Kanil'ea Tenor Strings

RLM3121

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I am lucky! I just got a Kanil'ea k1T tenor for a retirement gift. I'm not sure what to do about the Aquila strings. Do any of you prefer them and leave them on?

I don’t do a lot of strumming, but prefer chord melodies and fingerpicking. What are good strings for that? I’m sure this has been talked about, but I didn’t find anything in a search. Thanks for any help!
 
That is a fantastic retirement gift and should keep you well occupied. There are basically three type of string materials, Aquila, nylon and fluorocarbon. I have heard some Kanilea tenors strung with fluorocarbon and they sounded great. There are many brands but starting with Worth clear or Oasis warm or bright will give a good idea of how fluorocarbon sound on your new tenor.
 
I just got a Kanile’a super soprano & I have Worth Clear and Oasis Bright strings on the way to try out. I had Worth Clears on an Islander soprano that sounded good.
 
Kanile'a has/had an agreement with Aquila strings. They said in some of their information and ads that their instruments were made with Aquila strings in mind. To extract the optimum sound possible. Or something to that effect. I don't particularly like them. Though a lot of players like the Aquila Reds.

I prefer Living Waters Low-G Fluorocarbons on my K-1T. I have Worth Brown Low-G Fluoro strings on my other K-1T (long story) and they sound very good as well. I have a hard time deciding which I prefer.
 
I have a K-PET and did not like the Aquila nygut that was installed with it. Replace it with Oasis brights and it sounded much better. I have also tried Oasis warms, and although they also sound very good, I liked the sound and sustain or the brights better.
I met Joel Souza at an ukulele festival and asked him why he uses Aquila nygut strings on his ukuleles (thinking that I would suggest using fluorocarbon strings to sound better) and he told me that he that was the sound that liked on them. Needless to say, I didn't mention fluorocarbon strings.
 
I currently have anuenue blacks on my kanile'a tenor which sound great but I also like living water and Fremont blacklines.
I couldn't get on with the stock strings - I tried but didn't like the sound or feel. Someone people really like them though; it's good there's so much choice!
 
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I have Martin M620's and a Fremont Low G on mine. I hate the sound and feel of the stock strings and can't understand why they come as standard other than Kanile'a must have a very agreeable arrangement with Aquila.
 
I think that Aquila strings actually sound best on my kanilea tenor and that their complex sounds matches the character of the instrument. I most like their Aquila sugars which have a full warm sounds as well as great sustain. I match these with Thomastik infield wound c and low g. I must have tried at least 8 sets before settling on this as my fave combo :)
 
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