One string louder than others?

Hi-
I'm a beginner and working my way through the James Hill Booster Uke classes and enjoying them. Very clearly laid out and organized to feel like you're making steady progress.

I bought my uke about a month ago so it's fairly new. It's an Enya laminate tenor. It's still got the stock Enya strings, which I believe are fluorocarbon.

One thing I've begun to notice is that some strings are louder than others. Particularly the open strings in any given chord. It could be my playing but after poking around here and on the Internet - it seems like it could also be a need for new strings. Any advice?

In an open chord - the G and A strings are quite loud. Enough that it makes the chord sound wonky, like I'm playing the wrong thing. I can confirm that I've got the right fingering and my instrument is in tune.

Thanks in advance!

Just to double check, are you fretting the strings with the tip of your fingers? Or in other words, if you play a single string open and then fretted is the sound more or less as loud/bright? If so, then the issue might be the strings themselves as you alluded to.

The Enya stock strings have had a bad reputation, although I've heard that the stock strings on some of the newer models have been better. If you were unlucky enough to get a bad set of strings it's a good idea to try new ones. Or in any case since strings are cheap. If you like the sound otherwise it's probably best to stick with fluorocarbon. Something like Martin or Worth strings are usually decent.

de24 said:

In an open chord - the G and A strings are quite loud. Enough that it makes the chord sound wonky, like I'm playing the wrong thing. I can confirm that I've got the right fingering and my instrument is in tune.

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If the chord sounds wrong, then I'd suggest checking the intonation of the fretted strings.
If the string tones aren't balanced, then the chord might sound muddy or overly bright, but it shouldn't sound wrong.

As @Dohle suggested, you can always try a string change.

Is it possible to return the uke? If so, maybe that'd be the simplest solution.

A couple of checks: Is it low or high G? Very often a low G overwhelms the other three strings, no matter what uke (and often what strings). Does the A string ring out because it is the last string and your technique changes to pluck it harder than the C and E?

Some strings can definitely sound louder than others even in the same set. And some instruments also have louder resonance with certain strings. And intonation problems are a possibility. But I wouldn't discount the possibility that it's your technique, because that's what I see most in new players. Beginners tend to fret notes and chords in such a way that's often not as clear and loud as an open string. The easiest way to check would be to have an experienced player play your ukulele, but assuming that's not possible, you can see if the problem persists after a string change.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I ordered a new set of strings and we'll see if that helps. Answers to questions that were asked:

-Yes I'm using the tips of my fingers to fret
-I'm currently using high G tuning.
-How would I check the intonation of the instrument?
-I don't think I can return it. Would this fall under the category of a defective item? I've had it about a month.
-As I strum, it does seem like the G and A strings are louder - perhaps this has to do with how I'm strumming?
-Unfortunately, I do not have access to a more experienced player to test the instrument.

Hi all,
I wanted to revisit this. The issue is still persisting and I would welcome any advice or suggestions. I changed my strings to Worth Browns and I'm still hearing it - maybe it's even worse. I've attached a sound file so you can hear it. It's really driving me nuts.

Here's the sound clip. I'm playing an exercise from James Hill's Booster Uke:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bfRRtX9noddss0eqXVtG7oQthXz9KZ9Q/view?usp=sharing

Here's the first thing I'm playing with the B7 chord. The A string is overpowering.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mobvYth89FFnLjEdqPbZquOoF-24dTB-/view?usp=sharing

Around :15, I play this:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SygtNsTGuY1Ytns_udnj44y2_jvDVq32/view?usp=sharing

I switch to a D7 (with first finger barring the 5th fret) with no open strings and I get a nice clean chord. Then I play the C6 with the open G string and the same thing occurs.

At first I thought it was the strings, or maybe my playing, but this seems so odd. When I practice it's all I can hear and it's really bothersome. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Kevin

Echoing what Rafter said, it may be that the nice long sustain on those "open" strings is contrasting with the less-lengthy sustain of the fretted notes, and that our perception of that is that the open strings sound "louder", when in fact it's simply that they're ringing out with longer sustain. To my ear, your sound sample sounds just fine!

Ahh! de24, I know exactly what you mean. For me it’s the G open string plus the fretted G on the 2nd string that sound over loud, driving me crazy. It’s like it’s amplified. I Even thought it might be my ear drums playing tricks on me. I have tried everything to fix the problem and concluded that it must be caused from the tone wood (koa) and there is nothing I can do about it.

It's an older thread, but I'll comment for EarthSea. Much of how strings sound depends upon the design and build of your ukulele. Some suit a particular instrument better than others. I play tenors exclusively. So my experiences come from playing that scale.

I had the darndest time with my first ukulele. It was a Fender Nohea, laminate tenor. The C-string always sounded way louder than the other strings. They were no-name Nylon strings. I never found a way to tame it while strumming. Eventually, I put a set of High-g Martin 620 strings on it. The C was much pretty much in line with the others strings. But since it was in C-tuning, the string seemed to resonate more with the uke.
As I stepped up the quality of my tenors, I found that a Low-G often could over power the other strings when strummed, especially if it was a wound string. When I bought a tenor that had both a wound Low-g and a wound C-string that E & A strings stood no chance of competing. A single wound C-String would also be louder than the other strings if strummed with the same force.

I really like Living Waters fluorocarbon strings. They are well balanced. With a nice bell-like sound. The Low-G is plain. And if I hit it a little harder than the rest of the strings, because it's the first one I strike as I strum, then it can really boom out.

For fingerstyle, wound strings have grown on me. I appreciate them much more. Plus my skills are better than when I had the Fender.