Comments on: Ukulele Strings

By: Marissa

Marissa — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:59:57 +0000

My friend suggested Martin strings for my uke. Are Martin strings pretty good too?

By: Chris C

Chris C — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 23:16:01 +0000

I’ve heard that a wound G and C make for a mellow tone, which I like. I have a concert. Will it work to place a tenor wound C on the concert (have been unable to find a set with wound G and C for the concert size instrument)? Or is there a string manufactured who makes a set with wound G and C that you could recommmend? Love the website!

By: jerry Rushing

jerry Rushing — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 03:14:56 +0000

i was gifted a ookulele for my 52nd birthday it is a luna concert size with the cool design on it.

yes i am planning on trying other strings but the main thing is playing it. it has a sweet spot. it seems to be that little space between the sound hole and the base of the neck. I mean Bam these Aquila’s sing my wife says wow i am surprised at the sound. I have seen these type if discussions take place before, film vs digital,NIKON vs Canon,Ginger vs Mrs Howell, Fender vs Gibson
Hands down Nikon, film but medium format size, Ginger but with Mrs Howells money.

Some of the best music we all have ever heard was played on instruments that were primitive and second hand.

Love music

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:37:43 +0000

I have a Tenor Koa Pili Koko and had them with Aquila’s for awhile. But after changing them over to Ko’olau golds made a whole lot of difference in tone and resonance of sound holding much better. The separation of each string rang out just beautifully, especially for picking. But every ukulele will never sound the same, it always depends on the tone wood each time. I’m not putting Aquila’s down but you never know what your ukulele will sound like when you do change strings. It’s good to experiment. Quality strings does make a difference.

By: Tracy Woodard

Tracy Woodard — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 03:55:13 +0000

I have a concert and a tenor. I practice on my concert and play my tenor. The difference is that I have strung my tenor to play an octive lower than standard. Although I like the sound, the action is a little more firm than I would like it to be – it is harder to play.

I have learned that a D string for a Classic Guitar can be used as a low G for a Tenor, which of course can be stepped up one whole note to be a low G. So I have a Martin Darco string for the low G.Both silver plated wound.

My low C is a D’Addario NYL043w. Which is silver plated wound on nylon.

My low E is a Classic guitar A or fifth string, a GHS brand T5S Silvered Copper Wrap.

My low A is a GHS Classic Guitar D or fourth string T4S Silvered Copper Wrap.

I love the deep rich sound, but I have developed this through trial and error and could probably acheive better tone and action if I knew what I was doing. And if all 4 strings were the same manufacturer and construction.

Any advice or direction would be appreciated.

By: yitzhak yitzhaky

yitzhak yitzhaky — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:57:07 +0000

hello,
I’m a guitar player from Israel and i just order may first ukulele (a kamoa tenor E-T) i did’t check if its high or low g ukulele, latter i found out that it is a low G and already shipped.
my question is:
can i put a high G string on a low G string ukulele?
thank you

By: Sifcell

Sifcell — Sat, 21 May 2011 01:41:47 +0000

Chalk me up as another fan of the Ko’olau Alohi strings.

I’ve got an entry-level Luna that came with Aquila strings. I really liked the sound and the volume of the Aquilas, but after a bit they started sounding a bit dull, so I thought I’d swap and give the Ko’olau strings a try.

Like expected, they took a few days to settle, but the sound is really nice. Mellower than the Aquilas, but not subdued at all. They’ve got a nice, bright projection and seem to feel a bi softer. I have to say, I dig the sound.

The one negative is actually more about the construction of the ukulele. After switching the strings, I noticed that the G has way more sustain and the C tends to have some really booming resonance – way more than the Aquila. I may try to just deaden the part of the top to muffle it a bit, but it’s quite noticeable. Maybe that will go away after a few more days as the strings do their final settle.

Anyway, my two cents is that either the Aquilas or Ko’olau Alohis are a good bet.

Oh, and I really dig your site. It’s a stone groove.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:26:28 +0000

Can a tenor ukulele be tuned like a concert using low g wound strings??

By: Art Wytners

Art Wytners — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 00:04:16 +0000

Since they don’t make low A-strings for ukuleles, can I use a low G-string (wound or unwound) and crank it up 2 half steps to “A” without breaking it? Art Wynters,Las Vegas

By: Claudio

Claudio — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:32:27 +0000

Jake Shimabukuru uses D’Addario strings. Depends which ones and some strings are better on different ukes or for different uses.

Any decent strings that cost a few quid are going to be better than the strings that come with a <£50 uke.