Alohi Strings

MikeR · Mar 26, 2012

I just changed the strings on my Pono Acacia Tenor from Ko'olau Mahana to Ko'olau Alohi strings and they sound great!

I only had the Mahana strings on for about a week or so and noticed, especially when playing with a friend on his Aquila strung concert, that it was super quiet. My friend's concert has a spruce top so that could be part of it, but I wanted a little more projection.

After doing some reading on the forums, I saw that acacia, similar to koa, is a warmer sounding wood and might benefit from brighter strings. Alohi strings are much louder and brighter. The only downside is I'm going to have to toughen up my fingers more to get consistently clear barre chords.

Any thoughts/opinions?

mm stan · Mar 26, 2012

Love them Mike to warm up harsh tone ukes..as they make them sweet...they are thicker strings, which
gives them a warmer tone. I believe they are the best among all the Ko'olau strings..leaves the Golds and Mahana
in the dust..

MikeR · Mar 26, 2012

Hrm, I didn't know that thicker strings made strings warmer. I like them though...and they don't take long to settle in at all. Aquilas take weeks to settle in (I had to tune them up half way through just about every song for a couple weeks). I just ordered two more sets of these from HMS. Think I'm gonna stick with them.

Btw, I am using the plain set...the wound C string makes the instrument feel funny to me.

Doc_J · Mar 26, 2012

Funny you should mention Alohi strings, I was just thinking about them. Recently, I slapped a set on a concert uke that had some old Aquila strings. I like them, the warmer tone, better treble, but I feel the resonance is a little lacking. The Alohi are monofilament with a purple hue, much like the T2 Titaniums. But the Alohi seem to settle in faster and have better intonation than the T2 for a concert scale, IMO.

Does anyone know what material is in these 'monofilament' strings? (It's not classified as a FC or Nylon.)

Trinimon · Mar 26, 2012

I'm gonna have to pick some up to try.

snunez · Mar 26, 2012

How would you rank the mahana, alohi, and the gold sets? I'm expecting the gold ones in the mail any day now..

Skitzic · Mar 26, 2012

I prefer the Alohi's over the Mahana and Gold sets as well.

The Mahana's were way too quiet for my taste. The Golds were nice, but a pinch too mellow for me. Alohi have a nice punch to them.

MikeR · Mar 26, 2012

@snunez I've only tried the Mahanas and the Alohi strings so far. The Alohi strings sound quite a bit louder and brighter to me. Their tension is also a lot higher; this is most noticeable when I'm playing barre chords up the fretboard. I'm sure with practice I will adapt to this though.

I've heard that the Gold sets are kind of in the middle but leaning towards the warmer side. Maybe someone else can let you know more. I never trust video reviews of strings cause the sound changes based on instrument and recording quality. At under 5 dollars a string pack though, it doen'st break the bank too much to try them all out =)

MikeR · Mar 26, 2012

Skitzic said:
I prefer the Alohi's over the Mahana and Gold sets as well.

The Mahana's were way too quiet for my taste. The Golds were nice, but a pinch too mellow for me. Alohi have a nice punch to them.

That was my problem with the Mahana strings. I really liked the tone but the instrument was super quiet. I had a MiSi pickup installed in my Pono, but I rarely have an amp sitting around to plug into when playing with others. The Alohi's bring up the volume a significant amount.

PoiDog · Mar 26, 2012

I was (and suppose still am) a huge fan of the Alohis. I found they suited the laminate concert I used to have much better than the stock Aquilas. However, when I tried them on my solid koa tenor, I was under-impressed and moved to fluouros.

I may give the Alohis another shot on the solid, but for the lam they were absolutely the #1 choice for me.

mm stan · Mar 26, 2012

I prefer the non wound too and I have the on my madagacar rosewood and spruce top..it sure warms out and
sweetens that uke...forget the golds and mahanas...the alohis are the way to go and break in at no time...

snunez · Mar 27, 2012

i haven't tried alohi or mahana strings yet, but i just put on a set of golds today and they seem to sound pretty good so far!.. plus, they match the gold tuners on my KPK.. that's not the only reason i like 'em, i swear!

Doc_J · Mar 27, 2012

snunez said:
i haven't tried alohi or mahana strings yet, but i just put on a set of golds today and they seem to sound pretty good so far!.. plus, they match the gold tuners on my KPK.. that's not the only reason i like 'em, i swear!

View attachment 35556

Those Golds do look good on your uke with the gold tuners.

Alohi Strings

MikeR

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mm stan

Mystery Man

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Doc_J

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Trinimon

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mm stan

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