UkeStuff
Well-known member
I generally run Martin Fluorocarbons on most of my ukuleles, and on those that don't have them, I have similar "feeling" strings, such as Living Waters, Aquila Sugar (thicker, in my mind), or Worth Clears. On my small scale (sub-soprano), I run Fremont Black Hard strings so I can keep them at GCEA. I have no problem with alternative tuning, but I've tried to transpose on the fly in ADF#B and it wasn't fun. Running regular strings on the sub-soprano scale didn't work, as you would expect.
I've also noticed that on our school ukuleles, the Aquila Nylgut (KIDS, but also regular) feel more flexible at the soprano scale, which actually makes things like string bends and side-to-side (versus up & down) vibrato more fun.
I do have a couple of ukuleles that are set up correctly, particularly tenors, that are just plain hard to play because of the tension on the strings, which are tenor strings (e.g. Martin 620). I have no idea why instruments with the same scale length, same general set-up, and same strings would differ in the "feel" of tension on the strings...but they do!
I've also noticed that on our school ukuleles, the Aquila Nylgut (KIDS, but also regular) feel more flexible at the soprano scale, which actually makes things like string bends and side-to-side (versus up & down) vibrato more fun.
I do have a couple of ukuleles that are set up correctly, particularly tenors, that are just plain hard to play because of the tension on the strings, which are tenor strings (e.g. Martin 620). I have no idea why instruments with the same scale length, same general set-up, and same strings would differ in the "feel" of tension on the strings...but they do!