Guitar strings on a Uke

Mr. B

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I've been to a Luthier the other day because of some buzzing ukes of mine.
For 2 of them (a soprano and a tenor) he recommended me to put high tension guitar strings on them to bring the neck a little up.
I tried it with both of them (did get the Savarez Carte Rouge at a store; very nice - I could get them individually, so just the first 3 strings of the set) the outcome has been interesting!
The soprano sounded really really bad! I went straight back to the Martin M600.
But, the tenor sounds just great and the buzzing is gone.

Do you guys and girls use guitar strings on your ukes?
 
Only on the guileles. I prefer fluorocarbons on the ukes.
 
I use classical guitar strings on one of my baritones. I like Thomistik-Insfeld middle 4 strings. Nice amt of tension, very balanced tone and no squeak.
 
Only on the guileles. I prefer fluorocarbons on the ukes.

There are plenty of fluorocarbon guitar strings. I have Savarez singles on my Ovation and really like them. Not sure it's any cheaper then just buying a set of carbon uke strings but buying singles does allow custom guages.



John
 
There are plenty of fluorocarbon guitar strings. I have Savarez singles on my Ovation and really like them. Not sure it's any cheaper then just buying a set of carbon uke strings but buying singles does allow custom guages.



John


It wasn't really cheaper in my case but neither much more expensive. A bit more than Martin M600's.
But yes, it does allow some playing around with different gauges. :cool:
 
I use classical guitar strings on one of my baritones. I like Thomistik-Insfeld middle 4 strings. Nice amt of tension, very balanced tone and no squeak.

The Savarez Carte Rouge do have a rough feel to them, but also no squeak.
 
I have used classical guitar strings on tenor and baritone ukes. It is not surprising they sounded terrible on your soprano. Guitar strings are thicker with much more tension and will not oscillate enough on such a short scale length. The soprano will sound dead and choked.
 
"I've been to a Luthier the other day because of some buzzing ukes of mine.
For 2 of them (a soprano and a tenor) he recommended me to put high tension guitar strings on them to bring the neck a little up."

I don't like the idea of using high-tension strings to reshape the neck. I can see the bridge popping off. Of course, since a luthier recommended that, maybe it's okay.
 
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