Kiku strings?

tonyturley

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I've been searching all over this site and the web in general, looking for strings for a 6-string 20" scale kiku that I'm building. Suggestions I've seen have been Cordoba strings for the Mini O, but I've never been fond of Aquila strings. Also suggested were D'Addario EJ27N nylon folk strings, and D'Addario EJ94 Requinto strings.

I watched a video at The Uke Site with a guy playing a Kinnard kiku that was strung E to E, with strings 5 & 6 re-entrant. It sounded very nice, but I didn't see or hear anything about what strings were used. I'm assuming standard Baritone strings for 1-4, but what would work for 5 & 6? Am I safe in assuming those octave E & A strings would have to be unwound?

The choices are bewildering to me . . . any suggestions out there?
 
What tuning are you after? I don't think there are any "off the shelf" for a true Kiku tuning which would be eaDGBE. There are obviously other options for 6-string baritone scale including linear E-to-E, A-to-A, G-to-G. And several reentrant variants of each.

If you know the target tuning, I can offer some suggestions.

I will say that the starting point for these discussions should be the realization that normal tension guitar sets will yield a linear Terz tuning for baritone scale: G2 C3 F3 Bb3 D4 G4. So if you want DGBE as your top four, you'll be using the middle four strings with a bit more tension. If you then want the bottom two to be octave up, you need extra 4th and 3rd strings to make those pitches.

now let me back up to your actual questions. You are correct than standard baritone set could also be used for the first four. The E and the A would not have to be unwound although I suppose they could be. As mentioned above, you can use standard classical strings or you could use unwound flourocarbons like Worth or Living Water.
 
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Thanks for the replies. I'm just building this for myself . . . no customers. I just put a set of Seaguar unwound fluorocarbons on a Black Walnut and Western Red Cedar baritone I built, and they sound dead to my ears. I'll try giving them some more time to settle in. As for the kiku, I saw a reference to La Bella FG112 Classical Fractional Guitar strings for a 1/2 size classical. My only concern is if I tune linear E-E, will the tension be too floppy? If I decide to tune A-A, tension is not an issue for me. I've played guitar for over 20 years, and capoing at 5 and using uke chord shapes when band mates were uncapo'd has worked well for me.
 
You still didn't give us your target tuning.

On the linear E-E idea, it is definitely possible. I had a Cordoba C1m 1/4 size that came that way. Cordoba also has a set made for the Mini in E-E. Personally I did not find the tension floppy. A little loose but not floppy. But I thought that instrument at least sounded muddy with those strings. It was much happier G-G with Thomastik Infeld CF127.
 
You still didn't give us your target tuning.

On the linear E-E idea, it is definitely possible. I had a Cordoba C1m 1/4 size that came that way. Cordoba also has a set made for the Mini in E-E. Personally I did not find the tension floppy. A little loose but not floppy. But I thought that instrument at least sounded muddy with those strings. It was much happier G-G with Thomastik Infeld CF127.
Still debating on my target tuning. E-E is more natural for me as a guitar player, but A-A would work, since I play uke, too. I've heard examples of both on YouTube that sounded good. I may just try both when the time comes and see which I like better.
 
After much searching and consideration - as well as listening to a lot of recordings - I've decided my target tuning is eaDGBE. After watching Zanuck Lindsey playing a beautiful Kinnard kiku so tuned, I'm hooked. Not that I can play like Zanuck Lindsey or build like John Kinnard, but I'll do my best. As this is a personal project, I have no timeline other than steady progress through the summer. As the custom Southcoast set used in the videos is no longer available, I'll be looking for a suitable DGBE baritone set, as well as strings suitable for high E and high A at 20" scale.
 
I'd recommend the Living Water DGBE set and CF30 and CF27 for E and A. If you didn't like the fat flouro D, try the C35 for it.
 
Romero UG2 strings

Might want to consider Romero UG2 s. Just got some as spares for 2 instruments, for E to E tuning. One with a 20" scale length & the other 21.25”/53.98cm

https://theukulelesite.com/pepe-romero-strings-ubb-baby-baritone-strings-1.html
"This string set pairs Pepe’s Fluorocarbon trebles from his Guitar (guitalele or guitarlele) Set GFH with wound Basses that are perfect for tuning a Baritone Guilele E to E. Or if it's a slightly shorter scale it can be tuned G to G like in the example below."

UG1s may be an alternative option for shorter scale (or: at your own risk, higher tension). https://www.stringsbymail.com/pepe-romero-guilele-fluorocarbon-strings-ug1-17520.html
 
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Thanks for that information, but they appear to be linear. I'd still need to find the high e & a strings.
 
After an e-mail exchange with master luthier Jay Lichty, I've settled on my kiku strings. As Jay has several kikus in his lineup, I thought I'd see if he had any recommendation for my re-entrant strings. He suggested .029 and .024 strings for my high E and high A, as those are the same gauges he uses for his 19-20" scale long scale tenors tuned GCEA. He uses nylon, but I wanted to go with fluorocarbons. I just happened to have a set of "Gone Fishin'" clear fluoro baritone strings I recently bought from Bytown Instruments. These are repackaged Seaguar strings, and they have .029 and .024 strings in the package. For my DGBE strings, I ordered a set of Worth Clear baritone strings. I think that is going to work out well.
 
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Looking forward to hearing this.
Now, you do realize that those strings are going to be two octaves higher than normal, right? Is that how Jay tunes his? My earlier suggestions were for one octave higher than normal.
 
Looking forward to hearing this.
Now, you do realize that those strings are going to be two octaves higher than normal, right? Is that how Jay tunes his? My earlier suggestions were for one octave higher than normal.
Jay's kiku in the link Bill posted has the re-entrant E & A. He suggested the .029 and .024 strings when I asked him for a recommendation on the re-entrant E & A strings for my build.

Another angle is to talk to a musician and discuss the music.

Following the advice of an experienced maker is a good idea. So if you tune the instrument as discussed, do you have any ideas or models on how it will be played, and how you want it to sound?

I think Tony might have seen some of these videos, but for others who are interested, Kimo Hussey has made several videos with different Kiku models which are easy to find. This is one with a Lichty being explained and played by Harry Koizumi with Kimo Hussey.
Yes, I've seen videos with Kimo and various kikus. There's also this one with him and Zanuck Lindsey, where Zanuck is playing a Kinnard kiku, also tuned eaDGBE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY-2H9WkIfI
 
Yeah, all these videos have the "one octave up" E & A. The discussion above with gauges and stuff still seems weird to me, but you know the sound you're after, so I'm sure you and Jay know what you're doing.
 
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