Uke Logic String... wow!

I ordered a few sets a while back and finally had the chance to try them out. I had a plan for them all along since the hard tension set has the exact same gauges as Aquila nyleguts which I never liked. Anyway, Aquilas were the standard strings on my Libero soprano by Marco Todeschini of Antica ukuleleria, so the UkeLogics are the perfect replacement.

Well, after a few day of settling (which went surprisingly fast) I can say: Marco's soprano always sang but with the new strings the sometimes a bit too boomy sound (maybe due to the spruce top?) is gone. Perfect, love 'em!

I ordered a set. I see that they send two A strings so that goes a bit towards mitigating the cost... but honestly, since it’s the fret grooves that get worn into an A string that make me change the whole set, I’ve never noticed if there is also wear in the other strings when I change them. It might very well be that with the extra A string thrown in the price, it is effectively like buying two sets of strings.

I bought a set of the high tension low G strings and really didn't like the feel of them. Someone suggested I tune down to Bb which made fretting them a bit easier. I got a low D low tension set for the baritone which I like a lot better than the high tension strings. For me, the low tension Uke Logic strings are the way to go.

I went with the hard tension UL strings on my Kanile’a due to the overall volume and dynamics at low volume. Plus, I figured increasing my hand strength was a good thing. I just received a Kala with low g soft tension UL strings and I can’t believe how soft the tension is. I really like it as well. I plan on trying more strings since I’m still young in my Uke journey, but I won’t be straying from Uke Logic strings for the foreseeable future.

Is anywhere in the UK selling these? My dad has a bit of arthritis in his hand and struggles with some chords. Low tension soprano strings would be great.

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A quick aside. Don't want to hijack the thread.

If you can't find the UkeLogic in the UK, you might try Fremont Black Line Fluorocarbons. Low or High G.

They are very bendy and easy on the fingers. Their sound is warm and mellow. Yet on my Martin 1T they can really boom as well as play softly.

Back to the Uke Logic strings, already in progress...

I got a Uke Logic High G hard tension set recently for a Kala Spruce tenor (KA-SPT-SC) and these are nice strings.

I bought the ukulele straight from Kala with discounts so there was no setup and after I lowered the saddle and nut a bit, there was some mild buzzing with nylgut strings. I'll get around to doing a DIY fret job on it, but in the meantime, I threw these on.

Joel is not kidding about these being heavy tension. I've not tried the J71 tenor strings, but these are definitely some of the highest tension strings I've tried. They sound fantastic and really are pretty balanced and due to the tension, eliminated all buzzing. The attack on notes with these is great.

Playing up the neck seems to be a bit challenging for me with this tension though, so these either might be a bit too high tension for me or I might need to build up more strength for which these would be great for doing. . . I definitely want to try a soft tension too though. I might end up trying these on my Pono tenor as I'd be more comfortable with that much tension on a uke with a truss rod.

I'll definitely be trying these on other instruments as well.

c0mptar2000 said:

I got a Uke Logic High G hard tension set recently for a Kala Spruce tenor (KA-SPT-SC) and these are nice strings.

I bought the ukulele straight from Kala with discounts so there was no setup and after I lowered the saddle and nut a bit, there was some mild buzzing with nylgut strings. I'll get around to doing a DIY fret job on it, but in the meantime, I threw these on.

Joel is not kidding about these being heavy tension. I've not tried the J71 tenor strings, but these are definitely some of the highest tension strings I've tried. They sound fantastic and really are pretty balanced and due to the tension, eliminated all buzzing. The attack on notes with these is great.

Playing up the neck seems to be a bit challenging for me with this tension though, so these either might be a bit too high tension for me or I might need to build up more strength for which these would be great for doing. . . I definitely want to try a soft tension too though. I might end up trying these on my Pono tenor as I'd be more comfortable with that much tension on a uke with a truss rod.

I'll definitely be trying these on other instruments as well.

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Setup is super important and the playability of the design. My compass rose with Uke logic is super easy up the neck as well..

Ukecaster said:

I got a High Tension High-G set (haven't tried yet), and found it interesting that, like Oasis, the string gauges are the same for soprano, concert and tenor. What really surprised me was the baritone gauges are also the same as the other uke sizes too.

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I have seen that from some string makers. I hope someone who can discuss string tension/tuning/scale length can weigh in on this.

Ukecaster said:

I got a High Tension High-G set (haven't tried yet), and found it interesting that, like Oasis, the string gauges are the same for soprano, concert and tenor. What really surprised me was the baritone gauges are also the same as the other uke sizes too.

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The tuning is lower for baritone so you end up in the same tension range as the higher tuning on the smaller scales. I once tried a standard low G tenor set on baritone and it felt best at EAC#F# tuning instead of DGBE but it was a short-scale baritone.

For sets that claim to work across various sizes, the tension does vary. I like the Uke logic low tension strings on tenors but they don’t work for me on sopranos. On modem sounding sopranos the high tension Uke logic strings are perfect. The choice of tension depends on 1. The person’s likes 2. The setup and 3 the build for the uke.
Some ukes are built light and for low tension, for ukes that like higher tension if the setup is not right, it will be hard to play and some folks like plunky sounds and loose strings and some prefer high tension and a lot of dynamic range... no right answer for everyone here..

kerneltime said:

For sets that claim to work across various sizes, the tension does vary. I like the Uke logic low tension strings on tenors but they don’t work for me on sopranos. On modem sounding sopranos the high tension Uke logic strings are perfect. The choice of tension depends on 1. The person’s likes 2. The setup and 3 the build for the uke.
Some ukes are built light and for low tension, for ukes that like higher tension if the setup is not right, it will be hard to play and some folks like plunky sounds and loose strings and some prefer high tension and a lot of dynamic range... no right answer for everyone here..

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My low tension UL strings finally arrived on Friday. I put them on my Kiwaya tenor. So far, I like them a lot. They’re very comfortable to play and have a warm, rich tone especially when plucked or strummed with the pad of my thumb. I’m not a big fan of the way they sound when I strum them hard with all my nails, as I often play... but. They’d probably be brilliant with a felt pick or for a player with no nails. I had one nail I’d just filed and didn’t polish the top...it sounded horrible, until I polished the ridge off the edge that formed when I filed it. Sadly, that was the first sound I heard from these strings.
I agree they’re probably best suited for tenors. That C string is especially fat... any fatter and it would pinch in the nut slot.

Ukecaster said:

I'm surprised that you find the C string so fat. They publish it as .032", when the Martin M620 C string is .034".

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That is surprising! I took a set of Martin 620s off to replace them with the UL strings. The UL C string seemed significantly fatter - and, like I said, seemed to just fit in the nut slot. Maybe it was packaged incorrectly? Maybe I'm full of ****...dunno. But it does seem fatter.
They are comfortable strings though, and as they settle in I'm digging them more and more.

After listening to a number of sound samples on YouTube, I finally got around to buying and installing a set of Uke Logic, pink, low tension, high G on a Kamaka Tenor.

Thoughts:
- light tension is probably right (for me) on a tenor--it almost feels "normal tension," so I fear for what hard tension feels like
- tone is on the bright side--sweet and bright are how I'd describe it...but all subjective terms
- sustain is outstanding
- I do appreciate that it ships with 2 A strings
- pink color is distinctive; I probably would only have offered it in pink from a branding perspective - uke logic = pink strings
- the A string sounds a bit thin and bright, perhaps "tinny" when strummed--almost like a plastic uke type of sound. Not sure how to describe it but it is the least balanced string in the set, IMO. I don't know if adding 0.01 to it would make it any better or even worse--and maybe I'll get used to the sound, but that's the one strange string in the set.

Has anyone tried tuning higher on shorter scales? Like D tuning on soprano (or concert?) with the low tension set. I wonder how that works

I can not find any info about this company. Are they only available from HMS?

merlin666 said:

I can not find any info about this company. Are they only available from HMS?

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They're made by Joel from HMS. I think he also sells them on Etsy.

They have talked about the strings in some of the HMS podcasts. Joel worked for a couple of years with a fishing line company until he had exactly what he wanted for the strings. Both hard and low tension. I forget whose wound Low-G he adopted.

David Ingalls had them on his new Laminate ukuleles he introduced on an HMS podcast. It's available on the Ono Ukuleles website.

Joel Blechinger's company, UkeLogic, offers them at www.theukulelesite.com and at etsy under the UkeLogic name.

Jim Hanks said:

Has anyone tried tuning higher on shorter scales? Like D tuning on soprano (or concert?) with the low tension set. I wonder how that works

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When I look at the specs for the single low G strings it is evident that low tension means thin and high tension means thick. I assume that if you use them on different size instruments you will need to adjust tuning to have similar tension experience on each instrument, or use thicker strings for tenor and thinner strings for smaller sizes. It sure would help if they had a tension chart that shows actual tension of sets for different scale lengths and tunings. If we knew diameters of all strings we could plug them into the D'Addario calculator to do this.

I just put a set of Uke Logic Low Tension, Low G on my Kala KA-ASFM-T-C flame maple tenor. It came with high g Aquila Super Nylguts, which sounded cheap and plasticy, doing no justice to the solid maple tone of the uke, in my opinion. And I didn't like the feel, as I prefer the thinner fluorocarbons. HMS, who set up this uke nicely, recommended the Uke Logic Low G, low tension when I asked for a string replacement recommendation. So I bought a set and finally put them on. I like them very much! I do agree with a couple of comments made here. The low tension tenor strings feel almost normal, as Experimentjon said - I'd be concerned with how the high tensions would feel. This uke has a slotted headstock, so I was concerned the strings might not have enough tension. But they feel just right. The strings are nice and warm, rich, and have good sustain. Very nice sound across all 4 strings. The plasticy, cheap sound of the Aquila's is gone and this uke now sounds rich and full. I do agree that the A string could be have more volume when strummed, in fact the tone is toward the deeper end on this maple uke when it's strummed. I'd like to hear the difference in tone with these strings on a spruce top, though. Overall the strings are very even in volume when picked, and they sound sweet and rich. At least on this uke. I do not find the C string to be thick, in fact it's thinner than the previous Aquila. So I'm very happy in general with the Uke Logics, though I think I'd look for something a bit brighter at the top end for this uke at next stringing, but will still retain a rich low end. For those who don't know, Uke Logic is Joel's formula at The Ukulele Site in HI. They're a really nice addition to the uke string market, and might be my new favorite string.

I'm grateful I saw this thread. I purchased a couple of sets of Uke Logic low-tension strings for my cheap-but-loved Paisen, as I've been really unhappy with the D'Addario sets I'd found locally pre-COVID19. The strings got here a lot more quickly than I was expecting, and they make the cheap uke sound pretty good. Importantly, they're easy to play with my somewhat damaged hands. It increases my practice time and hurts less. I'm very pleased with them so far.