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

I received mine Friday evening also. As Cruze said earlier, I will give them about a week or so to settle, then I will post my review.

Here is like the Sugar string samples looks like:



Squeack: there is still this problem unfortunatey. It goes away after a week or so on or using a bit of hand creme. I will try again new solutions. What about the sound quality? Some of you whouls have received the samples. You can have the best sound after a day

They arrived Friday and I got them on today. I'll wait till they settle to see what I think, but so far they squeek even with lotion, unless I use quite a bit of it, and I hate getting lotion on the neck of my uke.

Mine came in on Friday also, they're going on my Soprano today after work. I spent some time recording the old Sugar strings on the same instrument last night, so I'll have some comparison once the new ones settle in.... can't wait.

Got mine Friday too, haven't put them on yet, maybe tonight

Day 2

Put them on my Pono ATD acacia tenor yesterday. They are still settling. For the short time they hold tuning they sound pretty good.

Interestingly, I tried a little lube "Finger-Ease" on a piece of excess string I trimmed from the tuners. It made absolutely no difference in the squeaking of the strings. So far, neither has hand lotion.

Day 3

The strings have settled enough to play for a while. I'm impressed. They have a nice bright chime when strummed. I think they have a little more fluorocarbon sound to them, and less of the nylon than the first release. It's not as hard a sound. A little rounder. But the difference is subtle. They are loud like nylon. Very good, crisp projection.

They are thicker and stiffer than fluoros. Which will please some players I know that like the fluoro sound, but prefer thicker strings that don't bend as easily.

But still a hellacious squeak. I tried hand lotion and that lessened it for a few minutes then came back. Really annoying when I pick the strings. I'm sure it will go away after a while.

I hope they make a plain (Non-wound) Low-G version. - In the new test strings.

Day 5

Settling in nicely. Still have to tune them, but aren't as far out as they were on Day 3. They have a sweeter sound to me than your existing Sugars. The original version Sugars that I've had on my Ohana Rosewood/Cedar TK-50G for 6 months sound a little crisper. A little hard to compare on different instruments. Your test strings sound more like fluorocarbons; while the older ones sound a little more towards the Nylgut or Nylon side. Both have characteristics of both types of strings.

I’ve installed the strings a few days ago on a Koaloha concert and a Ken Timms soprano. They are settled in now and there was squeeking but getting less.
I like the feel and smoothness of the strings and quite impressed with the sound after a few days. The soprano is fuller and louder so is the Koaloha. I’ll update in a few weeks.
Tim
.

I have had these strings on for a few days. I find them to have amazing presence and projection. The balance between strings as well as up the fretboard is excellent. The sound is very clear, crisp and ringing with a lot of sustain. Intonation is great. They settle in very quickly and there is only very slight stretching after the initial couple of hours. I will see how I feel after a few more days, but I am impressed with the sound and feel. Right now about the only negative I can find is the squeak, which I notice mostly when I am fingerpicking using my fingertips. I'll see how things develop, but these have a lot of nice qualities.

I have put them on my Compass Rose, I play it a bit every day and still waiting for the squeaking to go away, I think I saw a review from Rob MacMillan that it takes a few weeks. The sound profile seems to be not geared to be high (bell like) or boomy, intonation is fine. These strings are a bit more "watery" and "clear" than the older sugar strings.
Will post a more detailed review once the squeaking goes away, I tried moisturizers, they help but temporarily.

kerneltime said:

The sound profile seems to be not geared to be high (bell like) or boomy, intonation is fine.....

Click to expand...

Perhaps it is the variance in each instrument or size (I am trying them on a soprano), but I find them to have plenty of highs with lots of ring. Interesting. I look forward to see what everyone else thinks.

EDW said:

Perhaps it is the variance in each instrument or size (I am trying them on a soprano), but I find them to have plenty of highs with lots of ring. Interesting. I look forward to see what everyone else thinks.

Click to expand...

I have it on a tenor and it had PhD strings on it before, so the comparison is with those strings. These are louder and with more presence.

Will be putting them on my Spruce topped Córdoba 22T this evening, initial impressions early tomorrow.

Considering either these, the Polyguts (Martin Premiums), or Worth Browns for my Firefly banjolele. Any idea which might work best? The Super Nylguts that came standard on it need to be replaced and I was OK with them. I've played all varieties.

Played them for a bit last night, they really sound and feel very similar to the original sugar strings to me. i like them. Squeak was not bad on the original set or on these in my opinion.

hendulele said:

Considering either these, the Polyguts (Martin Premiums), or Worth Browns for my Firefly banjolele. Any idea which might work best? The Super Nylguts that came standard on it need to be replaced and I was OK with them. I've played all varieties.

Click to expand...

Both are good choices. You might try the Martin Premiums. They might be a good match on that type of instrument.

Thank you very much guys.
Yes, the strings sound better after a while, say, 2 days.
Squeack: this is the only open problem. yes, after a week or so it goes away or became less. Hand lotion help but i am still working to find the final solution during the production of the strings. Heck, I have never seen before this kind of problem.
A friend of mine, a guitarrist, told me yesyerday that if you put the strings in very warm water (80-90 celsius degree ) for 10 minutes and in the water there is a lot of salt the squeack stop forever. I will do that thest soon.

Keen 2018: low G unwound in pure Sugar? They are already in the market since September 2018 (check the dater on the small white label stick on the envelope)

mimmo said:

Thank you very much guys.
Yes, the strings sound better after a while, say, 2 days.
Squeack: this is the only open problem. yes, after a week or so it goes away or became less. Hand lotion help but i am still working to find the final solution during the production of the strings. Heck, I have never seen before this kind of problem.
A friend of mine, a guitarrist, told me yesyerday that if you put the strings in very warm water (80-90 celsius degree ) for 10 minutes and in the water there is a lot of salt the squeack stop forever. I will do that thest soon.

Keen 2018: low G unwound in pure Sugar? They are already in the market since September 2018 (check the dater on the small white label stick on the envelope)

Click to expand...

I was asking about the test strings. If you release them.

I seem to remember in physics class (almost 50 years ago) that if a surface gets too smooth the coefficient of friction rises as well and you can get a squeak if you rub it. Like when you clean a glass mirror. Since your strings are crystal clear and super smooth I can't help but wonder. ... But that's just a WAG.

These are the first strings I have ever played that squeaked when I finger-picked them.

I like them. I think they'll be great on my tenor resonator. But, I prefer the Living Waters & Worth Browns. Just a matter of personal sound preference. I do like them much better than nylon.

Ciao Kenn 2018,
the problem is not related to the surface but to some molecular chemical bonds between the components of this polymer.
Right now I have tryed some 10 different substances on the surface of the string; boiling the string with some products as well as putting the slipperingredients during the extrusion.
No way.
My friend told mer that putting the strings 10 minutes uin very warm water with a lot of common salt detroy the squeack.
I wonder if it is real...
Mimmo

EDW said:

Both are good choices. You might try the Martin Premiums. They might be a good match on that type of instrument.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I've seen a lot of people like Worth Browns on the Firefly. I've become a bit of a fanboy of the Martin Premiums, so I may try them first.

mimmo said:

Ciao Kenn 2018,
the problem is not related to the surface but to some molecular chemical bonds between the components of this polymer.
Right now I have tryed some 10 different substances on the surface of the string; boiling the string with some products as well as putting the slipperingredients during the extrusion.
No way.
My friend told mer that putting the strings 10 minutes uin very warm water with a lot of common salt detroy the squeack.
I wonder if it is real...
Mimmo

Click to expand...

I tried putting them in warm water, but got carried away

As I play these, the more I like them. I find that they have lots of projection with a full bodied sound and are really responsive.

I don't know if polishing the surface with a very fine steel wool or other light abrasive would help with the squeak. I do not always have that issue, but it is present some of the time. Overall, I think the quality of these is great.