Im volunteering at a local kids Ukulele program. and am restringing all the uses and doing minor repairs. What are my options as far as decent cheap Uke strings Sopranos, Concerts and Tenor sized. Please keep in mind this isnt a thread about cheap strings suck. lol. Anyhoot Im looking buy in bulk. thanks
Yeah, buy Seaguar (blue or red) or Extreme fishing line leaders. Reels of 20 or 50 yards. Try the break strengths 40-80-60-30 for g-c-e-a. You will need to part with a good sum for those four reels but you’ll be set for ages.
Edit: the guages will work for all three sizes you mention, but if you’re faffing about with low g buy a reel of 100 too if you can find it. Then I suppose you could make up a set for thicker / higher tension reentrant with 60-100-80-40. But those would be rather stiff.
I tend to use nylon fishing line. The same recipies apply to monofilament flourocarbon leader line though the higher cross sectional density of flourocarbon gives it a slightly different sound. My recipies for standard gCEA tunings are:
For tenor length 400mm+ or thereabouts 17 inches in the old money
50 80 60 40 lb fishing line
For concert/soprano 360 mm or thereabouts
60 100 80 50 lb fishing line
Substitute wound guitar D string or mandolin G string for low G
For sopranino 270mm or thereabouts with dGBE octave(s) above guitar tuning
40 60 50 30
Substitute 80 or 100 lb line for low D
I paid $3.80 for a spool of Jarvis Walker bulk economy line at Big W about 4 years ago. They had similar line at Kmart for similar prices from other makers. For some time the local stores (far from the ocean) were only stocking 60lb and lighter but I went in and checked in passing and the only missing poundage in the list was 60lb.
Seaguar fishing line. A lot of people swear by it. I've heard it on one of my friends' ukes and it sounded great. You can search Youtube for Seaguar ukulele strings for more info.
I tend to use nylon fishing line. The same recipies apply to monofilament flourocarbon leader line though the higher cross sectional density of flourocarbon gives it a slightly different sound. My recipies for standard gCEA tunings are:
For tenor length 400mm+ or thereabouts 17 inches in the old money
50 80 60 40 lb fishing line
For concert/soprano 360 mm or thereabouts
60 100 80 50 lb fishing line
Substitute wound guitar D string or mandolin G string for low G
For sopranino 270mm or thereabouts with dGBE octave(s) above guitar tuning
40 60 50 30
Substitute 80 or 100 lb line for low D
I paid $3.80 for a spool of Jarvis Walker bulk economy line at Big W about 4 years ago. They had similar line at Kmart for similar prices from other makers. For some time the local stores (far from the ocean) were only stocking 60lb and lighter but I went in and checked in passing and the only missing poundage in the list was 60lb.
Due to their mixed reputation and minimal difference in packaged cost (to fluorocarbon) I don’t use nylon strings. However I can see the economics of this (bulk) way of doing things but what puzzles me is what the down side really is? Lots of folk talk about the pluses of fluorocarbon line and of buying it in bulk as fishing line, but reels of fluorocarbon line aren’t cheap. What’s the down sides to nylon?
Tone.
I have tried some good quality nylon fishing leader line in the appropriate gauges on my bari and they sounded so lackluster I took them off within a day or two. In fairness, I have not tried them on any other ukes... but let’s just say I’m glad I can still use the line for fishing.
I'm more relaxed about tone. I make a lot of cookie tin ukes and some of them sound like a spanner against a tin shed while others have a tonal ring similar to a National guitar. There is a saying amongst fishermen that fishing gear is made to catch fishermen, not fish. Something similar applies to uke strings. If you have the time and money to check out different strings attached to your uke to chase that element of flourocarbon mellowness on your C string and the sharp attack of nylon on the A string I say go for it.
Just be aware that expensive fishing line may be made to be invisible in water and have higher knot strength and these may not be properties sought after in ukulele strings.
Lol indeed - you mean you had the info you needed from the start? And 2 bucks a set is more than I would pay if I cut them off my Seaguar reels.
Bear in mind that you asked in a luthier's forum, I haven't ever been into the cheapest possible strings. I choose fluorocarbon for the sound and reels of fishing line leader for the accessibility. I hate finishing a uke I've spent a lot of time on and not being able to string it up right away because the shops are closed.
But do the math yourself then and I’ll stop cracking you up. The forum won’t accept an ebay link but put this into the search bar at that site:
Berkley Big Game Fluorocarbon Fishing Leader Line 100/75yd 20lb-80lb Sea Coarse
Four reels of that or of a similar product would be a good choice. Thinks I.
One disadvantage of using fishing line is that it is invisible to fish so if the person you are stringing the uke up for is descended from a mermaid they might not be able to see the strings.
Titch I would agree on........ I don't use the cheapest anything on the Uke I build. This is for a Kids ukulele Foundation that Im donating my time to for restringing all the Ukes and doing minor repairs to. fyi
Due to their mixed reputation and minimal difference in packaged cost (to fluorocarbon) I don’t use nylon strings. However I can see the economics of this (bulk) way of doing things but what puzzles me is what the down side really is? Lots of folk talk about the pluses of fluorocarbon line and of buying it in bulk as fishing line, but reels of fluorocarbon line aren’t cheap. What’s the down sides to nylon?
I believe it is all subjective—but the issues for me are feel and tone. I like the feel of fluorocarbon better, and I like the clarity (to my ears) of a fluorocarbon string. But these are 100% subjective things...and you can still buy Nylon—in fact, Ernie Ball just came out with nylon strings.
As for the OP and his (#14) comment on price, the way I read it is that he doesn’t think that the saving is worth the hassle required by individuals. I’ve never found strings available at the prices he suggested, a new set of Martin’s costs me upwards of £7 here in the U.K.
@Choirguy. Thanks for the info, you confirm my suspicions and experiences.