Nylon fans, assemble!

When discussing strings here at UU, I've noticed that often two string types emerge, fluorocarbon and nylgut. My perception is that fluorocarbon is massively preferred by the more experienced player especially on a more expensive uke while nylgut is often recommended for cheaper ukes and beginner players (big generalization, I know).

I've been a proponent of fluorocarbon strings for a while now and they're still the type of string I use most, but recently I've been trying different nylon strings on some of my ukes as well. When I first started playing ukulele, I really disliked nylon strings because they stretch so much. That's probably still the biggest disadvantage with them in my book but since I learned proper stringing technique it's not such a big deal anymore. I've found that I really like nylon strings especially on larger instruments. I mainly play sopranos but I do have a concert and a baritone that are now both stringed with D'Addario clear nylon strings. I wasn't surprised they work well on the baritone because the warm nylon strings complement the lower tuning very well but I didn't expect them to work this well on a concert. It's probably at least partially because the concert in question is a Kanilea K1 which has a really full and warm sound anyway so, again, nylon strings complement the tone of it well. Some concert ukes can still be quite bright and punchy so I doubt this is universal.

I very recently got a Kamaka soprano and I'm determined to find some suitable nylon strings for that as well. I didn't like the stock black nylon strings, which is the only type of nylon string I don't really like at least on a soprano (much more suitable for larger sizes), so I quickly changed them to D'Addario Titaniums (which I still consider to be nylon, or at least equivalent) and they seem promising but I still need to test them out some more. The Titaniums work really well on the K1 as well and they've become one of my favourite type of string overall. I also tried some clear nylons on my vintage Martin soprano and they work exceptionally well also because the D'Addario clear nylon soprano strings are meant for D tuning which gives the uke a higher (and traditional) tone in itself.

So all in all, this has been quite a pleasant little experiment. In addition to the tone, I really like the feel of nylon strings, probably more so than fluorocarbon, and at least on some ukes I prefer the thicker gauge as well. Also they're cheap.

Any other nylon fans out there? Any favourite brands or recommendations for further testing?

I engaged in a similar experiment and was pleasantly surprised by the AG x AQ strings. I use mostly Uke Logic and Worth so I expected these to be like piano wire.

I do like them very much, especially the feel of the thicker gauge. I play strictly tenors.

If I want to really warm up the sound of a tenor I will use nylon strings. If you aren

I'm trying out nylon strings at the moment, a set of aNueNue Black Tide soprano length, made from Tynex. Quite a change from fluorocarbon, obviously, but I was hoping to find something a little closer to the gut strings I used to use, which have more than doubled in price.

So far, not bad. A little "boomy" perhaps, but I like the feel of them and they are starting to settle (slowly…) Unfortunately I think my old soprano has suffered badly from a spell in a damp flat a couple of years ago and the intonation seems horrendous, so I need to try them on something else to make sure the strings aren't contributing to the awful tuning issues.

BigJackBrass said:

Quite a change from fluorocarbon, obviously, but I was hoping to find something a little closer to the gut strings I used to use, which have more than doubled in price.

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I'm really interested in your experience about real, natural gut vs synthetic strings.

Throwing away personal preferences, what kind of "modern string" do you feel comes closest to the feel and sound of the natural gut strings?

EDIT: this is more of an open question to anyone who has used natural gut strings, really. I just saw BigJackBrass mention this and asked him, but please share your own experience as they're all valuable to me.

donluca said:

I'm really interested in your experience about real, natural gut vs synthetic strings.

Throwing away personal preferences, what kind of "modern string" do you feel comes closest to the feel and sound of the natural gut strings?

EDIT: this is more of an open question to anyone who has used natural gut strings, really. I just saw BigJackBrass mention this and asked him, but please share your own experience as they're all valuable to me.

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Not sure what qualifies as “modern strings” but I believe Aquila makes natural gut strings for ukulele.

I've tried them all.. fluorocarbon, nylgut and nylon.

Til this day, Nylon is still my favourite.

Can't go wrong with D'addario Pro-Arte. I sometimes use classical guitar strings on ukuleles (they're the same thing).
They have warmth and the thickness and moderate tension allows for better finger picking.


Just from my individual experience:
Fluorocarbons, I find that they're too thin and tight for finger picking.
Aquilas nylguts tend to sound best strummed, but a bit too harsh and 'twangy' when picked (they squeak too).

Professionals mostly use fluorocarbon? Who says?
Jake Shimabukuro exclusively uses D'addario nylon and so does James Hill on some of his ukes.

About 12 minutes into this video, he starts playing with Aquila real gut strings. I don't know how practical they are for amateur use, though.

donluca said:

Throwing away personal preferences, what kind of "modern string" do you feel comes closest to the feel and sound of the natural gut strings?

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The Tynex nylon ones do have something of the softer tone and fatter strings of gut, but they're not really close. Aquila Nylgut have, I believe, been reformulated since I last tried them, so I don't know how close they come now; I liked the old Nylgut but found they could easily overwhelm the uke with volume above all.

I used to use the real gut strings from Clifford Essex, availability of which can be erratic and the price has shot up to be comparable to Aquila's genuine gut now. They are treated to be water-resistant, which does give them a slightly varnished feel. Honestly I tried gut out of curiosity and only ever on a mahogany soprano, but they were very nice to play and I loved the sound, which is no surprise given the old ukulele records I like. However, they frayed and wore out much quicker than synthetic strings and I can't justify the gulf in price so I would be very hesitant to actually recommend them.

Nick Cody and many others have often lamented the disappearance of Hilo nylon strings, which were also Tynex nylon.

Huh, I hadn't even heard of these aNueNue nylon strings. They're not even listed on their website so I don't know if they're discontinued. Can't find them on any store either. Would love to try them out.

I think James Hill has recommended the Hilo strings. Sad to hear they seem to be discontinued as well.

Alex from SUS did a fairly comprehensive showcase of Aquila strings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGFuQNzFWas) and mentioned the gut strings quickly. He certainly wasn't a fan. I haven't tried them and am not that curious since they are so expensive and apparently wear out quickly.

Dohle said:

Huh, I hadn't even heard of these aNueNue nylon strings. They're not even listed on their website so I don't know if they're discontinued. Can't find them on any store either. Would love to try them out.

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Hm… I bought them from World of Ukes but they were also available at Southern Ukulele Store: both shops showing them as out of stock now, so you may be right about them being discontinued. I'll ask Matt at World of Ukes.

Alex at SUS has some text about nylon strings, worth a look. See: https://www.southernukulelestore.co.uk/blog/stringsindepthdaddario/

I’ve tried a few nylon strings but suspect that the cheaper and dearer ones are quite different in intonation. If I was to do it again I’d want to use those that have been ground to specified diameters (I think that ‘rectified’ is the term) rather than those simply extruded without rigorous size checks. On my Ukes I found that Nylon strings were quieter than Nyglut and Fluorocarbon, but better instruments might respond differently. I also found that intonation went out high up the neck - ground strings might be better than mine were - but toward the nut that error wasn’t t noticeable and it might be ‘no big deal’ for strummers.

If I wanted to play quietly (there are times when that’s handy) then I’d consider fitting Nylons to one of my laminate Ukes. The nut would need to be reworked as nylon strings are quite a lot bigger than the slots I’ve got for Fluorocarbon.

Edit.

pmorey said:

I engaged in a similar experiment and was pleasantly surprised by the AG x AQ strings. I use mostly Uke Logic and Worth so I expected these to be like piano wire.

I do like them very much, especially the feel of the thicker gauge. I play strictly tenors.

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I missed the above post earlier on. I hadn’t understood that Aquila offer nylon strings under the above name, as far as I can see Aquila also manufacture the nylon (bio-nylon).

Jan D said:

Not sure what qualifies as “modern strings” but I believe Aquila makes natural gut strings for ukulele.

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Sorry, I should've been more precise.
By "modern strings" I mean strings which are not made of natural gut which you can find in today's market, using new technologies/materials.

BigJackBrass said:

The Tynex nylon ones do have something of the softer tone and fatter strings of gut, but they're not really close. Aquila Nylgut have, I believe, been reformulated since I last tried them, so I don't know how close they come now; I liked the old Nylgut but found they could easily overwhelm the uke with volume above all.

I used to use the real gut strings from Clifford Essex, availability of which can be erratic and the price has shot up to be comparable to Aquila's genuine gut now. They are treated to be water-resistant, which does give them a slightly varnished feel. Honestly I tried gut out of curiosity and only ever on a mahogany soprano, but they were very nice to play and I loved the sound, which is no surprise given the old ukulele records I like. However, they frayed and wore out much quicker than synthetic strings and I can't justify the gulf in price so I would be very hesitant to actually recommend them.

Nick Cody and many others have often lamented the disappearance of Hilo nylon strings, which were also Tynex nylon.

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Thank you so much for your insight.
Mine was a mere curiosity because it looks like everyone has their own preferences when talking strings, but I was wondering if anyone has ever been on a quest to try and find a new available string which is not made of natural gut which can reproduce the tone and feel of the original gut strings used in the ukes back in the day.

EDIT: yes, I know there are many factors in play like the shape of the uke, the size, the woods used etc. I was just wondering if, given the same uke with natural gut strings, there are strings which are able to mimic the feel and sound of the natural gut.

I tend to gravitate towards nylon for my vintage mahogany instruments and fluros for my newer instruments. I love a nylon string on an old Favilla 'hog.

I do like them on my baritone (with wound D&G) but I’ll stick to fluorocarbon for my sopranos (unless my tastes evolve to something else).

Mimmo from Aquila posted in one of the older threads, a video about making natural gut strings. (It isn't made of actual "gut", and cats have nothing to do with it.) Mostly they make them for violins, violas, stand up bass, etc. It's very labor intensive. Very interesting to watch.

Nylgut and Super Nylgut Aquila strings are Nylon based but have other ingredients to try to replicate the sound of real gut strings.

I prefer fluorocarbon on my ukuleles but, for classical guitar, fluorocarbon leaves me cold: poor vibrato response, too high tension and too bright for the first two strings. Oddly I like a fluorocarbon on the guitar's third string...

wrt Hilo strings, a reincarnation is being sold by mele as "echoes of aloha" strings. they are on their website, but the full explanation is only on their ebay listings

Alex from SUS has a video on D'Addario ukulele strings, including comparisons of their nylon strings to their other strings. D'Addario makes nylon strings for Jake Shimabukuro as well as Kamaka.

Yes, I've seen that video and it is quite good. Alex explains and demonstrates the different strings really well, at least from his perspective. Although to be fair, it's quite difficult to hear the difference on a Kanile'a.

I praised the D'addario Titanium strings previously but I've noticed that they don't really suit a soprano, or at least my Kamaka. The tone is decent but since they are really susceptible to temperature changes even from touching them they go sharp really easily, which I'm guessing is exacerbated by the short scale length so the whole uke sounds constantly out of tune. I still like the Titaniums on my concert and baritone ukes but decided to go for something else on the Kamaka. Since not many companies seem to make clear nylon stings for sopranos that are made for GCEA tuning, I decided to try Ernie Ball clear nylon strings and boy do they sound so much better already. I suppose I could've just used some D'addario concert clear nylon strings but I didn't have any handy so maybe next time.