Worths Brown VS Clear- Can you hear a difference???

Valerie

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So, I've two KPK concert ukes and one is strung with worths BM and the other with CM.

I wanted to see if there was a difference in sound between the two. I've gone back and forth between clear and brown on my ukes and have never been able to really tell if there is a difference (and I had started to believe there wasn't...)

So, anyways, I did a recording playing some on each uke and- sure enough, as far as I can tell- no difference in sound...

http://www.mediafire.com/file/jzv2mvonnmm/bm vs cm.mp3

But maybe it's just my novice ears.

Can you guys tell a difference?
 
Personally, I do hear a difference between my BT and CT strings. The CTs are a lot louder to my ears. The BTs are very mellow.
 
I gotta tell 'ya....they sound the same to me, too. I'd go with whatever you think looks the best at this point.

I thought it was kind of funny....when your audio clip opened up in my iTunes library, it got classified as "blues" in the genre column....
 
Hmmm... then, in my recording- can you tell which uke (one or two) is strung with the browns and which with the clear?

Edit @ Mailman: Yeah, Audacity makes me assign a genre and I always forget to change it... blues is the default for some reason...
 
Clears do sound brighter to me, both in your file and on my own ukulele.
 
To me the browns sound significantly deader than clears. I've tried both on my Flea, and strongly prefer the clears. The browns reminded me of the cheap black strings that come on inexpensive ukes: dull and quiet.
 
I can't tell a difference? Both sound super though if that helps! Nice Uke'n
 
On my koaloha, I can hear the difference between the brown and clears. The clears are brighter... but on my Melokia, they sound exactly the same.. Im thinking its the wood characteristics..
 
Thanks Valerie. I haven't tried the Worth's yet on my KPK. D'Addario's on now and I don't know what to think. They are mellow and took a month to settle in but they feel really good for fingerpicking. I preferred the snappier Aquila's, though.

I'm hesitating on the Worths because my Kumalae soprano and my Koaloha Concert are both strung with Worths and I like them that way... So the KPK should be the mellow one in the lot.

I tend to notice from the sound sample that the BM's sound more mellow, in both fingerpicking and strumming.

I'll try to send you a sound sample with the D'Addario's. I'll try to record it after the Town Hall Meeting tonight.
 
I think Ken Middleton talked to a rep for Worth and he was told the clears and browns are the same except for color. The Browns were for darker ukes and the clears for lighter colored ukes.

Works for me. I have the Browns on my KoAloha and Kamaka tenors and the clears on the Pineapple Sunday (koa fret board.)

Although I stated the clears seemed brighter I have never recorded anything so I can only judge by what I hear while playing. It also seems like the clears are slightly higher in tension and this might give me the tactile perception that the clears are brighter, but what the heck do I know...
 
Nearly right, Ronnie.

Ken initially thought that the differences were merely cosmetic, but later found that Worth do intend the browns to be slightly mellower or "milder".

But you're right about the colour-coordination thing. See below. :)

I am wrong. Sorry. There is a slight difference between the same gauge brown and clear Worth strings.

I have recently spoken with Masaya Takahashi who makes the strings (in Kobe, Japan). They told me that the aim is for the brown one's to be "a little milder".

However, that they also confirmed that the aim is to "show beauty" by choosing the right colour string to "unify it with the body" of the instrument. Their intention being to use brown on dark-bodied ukes (e.g. mahogany) and clear on light-bodies ukes (e.g. mango).

...
 
I just found a hair in my coffee* Which is weird, cuz I don't have hair. Oh well, extra protein.

I initially thought the first uke was more muddled... less crisp... wait, uke 2 is crispier and brighter... clear, like wa-ter.

On another note, .wOW! Somebody's been hittin' the KM books pretty hard! What's the second piece you played... its familiar.

It was easier to identify the strings in the first piece... did you switch the order?







*gross
 
I have had the Worth Brown tenors on my Kamaka for a while (while they Worth clear low g are on my Kanile'a). I used to think there wasn't a big difference, and I really preferred how the brown ones looked against the koa wood, so I chose the brown. But recently, I did start to feel as though they sounded a bit muddy or dead in tone (but I'm easily swayed so that could have been purely my imagination after reading that on these forums for so long). So I switched to the Worth clears yesterday, and they actually do sound much brighter and clearer -- almost crystal, or bell like in tone.

But again, I'm easily influenced and my ear isn't the best. Just my (current) humble opinion. Give me a week and I'll miss the pretty brown color, or decide that the clears are "too bright." :rolleyes:
 
In my recent experiments with my Mainland I thought the Fremont Blacklines were brighter than the Worth Browns, and as good as Worths. Others may disagree, but I liked them quite a bit.
 
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