"For what it's Worth"...

Update: I've had the "Worth clear" strings on my Clearwater baritone for almost two months now and they sound great. The tone is awesome, and after an initial tune (I always check the tune before I start) they stay on pitch while I play.
I would love to know what # test fishing line each string is derived from as I am tempted to buy some spools of line and cut my own.
Maybe in fluorescent green? ; )

rustydusty said:

For what it's worth, I have not been happy with the longevity of the wound strings in the sets I have put on my baritone uke. Seems like they last about a month or so and I start to see damage where the windings make contact with the frets. I can't help but think this is going to affect the tone. While I haven't looked at the strings with a magnifying glass, I can feel it catch when I run my fingernail under it. I liked the sound of the strings (Aquila Lava), but it is a little too "guitar" like for me as I have five guitars and want the baritone to sound more like a ukulele. So yesterday, I installed a set of "Worth" clear fluorocarbon strings and absolutely love them! At first l wasn't that impressed, but after only one day, they sound a lot better. Am I just being ""anal" or are other players having this issue with wound strings?

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Wound strings are used on guitar all the time. The key is to wash your hands before playing and wipe down after playing. Even the coated strings, just washing your hands and wiping down really helps in preventing oxidation in the high wear areas. I learned that when my silver strings turned black; that was years ago. Now my strings last a long time.

Spools of fishing line would give me way more uke strings than I would ever need, but it would be fun experimenting with different diameters and colors. Just a thought really, I am very happy with my Worth fluorocarbons and it was a double set to begin with...

rustydusty said:

Spools of fishing line would give me way more uke strings than I would ever need, but it would be fun experimenting with different diameters and colors. Just a thought really, I am very happy with my Worth fluorocarbons and it was a double set to begin with...

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That's how the vast majority of popular FC brands emerged. They bought some fishing line, experimented until they found what they liked and then just cut and package. So if you experiment and you find great mix just sell the rusty dusty brand and make big $.

Haha, I will claim a secret formula for my product and become a "string tycoon"!

For what it's worth, I stopped at a tackle shop with all the string diameters from my Worth baritone set written down. To my surprise, spools of fluorocarbon line cost about $25-$35! Needless to say, $100-$140 for four spools of line (4 different diameters) is more than I expected to spend on an experiment. For sure I would have strings for life, but what if I didn’t like them as well as the Worth set I have on it?

ripock said:

I tried Living Water strings and they were okay but the brand "Living Water" sounds like some non-denominational Christian Cult

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The term "living water" is used in the Bible but that is not its origin. In days of yore, "living water" was a common term in general use in the Middle East to denote water from rivers & lakes as opposed to water from cisterns & wells.

bellgamin said:

The term "living water" is used in the Bible but that is not its origin. In days of yore, "living water" was a common term in general use in the Middle East to denote water from rivers & lakes as opposed to water from cisterns & wells.

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Thanks for the info. The real deal-breaker for me was the color. I prefer on dark strings on aesthetic principles. They match the dark fret board better. I did contact Ken at Living Water and asked if he'd ever have dark strings. He brusquely and emphatically said no. So Nowadays I use Worth or Fremont Blacklines.

ripock said:

He brusquely and emphatically said no.

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I more than a few Brits & many of them are brusque & emphatic at times. Oddly enough, I like that in a person.

bellgamin said:

I more than a few Brits & many of them are brusque & emphatic at times. Oddly enough, I like that in a person.

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It did not escape my notice that people emigrating from the Cosmos forum are indeed that way. I found it odd as it did not jive with my experiences in Great Britian. I wondered if it was something particular with British ukers or if it was just keyboard-warriorism.

I seem to recall that a year or two ago one of the online string sellers had samples of the fishing line you could buy in tenor lengths.

Also several posts in the past that stated various #tests and diameters for the various string usage.
I copied this 2 years ago, but didn't do anything with it. Unfortunately, when I copied it, the precise forum didn't copy with it. Most likely from Uke Talk.

From the UU Forum in 2009-2019 had this Thread that went on for 10 pages:

KC8AFW 09-13-2009, 07:31 PM
Here you go...Using the Seaguar Fluoro Premier leaders:
1st string - 40lb test (0.022" dia)
2nd string - 50lb test (0.024" dia)
3rd string - 60lb test (0.028" dia)
4th string - 40lb test (0.022" dia)
This is the closest I could get to a set of Worth CMs based on diameter.

UkeNukem 09-13-2009, 09:55 PM
I tried one size just to see if it had tone then picked up 30, 40, 50, 60, and 80 lbs 50 yard
spools. Total cost about $25. They worked well on my concert using 30-60 lbs but even
using 40-80 on the soprano they were not stiff enough. I recently changed out the
concert to 40-80 and it sounds very nice, stays in tune (once stretched) and feel great,
smooth and not so skinny. So here's what I mean...
A = 40 lbs
E = 60 lbs
C = 80 lbs
G = 50 lbs
So this leader is "Perlon" not flouro but it's made by a German company with a long
history of nylon and they report that Perlon has a much better stretch memory that
monofilament. All the flouro leader was way more expensive. 50 yard spools are cheap yet
give me many, many sets of uke strings. Any left over I can always use fishing.

rustydusty said:

For what it's worth, I stopped at a tackle shop with all the string diameters from my Worth baritone set written down. To my surprise, spools of fluorocarbon line cost about $25-$35! Needless to say, $100-$140 for four spools of line (4 different diameters) is more than I expected to spend on an experiment. For sure I would have strings for life, but what if I didn’t like them as well as the Worth set I have on it?

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Time to take up fishing, I guess!

Actually I have a Grady White center console boat that I keep in a slip in our neighborhood, for fishing the Chesapeake Bay. Just had 6 rods restrung with new line this spring, and no, I'm not going to cut line off them to try out! That's my son sitting at the helm...