merlin666
Well-known member
Wow thanks that is more than I would have done. Though for Martin the tensions don't look correct and the new Premium strings are not yet included.
Nylon fans, assemble!
- Thread starter Dohle
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Wow thanks that is more than I would have done. Though for Martin the tensions don't look correct and the new Premium strings are not yet included.
Ukecaster
Well-known member
While viewing the Strings By Mail website, I noticed that they offer Aquila Nylgut, New Nylgut and Super Nylgut. I wonder which ones are most commonly fitted on the legions of inexpensive ukes being sold?
As far as more expensive ukes, Kanilea is one brand that ships their ukes with Aquilas, I believe those are the Super Nylgut variety.
As far as more expensive ukes, Kanilea is one brand that ships their ukes with Aquilas, I believe those are the Super Nylgut variety.
badhabits
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merlin666
Well-known member
None of these are Nylon. But putting an Aquila tag on the cheap uke is a very cost effective way for manufacturers to include premium content and is definitely more desirable than bling or gloss paint. Do these tags not show what kind of Aquila are used? I assume they would be plain Nylgut, but some people may be able to tell from the colour.
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Dohle
Well-known member
Most reputable brands (Kala, Ohana, Kanile'a of course) tend to come with Super Nylguts. I don't think regular Nylguts are even made anymore. New Nylgut is the basic Aquila string, so if someone lists strings as just Nylgut it's probably New Nylgut. And yes, they are not nylon, rather Aquila use their own patented material which they've branded Nylgut.
Graham Greenbag
Well-known member
That’s interesting, I wonder when and why they switched from New Nylgut to Super Nylgut. Does anyone know?
I’m not sure whether or not it’s been mentioned further up the thread or not but Kala sell a range of black rectified nylon stings under their brand name: https://kalabrand.com/products/rectified-nylon-ukulele-strings?variant=6903060267041
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CPG
Well-known member
So I've been recording a bunch of string tests on my new Pohaku soprano (thread to come) and this thread made me decide to give titaniums another chance. I think they are not technically nylon, but I know they get tonally grouped in with nylons. I've more or less been a flourocarbon guy ever since I pulled the Aquila's off my first tenor ukulele several years ago (a cedar top Kala) and stuck on a set of Martin M600s. I did try titaniums a number of times and always felt like they made my ukes sound lifeless compared to flourocarbon. They also had the intonation issues that others have mentioned but those seem to be resolving as they settle in on my Pohaku. While they do have a lovely fundemental tone on the Pohaku I still find them a bit dry (for lack of a better description) for my tastes. Even though I don't love them I am going to leave them on for a few days since they seem to take quite a while to settle in and just because I want to give something that I haven't played much before a fair shake. Because I never loved titaniums I realized I've never actually tried plain white nylon strings on any of my ukes. Since I'm doing a bunch of string testing right now, I'm thinking about ordering some Pro-Arte white nylons. My question is, if after several days I continue to still find the titaniums to dry for my tastes should I even bother with the plain nylons? To those who have tried both titaniums and plain nylon how do they differ? I know the titaniums are supposed to be a little brighter, but beyond that I'm not sure what to expect from the nylons. Strings are relativley cheap so I don't mind buying stuff to try it, but my time is limited so I don't really want to bother if I think there is very little chance I'll like them (though I may anyway). Thoughts?
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Dohle
Well-known member
My personal opinion with Titanium and clear nylon strings is basically what it says on the packet. Compared to clear nylon, Titaniums are a tad brighter (but nowhere near as bright as fluorocarbon), possibly a little bit louder, but other than that they are quite similar. Basically what you said. Then again, I've noticed that the Titaniums often sound better with larger ukes that have more inherent depth and warmness in their tone, whereas clear nylons, in my opinion, suit a much larger variety of ukes better. For example, Titaniums made my Kamaka soprano sound really tinny whereas clear nylons are completely fine on it. The opposite was true for my Kanile'a concert for which I actually prefer the Titaniums. So while clear nylons probably won't make a world of difference I think they're still worth a try, particularly since they are one of the cheaper type of string.
Side note: It's important to know that D'Addario Pro-Arte Clear Nylons for soprano ukes are made for D tuning. If you tune them to C tuning they will feel really floppy since the gauges are lower. Nothing wrong with D tuning of course, I use it on some of my ukes, but for my Kamaka soprano I'm planning on trying the D'Addario Clear Nylon concert strings for C tuning purposes since they seem to have similar gauges to some other brands of clear nylon strings meant for sopranos/C tuning.
Side note: It's important to know that D'Addario Pro-Arte Clear Nylons for soprano ukes are made for D tuning. If you tune them to C tuning they will feel really floppy since the gauges are lower. Nothing wrong with D tuning of course, I use it on some of my ukes, but for my Kamaka soprano I'm planning on trying the D'Addario Clear Nylon concert strings for C tuning purposes since they seem to have similar gauges to some other brands of clear nylon strings meant for sopranos/C tuning.
CPG
Well-known member
Thanks! I think I need to grab a set and give them a try, just to find out for myself. Since I'm now only keeping 2 sopranos I kinda want one with flourcarbon and one with something else just for variety. The Pohaku actually sounds really amazing with the Aquilas that came on it (which I don't like usually like ukes) so I may end up with those on it, but I want to give nylon a fair shake. I did not know that about the soprano pro-artes being made for D tuning so I'll get a concert set or another brand. I tune up to D once in a while for fun or for fiddle tunes but play 99% in C tuning. Funny enough, I tuned the titaniums up to D and liked them better. I love flourcarbon but they get too bright at D-tuning sometimes.
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Dohle
Well-known member
Depends on the instrument but the difference isn't massive usually. Generally clear nylon is ever so slightly brighter and has more projection, possibly more volume as well, but I've found that on certain ukes the difference is negligible. Of course, D'Addario Clear Nylons for soprano specifically are meant for D tuning whereas the Black Nylons are meant for C tuning so that's quite a significant difference. But if you compared these with the same tuning then the difference is as I described earlier.
CPG
Well-known member
Why are D'Addario rectified black nylon strings for soprano 28, 33, 40 29, but the D'Addario rectified black nylon strings for concert 26, 32, 36, 28? Strings for longer scales are usually thicker if anything to allow for greater tension to bring the note up to pitch on a longer scale. Than the Kamaka's which are made by D'Addario seem to just use gauges similar to the D'Addario branded soprano strings for both concert and soprano, which is more typical. I thought the D'Addario concert gauges were a typo at first but everthing I have found online lists them as that.
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Dohle
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I have wondered the exact same thing. And yes, the concert strings are thinner than the soprano strings. I've tried them myself. I've no idea why this is the case but the concert strings do sound quite good nonetheless. I don't know if it's the smaller gauge compared to D'Addario's clear nylons but on my concert uke the black nylons sounded surprisingly bright. More bizarrely, even the 3rd string on the tenor black nylon set is smaller in gauge than the soprano 3rd string.
Kamaka soprano strings are meant for concert ukes as well and they have almost identical gauges to D'Addarios soprano black nylon set. I suppose you could just use the D'Addario soprano set on a concert as well.
CPG
Well-known member
Wierd. When I saw the tenor C string gauge I assumed it was wound! Well. I guess I'll stick with the soprano strings. It would be interesting to compare them both on a concert or both on a soprano (though that's too deep into string testing even for me).
CPG
Well-known member
That makes much more sense. I feel like I've seen a black nylon set for soprano before with a wound 3rd (though I may be remembering wrong). I've tried wound 3rd on tenors but never on a soprano. Wonder how that would sound.
Rllink
Well-known member
When I first started playing ukulele Aquila Nylgut were the magic string that made cheap ukulele sound good and expensive ukulele sound better. So a lot of ukulele manufacturers started putting them on their ukes. As soon as that happened Worth Browns became the wonder string. It always seems that whatever is on the ukulele from the factory, anything else is better.
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