how often do you change strings?

The one thing about changing strings for me is the time that it takes them to settle in. I like it if I can just grab up my ukulele and start playing when the opportunity comes up. No one wants to sit around waiting for me while I'm constantly tuning up my ukulele. So for that reason I have become hesitant to change them out. I've got to have a ukulele that is ready to play.

New strings are a pain in the ass for the first couple of weeks so I don't change them too often. When I first tried a low G setup, I got Aquilas. The wound G was a piece of crap. It had big cuts in it in like here weeks. I took it to the shop and they replaced just that one string with a classical guitar D string and it's held up well for months.

It might be that my Zebra wood laminates don't sound as good with Aquilas as with Fluorocarbons? Or maybe my hearing isn't the best (understatement) but Hey! Play what suits you guys and gals. I change strings mostly to experiment. If I had Trump's money I'd play more expensive Ukes, but being financially challenged, and only 20 months into this hobby I play what I've found to be best in my humble opinion.

I agree with the folks who find new stings to be tedious. I have several ukes so I always have something to play in tune. I shift from C6 to G6 tuning many times a week, right now I'm experimenting with a Spruce topped Tenor in dGBE which has a whole different voice than my Zebras. I've, so far tried two different string sets and have four more types to try to find a set that fits it's voice. That may take more that a couple of weeks.

Rllink said:

The one thing about changing strings for me is the time that it takes them to settle in.

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That's one of the advantages of having more than one!

With some bridge types restringing is also a little tedious, making it less tempting to change strings all the time. The Black Bear soprano has a string-through bridge. I like the idea behind it, but it's a pain in the back to replace strings since you have to fish the ends out of the sound hole. Sometimes this works really well, and other times you twist and turn the strings endlessly. (There are probably tools to make this easier.) The Kanile'a guitarlele I had for a while (sold it eventually and am buying a short scale guitar at a third of the price) had really tight bridge pins and I sweated water and blood when I pulled them out. Eventually got a tool for that, but still worried about pulling too much on the top.

Sorry so late to give my two cents, but I had to do some serous pondering on this. And after carefully calculating over my last few times of changing my string, and you may repeat what I say if you like."as often as you need to"

I think the link below is the very good thread for this topic.

3-year-old-vs-new-fluorocarbon-strings-sound-comparison

I really change my mind when I change my strings. I will keep them at least one year or two.

I am in the process of changing every string in our program to the new KIDS strings, for instructional purposes. It is amazing how fast I have become in the process now that I have changed over 100 sets of strings! You can see my thread on those strings elsewhere.

This evening, I grabbed my "old" Makala CE (purchased January 2016, my oldest ukulele), and played it for a while. I simply wasn't enjoying the Aquila Super Nylguts that were on it, and had a pack of Martin 600s around, so I changed my strings. It is like having a whole new instrument.

I'm not going to get into string wars, but I have found that I am a fluorocarbon guy. I love the colored Aquilas for my students--for educational purposes, but for my ukuleles, I like the Martins, which I understand are very plain fluorocarbons. I do need to find out what other full fluorocarbon solutions there are for my Opio, which comes with the stock KoAloha. Nothing wrong with the stock strings...but replacements from the company are $8 plus shipping where the Martins can be purchased for less than $6, shipped.

At any rate, I'm changing strings right now because of preference versus need. My Rye Rabbits on my Outdoor Ukulele didn't last long before one of them frayed and broke--so there are Martin 620s on that ukulele right now.

Thank goodness strings are so (relatively) inexpensive.

Choirguy said:

I do need to find out what other full fluorocarbon solutions there are for my Opio, which comes with the stock K

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The Worth Clears (CT) are the closest to the KoAloha stock strings. I feel they are identical, but this has been a point of argument. In any event, everyone agrees that they are at least very close, if not identical.

I like the CTs on my tenor. It originally came with Browns (the builder favors them) and I felt there were a little warmer than I liked on the instrument, though that may also have been a perception influenced by the color. I do like the Martin strings, but the C string is substantially thicker than the C from the Worth CT set, which makes it more thuddy. Worth strings are double-length, so a pack is good for two re-stringings. There are other Worth types, with more or less tension than the CT (medium) set.

Are the Worth CT available in Low G? That's what my Opio came with.

Yes, the CT are available with either a high-G or a low-G, both unwound. When I used low-G, I preferred the wound Fremont Soloist low-G string (sold as singles), though. It fit very well with the other three strings from the CT set. But if you are used to the unwound low-G, the unwound Worth will be the same (or nearly the same - would actually be interested in whether you think the are the same, if you get a set).

Any high g set can be made into a low g set. Take the C string and E string and move them to the G and C spots. Take the high G and place in the E spot. Tune accordingly. Low G life hack.
A- A
g- E
E -C
C- Low G

Okay, year after year, thread, after thread, post after post about low G, I asked myself, could it really be just that easy? I ran right down with my old Makala concert, grabbed a new set of La Bella strings and gave it a try. Yes, it worked, to some extent. But it isn't quite right. String tension felt a little off, but I got a very interesting sound. I'm going to work with it and see where it goes. You may be on to something.

I'm a little confused. Are you guys saying that you are taking the strings that are on your uke, unstringing them, and restringing them in a different order? Or are you just putting the strings on in a different order when you change strings?

ripock said:

I'm a little confused. Are you guys saying that you are taking the strings that are on your uke, unstringing them, and restringing them in a different order? Or are you just putting the strings on in a different order when you change strings?

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Either way I think. I put on a new set. I've been playing around with it for a couple hours off and on. It isn't working for some reason. Tuner says they are all tuned where they should be, but some of the chords sound muddy or off. Maybe that is just a low G thing. I don't know. At this point I'm not sold on this "hack." Interesting experiment though.