Aquila Sugar strings? And now testing better version... what to do?

Update. I tried mimmo's suggestion of the "warm water with peanut oil" method. I waited 7 days to report this. I so want this to work, however I can still hear the squeaking. The squeaking might have improved a little bit, but certain not completely resolved.
The more I play the strings, I more I like the sound/tone. I wish the squeaking issue can be fixed.
 
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Yet another update after yesterday's post:
I tried the same tenor strings sets again today, day 8 after soaking in warm water with peanut oil, there was no squeaking what so ever!! I even rubbed my fingers on the strings up and down along the axis, no funny noise.
My hands and fingers are about the same, in terms of dryness. The room humidity is controlled at 45-55% at all time. Today is colder than yesterday, so maybe that's a factor. I will continue to observe and will post update later.
 
Here is the weird part. After reporting last weekend that I played over the course of a couple of days with no squeak, I have found that as the days passed I have had it return from time to time.

Maybe it that odd "nothing but butter" diet I was on a few days ago....
 
I like the sound of the strings, but they are hard on my fingers. (I know, I'm a wimp.) Probably because I prefer thinner fluorocarbons. That being said, my acoustic steel-strung guitar-playing friend who also plays nylon-strung tenor ukes, really likes them—except for the squeak.

I'm sorry Mimmo. But no strings, no matter how good, are worth my time and effort to soak them in warm water and peanut oil!

I thank you for the opportunity to test them on my Pono tenor. But they just aren't for me.
 
Another update: 2 weeks after soaking in warm water and peanut oil, no squeak at all on my Tenor. Squeak on and off within the first week, then from day 8-14, no squeak every single day.
On the other hand, I also played another sugar test set on my Soprano, which I DID NOT soak in oil water, and these string also did not squeak this week.
So I am not sure if the soaking in peanut oil warm water has anything to do with the no squeak or is it something in the air moisture, temperature...etc.
I am just happy that the squeak is gone.
 
Yeah, I suspect it may be a factor of humidity and moisture or oils on/in the skin. I found it to come and go,but it never seemed to be completely gone.
 
I don't know whether I'm using the new sugars or the old sugars. I put them on my uke several weeks ago. They did squeak a little, but not all that much. So then I hit them with a rag that had mineral oil on it. I used the rag to put mineral oil on the fretboard, so I wiped it over the strings. It helped. But I still have a little squeak. The thing is, I have been listening to James Taylor this morning, and he has a little squeak too. So does John Denver and Bob Dylan. I listened for it with them too. I've never thought about it until now, so I listen for it. I'm not sure that the squeak that I have at the moment is anything that is going to concern me. I have a gig coming up and I'm just going to go for it, squeak and all. I think it is noticeable only when I am thinking about it and it is more so when I'm finger picking, I don't hear it when I'm strumming. It does not seem to be coming from the fretting. Otherwise, I don't hear it and I really like the sound of the strings.
 
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Rllink said:
Otherwise, I don't hear it and I really like the sound of the strings.
Click to expand...

That is because some of the squeaking is really high frequency. It will only be heard by preteens and dogs in the audience.
 
I tried the hot water with peanut oil procedure, they seemed to squeak less for roughly a week.
The squeak returned to being just as loud and annoying as before.
I removed them last evening as I just couldn’t get along with it any longer. I replaced them with the newest revision of Aquila Reds and have hope Mimmo can find a solution to the squeak as I was extremely pleased with the sound of the new Sugar version.
A great thanks to Mimmo and everyone at Aquila for allowing me to have the opportunity to test them.

Cheers,

Steve.
 
I am confused as to why anyone would bother with strings that have to be soaked in warm water and peanut oil before stringing. Shouldn't strings come ready to play right out of the packaging? And shouldn't testing to remove squeaks be done by Mimmo in a controlled environment so that the results could be verified as opposed to all the variables in this test?
 
AQUATOPAZ said:
I am confused as to why anyone would bother with strings that have to be soaked in warm water and peanut oil before stringing. Shouldn't strings come ready to play right out of the packaging? And shouldn't testing to remove squeaks be done by Mimmo in a controlled environment so that the results could be verified as opposed to all the variables in this test?
Click to expand...

I am sure Mimmo has done his fair share of testings before these sugar strings got rolled out from his lab. String that sounds that good does not happen spontaneously. Let's not forget this current round of testing is for the PROTOTYPE new sugar. I think Mimmo just want some real life uke players to give him real life feedback. He is kind enough to send us UU members prototype sets for FREE, so I am not complaining. I am actually excited to be involved in the development of a potentially great set of strings. I hope the effort of UU members can help him out. Mimmo said once a solution is found, he will include that in the manufacturing process of the final product.
 
Lapyang said:
I am sure Mimmo has done his fair share of testings before these sugar strings got rolled out from his lab. String that sounds that good does not happen spontaneously. Let's not forget this current round of testing is for the PROTOTYPE new sugar. I think Mimmo just want some real life uke players to give him real life feedback. He is kind enough to send us UU members prototype sets for FREE, so I am not complaining. I am actually excited to be involved in the development of a potentially great set of strings. I hope the effort of UU members can help him out. Mimmo said once a solution is found, he will include that in the manufacturing process of the final product.
Click to expand...

I think the feedback part is great. The part of knowing the strings squeak, and asking for them to be soaked doesn't. If soaking is the possible cure, that should be fully investigated by MIMO first, then pre-soaked strings would be sent out as a prototype. Otherwise, you really aren't getting feedback on the strings but on how various uncontrolled expwriments worked. Honestly, between that and the new knowledge that different versions of strings have the same packaging, I would be less likely to purchase Aquila strings. I am not trying to be mean. It is just the truth.
 
This was essentially the beta test for these strings. It it is the same as when companies beta test software and make changes along the way. Of course, they cannot digitally send updates. As the testing progressed, this was brought up by a tester as a possible solution, so Mimmo asked people to try and see if they had the same experience. I don't believe this was known or considered prior to the test period. I can't imagine any other was to fix the problem other than long term testing.

Personally, I have had no issue with it and am happy that he is searching for real world input from players.
 
I think the uncontrolled environment is kind of the point of the test, as that's where they will ultimately be used.
 
AQUATOPAZ said:
I am confused as to why anyone would bother with strings that have to be soaked in warm water and peanut oil before stringing. Shouldn't strings come ready to play right out of the packaging? And shouldn't testing to remove squeaks be done by Mimmo in a controlled environment so that the results could be verified as opposed to all the variables in this test?
Click to expand...
Beta testing is a pretty common practice, at least my wife's software company used to do it a lot. The thing is, strings are not played in a controlled environment and it is probably helpful to see what happens with them under varied circumstances. I do agree though with your first comments. But also, as I said before, what I'm hearing is not particularly concerning to me. In fact, it has turned into the character of the strings and I'm starting to like it. But maybe my strings or playing style are not typical. I don't know. I find that things grow on me after a while.
 
I read a little bit about the strings on UU on Facebook and decided to purchase a low G set.

They do squeak ... but it has only been a couple of days.

I LOVE the TONE, volume and gurth of the Sugar strings.

Admittedly, I hope the squeak disappears as I like them as much as fluorocarbon sets ... a pleasant surprise.
 
Early in this thread there was discussion about testing a second formulation of the Sugar strings. Does anyone know if they changed the product or if they are still the same as the originals?
 
Yeah, haven't heard much about the Sugars lately. I could not take the squeak, but they did sound great otherwise.
 
Hi, i am brand new to this forum but have been involved with stringed instruments for over 30 years. I trust this thread is still active. This may be of use to some of you? My experience of squeaky strings has always been to rub a very little talcum powder on my fingers and rub it into /onto the strings. The squeak may come back but after a few applications and the strings "bed in" it seems to eventually eliminate the problem. Talc also seems to allow me to be more consistent with my finger picking technique. Maybe this has been tried or is a technique not recommended but i prefer it and it continues to work for me. Trust this might be of some help and would be nice to hear is anyone else has tried it.
 
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