure about whether they're particularly great for fingerpicking though. Also, I'm not planning to put them on my Kanile'a but I will test them on my sopranos and I can try to see how they feel fingerpicked vs. strumming. Keep an eye out for the Uke Logic topic.
I'll admit I'm not that great at fingerpicking - I've had a mental block about it from my early guitar playing days, when I was wayyy younger, there was no internet to learn from, and I had 6 strings to deal with. I'm trying to overcome that now, lol, and practicing some picking. But I find the Uke Logic soft tension low G sound particularly sweet when picked. How much of that is from the strings or from the maple of the uke, I don't know. I do know it didn't sound near as fine with the Aquilas.
 
Moving on. I wanted to try D'Addario Titanium strings next on the Kanile'a concert. I had decided to quickly move on from the Martin M600s anyway because of the wonky intonation on the A string (most likely my own fault, not the string), but even though I liked them I ultimately decided that they were still too chimey for my taste. I wanted something a bit more subtle and I think the Titaniums might provide that. They are very similar to D'Addario clear nylons. Similar gauge, excellent feel, good intonation, and a fairly warm sound. But, as advertised on the pack, they are a bit brighter than clear nylons. Not so much that they have that chime of clear fluorocarbon strings but enough that there's just slightly more emphasis on the high end of the spectrum so that sustain on the highs sounds better than with clear or black nylons. I'm quite impressed with these. For me, they also don't sound as muddy as nylgut but I'll probably do a quick test with Aquila Super Nylguts as well, coming full circle back to the stock strings, after which I'll probably make my final conclusions. Although, after that I want to try tuning the uke to low G so I'll have to see which strings would be best for that as well. :)
 
I changed my Kanile'a strings to Living Waters recently. I had high expectations as I've heard so many good things about the LWs. At first I was a bit confused - the sound was a little bit muted compared to Martin 600's and less bright. So there was no wow moment. Immediately I noticed that the LWs aren't as squeaky, which is nice, and they lack this 'metallic' sound (particularly the A string) that Martins often have when I fingerpick. The intonation is fine, the sustain is good too. Now that the strings have settled, I like the sound more than in the beginning. My favourite? Hard to say as I liked the sound of Martins too. Sorry this is hardly a good 'review'.

Edit. Mellow, that is what I'm after. LWs produce a tad mellower sound than the Martins.
 
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Ok, this is probably my final post regarding testing different strings, at least for a while.

After trying out the D'Addario Titaniums, I quickly tried the stock Aquila Super Nylguts again. The sound is still surprisingly good for Aquila which I normally don't like. The mellowness of the strings complements the Kanile'a sound quite well and there's enough brightness to make individual notes clear enough but not too bright for that chimey effect I don't like. However, the issue with the Super Nylguts (and regular nylguts as well) is the feel of the strings which I simply don't like at all, which is a real shame. So off they went again. I decided to return to Worth Browns once again because I liked them quite a bit the last time. They still sound excellent with that great balance between clarity and warmth. Quite similar to the Titaniums on the Kanile'a with a bit more projection. They still have some intonation issues but not too bad, easily playable.

I then decided to try a low G on the Kanile'a with a combination of a few different strings. I ordered a bunch of low G strings and strung the Kanile'a with the Fremont Soloist low G. I'm not going to comment on every single different low G string since I don't plan to rigorously test all of them with all types of different strings, so I'll just comment that the feel and sound of the Fremont Soloist is really nice with hardly any squeaking and the sound being nice and boomy but not overly so like with regular wound strings. The Worth Browns I left on the Kanile'a worked really well with the low G but I wanted to quickly try some other strings as well. Since, in my opinion, projection is not as big an issue with low G tuning, I found that regular D'Addario Clear Nylons worked really nicely this time with their warm sound and excellent feel. Titaniums are similarly excellent with a bit more brightness.

So my conclusions/recommendations for strings on a Kanile'a K1 concert are:

Worth Clear or Martin M600 if you like that bell-like chime
Worth Browns for a more balanced sound if you can deal with the intonation issues or if you can improve intonation yourself
D'Addario Titaniums if you want less projection than the Worth Browns, better intonation and a thicker gauge
D'Addario Clear Nylon for low G only

Obviously these are my own opinions so YMMV.
 
I've been waiting for your final thoughts. You've gone through a lot of strings, and three of your favorites I still need to try on my K1-C. But first I'm going to my favorite repair/setup person, lower the action and like Loska, get a different saddle. I'll keep the old one (not great intonation) and hope for something better.

At the end of this post, I totaled the strings mentioned by other Kanile'a owners in this thread and ranked by most liked down to least liked. P=someone liked it, and M=someone didn't.

Ok, this is probably my final post regarding testing different strings, at least for a while. [snip]
So my conclusions/recommendations for strings on a Kanile'a K1 concert are:
Worth Clear or Martin M600 if you like that bell-like chime
Worth Browns for a more balanced sound if you can deal with the intonation issues or if you can improve intonation yourself
D'Addario Titaniums if you want less projection than the Worth Browns, better intonation and a thicker gauge
D'Addario Clear Nylon for low G only
Obviously these are my own opinions so YMMV.

living water PPPPP
worth clear PPPP
worth brown PPPP
Martin M620 PPP
martin M600 PPP
d'addario titanium PP
oasis bright PP
fremont blackline PP
uke logic soft PP
d'addario nyltech P
PHD P
aquila stock nylgut PPPMM
koalou mahana M
oasis warm MM
 
Thanks for the comment! I'm glad someone actually reads my drivel. :)

That's a pretty nice ranking of the strings mentioned in this thread. No surprise really that the Super Nylguts were the most divisive. :D

I believe that the factory setup for Kanile'a ukuleles leaves the action a bit higher than lots of other high-end manufacturers. That's certainly my experience with my K1 concert. I also assume that the stock saddle is more suitable for thicker strings since the stock strings are Super Nylguts. That would be consistent with the fact that I found intonation with thicker strings (nylguts and nylons) to be better than with thinner strings (fluorocarbon), although curiously enough the Martin M600s had almost perfect intonation (except for the A string which was probably my own fault for failing with the stringing). I also preferred thicker strings because of the higher action at the nut. No idea why but fluorocarbon strings just felt a bit uncomfortable to play. I would definitely recommend getting a setup for lowering the action if you wanted to string a Kanile'a with fluorocarbon strings, and also a new saddle if you wanted to improve the intonation (again, it's passable with the stock saddle but some of us are real perfectionists :) ).
 
Yes, another PHD fan! I have been really happy with them (primarily on KoAloha ukes, for which they were pretty much designed).
 
Great thread!

Just to add my 2c.

I got myself a Kanile’a Platinum 2021 - which came stock with clear fluorocarbon (Worth) and a wound low G (GHS Folksinger)

Sounded wonderful - but after a few weeks I realised that I was wanting a sound that was a bit warmer and mellower.

I tried a set of clear nylons - which got me closer to what I was looking for. Really enjoyed these and it brought out more depth from the instrument for me.

Recently I thought what the heck - I’ll try a set of Kamaka (gasp) black nylon strings. I love how they sound on a Kamaka so I was interested to hear how they sounded on the Kanile’a.

And I love them. Completely head over heels. Also love the way they look :)

Admittedly I go for a very mellow sound and I think I have quite “heavy” fingers so that will obviously influence what I ended up using. I also don’t perform so don’t need massive volume as I only have an audience of one :)
 
New Kanileʻa ukes are now strung with their curated set of Worth Clear fluorocarbons.
On their website Kanile'a also offers replacement sets of Aquila New and Super Nylgut in addition to Worth Clear .
Don't know what they're offering in the showroom .
 
I have a Kanilea Diamond Tenor and have been through all the different string brands. I can’t find any strings that sound good on it.
I have left the Worth CT set on the uke. No string set seems to bring out the sound. The uke seems to hold most of the sound inside and doesn’t project it out of the uke. I have a strong feeling it has something to do with the bracing system Kanilea uses. Have owned other Kanilea ukes and they were the same way. I purchased the Diamond thinking it would be better it wasn’t. Guess that is just the typical Kanilea sound. It’s a beautiful instrument but the sound doesn’t match its looks. I give up on trying to find strings for it and it just stays in the closet.
 
I have a Kanilea Diamond Tenor and have been through all the different string brands. I can’t find any strings that sound good on it.
I have left the Worth CT set on the uke. No string set seems to bring out the sound. The uke seems to hold most of the sound inside and doesn’t project it out of the uke. I have a strong feeling it has something to do with the bracing system Kanilea uses. Have owned other Kanilea ukes and they were the same way. I purchased the Diamond thinking it would be better it wasn’t. Guess that is just the typical Kanilea sound. It’s a beautiful instrument but the sound doesn’t match its looks. I give up on trying to find strings for it and it just stays in the closet.
Oof, that is harsh. Seems like this can happen on Kanile'a instruments, or at least some of them. I had a basic K1 concert for which I just couldn't find the right strings so I eventually sold it. The problem wasn't with projection, at least not primarily, but the tone just didn't sound right to me with any strings. Either too chimey or too quiet.
 
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