Aquila ukulele sugar strings: are there available a few haters because squeack noise?

hello guys, testers
news in matter of the samples sent you?
Grazie
Mimmo

Mimmo, got mine today. Testing will begin shortly, thanks.

mimmo said:

hello guys, testers
news in matter of the samples sent you?
Grazie
Mimmo

Click to expand...

I actually just sent you an email about my experience with the new strings. I'll post the main part of my message below for everyone else to see as well:

From what I remember, the squeakiness for the new strings is noticeably reduced compared to the original sugar strings. I don't feel the squeakiness on my fretting hand at all, and on my strumming/picking hand the feel of the strings is now much closer to nylgut strings. I can feel a little bit of squeak particularly on my thumb if I play the strings very softly but it is hardly noticeable in normal playing. However, I did notice this only after a couple of play sessions which makes me wonder if it's because the "anti-squeak" has worn off, but I don't exactly know how the "anti-squeak" was applied to the strings so it's hard for me to say for certain.

Other things I noticed: Compared to the original sugar strings, the new strings feel slightly more slippery or smooth but not overly so. As I said before, the feel is closer to nylgut strings. Definitely playable. From what I remember, the strings felt like they took a bit longer to settle than the original strings but I'm not completely sure about this. I didn't notice a difference in sound but it's difficult to say for absolute certainty without a side-by-side comparison.

For those who didn't get the chance to participate in the testing, I'll say that the colour of the string has changed slightly. They are now whiter and more opaque than the original sugar strings which look very much like fluorocarbon strings. Closer to nylguts in looks as well. Overall, I think they are an improvement but I suppose your enjoyment of them would still depend on how easily you would notice the slight squeakiness they still have. I'm interested to see if Mimmo will develop this "anti-squeak" feature further.

Do you find the strings to be the same gauge as before?

I don't have anything to measure them with but the gauge does feel similar. I'm certain that at least the new strings aren't thicker than the old ones. Maybe Mimmo can answer that directly.

Any thoughts on tone and volume? The original strings were really very lively with a lot of ring and projection.

Mimmo,

Mine arrived today. Will let you know soon. Thanks!

Strung up my solid mahogany tenor yesterday, to test the new Sugars that Mimmo sent. Unfortunately, the A string broke near the nut as I was first bringing it up to tension. I replaced it with a spare Nylgut I had. So, I can't give a full review yet, as Mimmo is sending me a couple more A strings, so I'll have a full set. However, I can say that these new Sugars have no squeak at all, and feel fast, with a smooth texture, like flouro strings. Color looks somewhere between flouro and Nylgut. Now, one day after install, they sound full, sweet and clear, very different than Nylguts, which I usually find too middy and dull. YMMV. Looking forward to having a full set on there, but so far, they seem like great strings.

I purchased a set of 155U tenor LG sugars almost 6 months ago and have them on my Kala solid acaia. The initial squeak was soon overcome by using a drop of Talc on my fingers (and a very light dusting rubbed onto the strings), this is something i have been doing for well over 30 years as it provides me with a consistent tone, volume etc, and i continue to do it when i feel it’s necessary. Its not the strings that change, its the fingers, for example i always rub a drop of talc on after washing my hands, it takes a few seconds from a small container kept at hand. Am i the only one who does this or are there others? This Uke is played at least 2 hours a day every day. I have become TOTALY sold on these sugars

Obviously, its not all about how good the instrument is ......Bad Strings can Mask what would otherwise be a quality sound from a good instrument.
What i expect from a good string set up :-
How they sound =Power, Punch, projection, crispness, clarity, sustain, resonance,
How they play, (Playability) = Flexibility, Firmness, Barring, consistency, balance, Uniformity, (can all strings can be heard when strummed), do all strings shine through.
How they Feel, (touch) = smoothness, do they allow the fingers to run along the strings without feeling too unpleasant. Do they add to my playing experience. Do they make me want to continually pick the instrument up and keep playing it.
How they stretch and bed in. Do they hold a tuning.
How they look (Appearance) = Do they look good Do they enhance the appearance of my Instrument.
How they wear = How long do they last before needing replacement.
I can say without doubt, these strings DEFINITELY tick all the above box's for me. There are strings that i have not tried (but i have tried many) and i have no doubt that for my style, these shine above all others.
I am extremely interested to see the comments/ Reviews from those who received them but so far there has been little feedback. I imagine it might take some time....In the meantime i have just purchased another 5 sets of my favourite sugars and will get more.
One question Memmo, why ask the sugar haters to trial them...? Why not get a good even feedback from the lovers as well?
As i say i am very interested in the findings of the testers and how they perform. Everyone has their favourites but look forward to reviews as to just how do these strings stack up against others The current sugars sound amazingly clear clean and crisp (especially up the neck) and have a fantastic chime and ring.
So apart from colour, are the new Sugars IDENTICAL and has the Squeak gone.

hey Dude (banjo Byham), thanks to be a lover!
I want the haters because I want to transform them in lovers! And this can be done if I cancell that damn squeack from the planet Heart.
at present I have received very good reports for the uke players as well as from the classical guitar players.
here is how these squeackless Sugar strings looks: not more trasparent like a glass but a bit similar to nylon. nothing else has changed except the fact that the vibrato is a bit better.

my best regards From Northen Italy: we all here are fighting against that damn Corona Virus. Aquila is doing a great job with all out workers. We have a very stricht protocol

Ciao
Mimmo

Mimmo- thanks for all of your research and development and for making great products. I look forward to the final result on these. In the meantime, stay healthy!

When ? If the strings make their way to my supplier i will definitely give them a go...Looking forward to it... Mimmo your a star, your research and development along with you generosity, research and commitment that help keep music alive is outstanding THANKS. Stay Safe..

Mimmo,

I don’t know what magic you made, but after about 48 hours, my new Sugars not only had settled fully, but also the squeaks was gone.

(They did squeak a little bit when I first put them on and when I gave them a play about 36 hours later.)

They do seem to have a bit higher tension than the originals. I also cannot say if they have the terrific dynamic range of the originals. I will know more after playing them more.

But yes, I will buy them when they are for sale. Thank you for letting us “haters” test them!

thanks!
May I ask please feedbacks of other testers?
Thank you very much
Mimmo

mimmo said:

thanks!
May I ask please feedbacks of other testers?
Thank you very much
Mimmo

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I was traveling last week when my strings arrived, so my delivery was picked up by a friend. I should be getting them from him either today or tomorrow, so I will be testing soon. I can't wait to give them a try!

mimmo said:

thanks!
May I ask please feedbacks of other testers?
Thank you very much
Mimmo

Click to expand...

I got mine and they have settled in nicely on my concert. They still squeak a tiny bit, but it's hardly noticeable and doesn't affect my opinion. They have lots of sparkle and chime and sound as good as or better than the Reds I took off. They feel somewhat like Nylgut, which for me is not a good thing. I don't hate them any more, but there are other Aquila strings I like more. I live in Washington State, so I'll have plenty of time to test them on my tenor and I'll let you know how that goes. I've gone from a hater to a mildly disliker, one who will keep using them because I dislike changing strings more than using these.

Ok, to recap, I installed the new test Sugars on my Ohana tenor last week. The A string snapped near the first fret, just before it reached pitch at A.

Mimmo sent 2 more A strings. As you can imagine, it's rather scary getting a fresh envelope delivered from Italy these days, so I placed it out in my woodshed for 3 days before touching it again. Today, I installed one of the replacement Sugar A strings. I brought it up to pitch very slowly. Got to G, got to Ab, kept going up slowly to A, but it snapped again, this time at about the 5th fret, so I don't believe it is nut related. I remember a while back, there was a snapping problem with the Aquila Reds, and some special installation method was mentioned. Maybe I'll need that here. I have emailed Mimmo on this, we'll see what he recommends. I have one last Sugar A string to try.

My set of new test Sugars arrived yesterday. (I had been out of town and a friend picked them up when they were delivered last week.) I plan to put them on an instrument later today and will report back. In fact, that instrument has a set of the old Sugars on it right now, so I hope to be able to do a pretty good comparison of the look, feel, and sound.

I should note that the old Sugars I have on had been around long enough that they had pretty much lost their squeak. They had a date stamp of 3/2018 and had been sitting in a box in my closet for some time. I had bought a couple of sets a while back to see if I could live with the squeak (I couldn't) so one of the sets just got stored away. I decided to go ahead and put them on an instrument several weeks (maybe months? I have lost all track of time...) when I heard that new Sugars were happening, just to be able to compare. I was surprised to find that they had very little squeak when I put them on, and what was there diminished rapidly. I suspect, but can't prove, that whatever made the old ones so squeaky breaks down over time. I'll also note that this was the longest I had left Sugars on; the squeak always drove me so crazy that I just couldn't take it.

So, what you are saying is that they need to be aged or "vintage"

EDW said:

So, what you are saying is that they need to be aged or "vintage"

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Quite possibly!