Concert to Bari?

Jan D said:

I recently purchased a Fremont Soloist Low G string. Based on my research, I found that Elderly and Lucy had the lowest shipping fees. (The string itself only costs $4.00.). Mine arrived from Elderly in a couple of days. It fit in the nut slot on my concert ukulele perfectly with no modifications, and the sound balances well with the other three strings. I'm a happy camper, and highly recommend you give it the Soloist a try, on either your existing uke or a potential new one.
Jan D

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Great! Thanks!

Hi, you asked what I would suggest, that would be a non wound fluorocarbon concert string set, (Living Waters in my case), but you say you have Aquila strings on it just now, so I would buy a low G red Aquila single string for now, to check how you like it.

(Don't go with a wound string on a concert scale, they tend to be too low in tension, in my experience.)

Chopped Liver said:

Ugh! Thanks for reminding me the nut might need some work!

Well, I do have a spare soprano. I am not crazy about the size as it feels harder to hold. Maybe I should put it up for a trade.

And those Freemont Soloist are hard to find! I found them at HMS and Elderly. I'll check out Lucy's, too.

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Might need work or might not, it’s just a possibility unless the string isn’t wound in which case it’s virtually a certainty - I have some unwound low g’s here waiting to be fitted, wish I’d bought the Fremont wound instead. There’s also some question about compensation being needed on the saddle too, but actually what’s necessary for leisure players isn’t that clear to me.

There is some question on the life that wound strings give - brands and experiences vary. For the long term you might be better off with unwound strings, but at the moment you’re experimenting with what’s easy and Freemont’s wound low g has plenty of supporters.

Sopranos can be tricky to hold; I gave up on being a purist years ago and fit straps to all of mine (button on the lower bout and a lace to the strap on the headstock), it made a really significant improvement for me. To my mind one logical way forward is a wound low g on one of your (normally unused) Soprano’s and then, if it works acceptably well for you, perhaps onto Mims for her advice and supply as below.

Lucy’s have always given me very good service - never used the other suppliers so I can’t comment on them.

Ohana do a basic Pineapple Laminate Concert and Mim sells them, if I lived in the US then I’d be very minded to try one out.

I've never had to alter the nut slots on any of my ukes to use a low G.

Thanks, Keith.

I am not a purist and I have a strap on one of my ukes. I say whatever makes it easier to enjoy!

Chopped Liver said:

Thanks, Keith.

I am not a purist and I have a strap on one of my ukes. I say whatever makes it easier to enjoy!

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You will get at least a 10-1 vote in favor of the Fremont Soloist as your best choice. Because of the diameter being .030" compared to florocarbon being .036" you won't have to worry about nut slot width when installing the Fremont.

DownUpDave said:

You will get at least a 10-1 vote in favor of the Fremont Soloist as your best choice. Because of the diameter being .030" compared to florocarbon being .036" you won't have to worry about nut slot width when installing the Fremont.

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Great. I plan on ordering the Fremont Soloist!