Bari-Tenor String suggestions?

I have a tenor uke strung with Southwest fluorocarbon strings designed for g tuning (dgbe). They're getting old and tired, but since Southwest is no more, I am at a loss with what to replace them with. I've tried the GHS bari-tenor, but prefer the fluorocarbon sound and feel on this uke. Any suggestions or alternatives for barii-tenor strings would be appreciated.

Haven't exactly tried the Living Water dGBE set but I've loved LW on everything I've put them on. My 5 string is dGCEA with LW and it's really good.

Pardon my ignorance here, this is a good leaning experience for me. By asking about bari-tenor strings, do you mean strings that are designed to fit both bari's and tenors? Couldn't regular ol' baritone strings be used on a tenor?

John boy said:

By asking about bari-tenor strings, do you mean strings that are designed to fit both bari's and tenors? Couldn't regular ol' baritone strings be used on a tenor?

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No, bari-tenor strings typically mean reentrant G tuning, dGBE with a high d. Baritone is more typically DGBE with a low D (although reentrant sets for baritone are available). You can sometimes use baritone strings on a tenor but they would usually be tuned 2 or 3 semitones higher to get the same tension they would be on baritone.

Got it, thanks Jim.

I personally prefer the Living Water set - close second is the Fremont set. With either set, I like to use the Fremont low G string for the d “G” B E. Sounds awesome!!

Don't forget, Aquila have a tenor re-entrant dgbe set too, readily available and inexpensive.

I tried a set recently and it came with a non-wound red low-G string (rather than a wound one).

Very warm and rich sound. Great feel to the strings too.

(I don't personally like fluorocarbon. Prefer nylon and nylgut)

Thanks for the helpful suggestions. I have a set of Fremont strings on the way. I'll wait and see how they are and if I have to go Living Water (I hesitate because they become pricey if you have to order a special set with international shipping--are bari-tenor available somewhere in US?). I haven't used Aquila in years, didn't know they made g tuning, they may be worth another look.

jimafornia said:

I hesitate because they become pricey if you have to order a special set with international shipping--are bari-tenor available somewhere in US?

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You can check with Uke Republic, but I don't think they stock that set, and I don't know of another dealer in the U.S. that carries LW.
https://cargo.ukerepublic.com/product/living-water-ukulele-fluorocarbon-strings

The gauges for my dGCEA set are (0.70/0.91/0.74/0.66/0.57). The 0.70 is not used in any of the standard sets. You'd have to order a low G tenor set and then something else to get an extra 0.66 to use for your 'd'

If you get two or three sets, it's about as cheap to order direct from Ken. Shipping is £3 regardless of order size.

Two days ago, I finally got around to changing strings on my Kala baritone KA-SBG. D’Addario Baritone Nyltect EJ88B,
Tuned DGBE.

Love the new sound. Like having a new uke. My wife, who doesn’t say much, even came to my man cave to check the sound out. Offered, “Very pretty.”

The old strings had been on about a year, tuned to GCEA. Never was really happy with this, and i knew I did a rather poor job of installation on two strings. But I just mostly laid it aside and got too lazy to change.

But yesterday, I told my guitar playing son to marvel at its new sound and my string installation skill. Perfect. My best job ever. Got so happy with myself, yesterday I changed strings on a concert and tenor.

Anyways, that’s my success story.