Mahogany concert owners. Your favorite strings?

You like mellow and you don't like how thin florocarbon strings are...........obvious choice is nylon. Nylon is thicker in diameter and warmer then florocarbon. Nylon has fallen out of favor with uke players but Classical guitar players still love them and they have much higher standards then uke players. Good quality nylon strings like D'Addarrio sound wonderful, warm, clear and articulate. Jake Shimaburkuro uses D'Addario Nylon strings ONLY. The disadvantages can be not as much sustain, less perceived volume, bright sounds louder to humans and limited choices compared to florocarbon.

At one time I snubbed my nose at nylon......until I actually tried them and on some instruments they do sound best. Be open minded and try different types until YOU find what YOU like
 
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My mahogany concert is wearing Martin M600s at the moment. If you are looking for bright and crisp, this is the best choice, IMO.
 
I second the newer Martin Premium "Polygut" strings (by Aquila).
I prefer a mellower sound with low tension also, I've liked them on everything I've played them on.

I like these on my Kiwaya mahogany concert. They are similar to the now-discontinued Carbon Blacks.
 
You like mellow and you don't like how thin florocarbon strings are...........obvious choice is nylon. Nylon is thicker in diameter and warmer then florocarbon. Nylon has fallen out of favor with uke players but Classical guitar players still love them and they have much higher standards then uke players. Good quality nylon strings like D'Addarrio sound wonderful, warm, clear and articulate. Jake Shimaburkuro uses D'Addario Nylon strings ONLY. The disadvantages can be not as much sustain, less perceived volume, bright sounds louder to humans and limited choices compared to florocarbon.

At one time I snubbed my nose at nylon......until I actually tried them and on some instruments they do sound best. Be open minded and try different types until YOU find what YOU like

You are the first person to suggest nylon. I have been thinking hard about using them. It’s funny fluoro became all the rage yet the worlds most renowned player uses nylon. That speaks volumes. Granted it’s all about personal taste. Maybe I’ve been leaning toward nylon in my head because I’ve played classical guitar on and off and love the feel and sound of nylon. Yet I’m relatively new to the ukulele and have felt like i “should” use fluoros because that’s what’s in so to speak. I know Kamaka makes black nylon and D’Addario like you said makes them. I wonder how their gauges compare?
 
I think it is important to make a decision based on the sound and feel you want/like, what fits your instrument/ taste/playing style

Too often we get caught up in the idea that everyone likes x, or player y likes z and then we end up with something we don't like. Experimentation is probably the key and luckily strings are relatively cheap. As I sometimes have to remind myself, the goal should be to make music and have fun. There are so many choices out there that it is easy to get caught up in the equipment dilemma. I suppose years ago people used whatever they found at the local shop and just played.
 
You are the first person to suggest nylon. I have been thinking hard about using them. It’s funny fluoro became all the rage yet the worlds most renowned player uses nylon. That speaks volumes. Granted it’s all about personal taste. Maybe I’ve been leaning toward nylon in my head because I’ve played classical guitar on and off and love the feel and sound of nylon. Yet I’m relatively new to the ukulele and have felt like i “should” use fluoros because that’s what’s in so to speak. I know Kamaka makes black nylon and D’Addario like you said makes them. I wonder how their gauges compare?

If you want a fat, mellow, classic sound, nylon and mahogany is a good way to go. I have a 'hog soprano fitted up with D'Addario Nyltechs and that uke is my goto for jazz era rhythmic tunes. If you are already into nylon, don't hesitate--string it up. Ukulele strings are ~$10 a set. If you don't like 'em, it's a few minutes to switcheroo and you can be breaking in a new set.
 
I just checked Strings by Mail website and they have nylon strings by D'Addario, Dogal, Hannabach, GHS and LaBella. These are all big names in classical guitar strings so will be of the highest quality. At approx. $8.00 a set or less strings are a cheap experiment that pays huge dividends.
 
What order from brightest to mellow would you say the strings are? I lean more towards mellow than bright as far as preference.

It's hard to say how much of the difference is because of the strings on three concerts by different makers - but - the black strings on my Kiwaya KTC1 are the most mellow - the Nylguts on my Kolohe are brighter - and the Martin Fluoros on my Cahaya are the brightest of all.

They are all solid mahogany. However, it's likely they're all African Mahogany if that makes any difference to you.
 
If you want a fat, mellow, classic sound, nylon and mahogany is a good way to go. I have a 'hog soprano fitted up with D'Addario Nyltechs and that uke is my goto for jazz era rhythmic tunes. If you are already into nylon, don't hesitate--string it up. Ukulele strings are ~$10 a set. If you don't like 'em, it's a few minutes to switcheroo and you can be breaking in a new set.

The D'addario Nyltechs. Those are essentially similar to Aquila Nylgut? How close to a nylon sound are they on your Hog soprano? They dont necessarily have to be nylon but they are in the lead. If i can get a nice fat sound from the Nyltechs I'd certainly put that at the top of the try list.
 
Anyone know much about the new Martin Premium strings and where they fall on the mellow-bright scale?
 
The D'addario Nyltechs. Those are essentially similar to Aquila Nylgut? How close to a nylon sound are they on your Hog soprano? They dont necessarily have to be nylon but they are in the lead. If i can get a nice fat sound from the Nyltechs I'd certainly put that at the top of the try list.

The are similar to the Nylgut, but I am not sure what the differences are. I would have to try them back to back to see. As I mentioned in another thread, the Nyltech have a nice warm, relatively fat sound, still with some crispness.
 
The D'addario Nyltechs. Those are essentially similar to Aquila Nylgut? How close to a nylon sound are they on your Hog soprano? They dont necessarily have to be nylon but they are in the lead. If i can get a nice fat sound from the Nyltechs I'd certainly put that at the top of the try list.

The are similar to the Nylgut, but I am not sure what the differences are. I would have to try them back to back to see. As I mentioned in another thread, the Nyltech have a nice warm, relatively fat sound, still with some crispness.

In my experience I would agree that the Nyltechs are similar to Aquila Nylgut. I also have not done a heads-up comparison, though I have used both. They both give me the classic uke sound that I prefer for certain kinds of music.
 
Can you tell more about this set? Is it specifically for concert and is it linear or re-entrant style?

It is Linear Tuning - CGDA. I think the part number is Aquila 31U. Some UUers use it on tenors too, but I haven’t. The Soprano one is 30U I think (I don’t play sopranos much.

It sounds good to me, but my ears are old. I enjoy 5ths tuning a lot. I have it on a lotta stuff — try it. :eek:ld:
 
It is Linear Tuning - CGDA. I think the part number is Aquila 31U. Some UUers use it on tenors too, but I haven’t. The Soprano one is 30U I think (I don’t play sopranos much.

It sounds good to me, but my ears are old. I enjoy 5ths tuning a lot. I have it on a lotta stuff — try it. :eek:ld:

Thanks I think I will ask my luthier to put these on my upcoming custom build. I have a guitar background and have not used this tuning before but am aware that there are many mandolin resources with tabs etc. Do you have a few favourites that work well to get started on an uke with this tuning?
 
Anyone know much about the new Martin Premium strings and where they fall on the mellow-bright scale?

I personally think they sound a little brighter than Super Nylegut, but warmer than Fluorocarbons.
You get better sustain with them vs regular super nylegut.
 
Thanks I think I will ask my luthier to put these on my upcoming custom build. I have a guitar background and have not used this tuning before but am aware that there are many mandolin resources with tabs etc. Do you have a few favourites that work well to get started on an uke with this tuning?

No, I use it mostly for noodling right now with or without a flat pick. I also have a 5ths tuned Lanikai concert banjolele, which I use for Celtic and Classical.

I hope you do try it and enjoy it as much as I do. :eek:ld:
 
ok, so which are the lowest tension? My gut feel was to go CM or BM to bring this old Aria Concert to life (the original nylon do sound ok but they feel too restrictive) but wondering whether Aquila would be less strain on a potentially poppable bridge...
 
I've got an all-solid mahogany long-neck soprano (so it's concert scale) with Worth browns on it and will probably replace the strings with the same when the time comes.
 
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