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Original Post By:
Guest_jg
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Date: 1/29/2005 |
| i want to do a little survey to
help me decide on what strings to
try. i've tried the nylguts,
worth, ghs, etc. but just
compared sound and feel. to save
me some time by not having to
leave one set on a long time to
find out other stuff i'm asking
you all for feedback..
all things being equal (well
setup instrument with quality
tuning machines, etc, etc) which
strings do you find tend to be
more stable in holding their
tuning?
which strings do you find last
longest?
also, just out of curiosity how
often do you personally change
strings? how much playing time do
they get before you change them?
thanks for the feedback. |
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Posted By:
Guest_Pauline Leland
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Date: 1/29/2005 |
I usually pull strings off because
I'm curious to try something new.
I think nylon and composite strings
last and last and last,
otherwise.
Uncle Rufus found this hard to
believe, but I've worn out two sets
of Nylguts. The first time, at
about 5 months, my beloved C. Vega
tenor developed a terrible buzz. I
thought something had broken on it
until I noticed I could feel, not
see, a number of nicks in the
strings in the strumming/picking,
with nails, area. New strings
fixed the buzz.
A few months ago, I put Nylguts
back on the tenor, and I think I'm
hearing something vaguely wrong
again. The E string seems
unpleasantly loud. I don't like
dealing with new strings, so I'm
putting off changing them. It's
been a little over 3 months.
By the way, wound strings do not
last like plain nylon strings will,
but sometimes they die far too
young. Nylgut came out with pure
copper windings on their strings,
beautiful, I loved them, and I was
able to catch the wear on the first
set of tenor strings, shift the
wear spot to a non-fret location,
and it lasted for the full 5
months. A lot of people had wear
problems with the pure copper
windings, so Nylgut went to
silver-plated copper. On this
second set, I again was sent a
copper winding from old stock. I
was suspicious, but thought I could
catch the wear in time and shift
the string. Nope, it broke in 2
weeks. I replaced it with an
unwound Worth which has served well.
I also had Koaloa, badly
misspelled, Gold strings on a Mele
Braddah pineapple that sounded
great, and then either they changed
or I did after a few months, didn't
like the sound, so I yanked them.
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Posted By:
Guest_Kevin
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Date: 1/29/2005 |
| I've tried GHS black nylon,
D'Addario clear, Aquila NylGuts
and Hilo black nylon. I like the
Hilo set the best. I play an hour
or two a day and I rarely need to
tune. They have an average break-
in period, as with any string,
where you'll tune constantly for
the first few hours of play. Then
you're set, assuming your
instrument is well set-up. I've
had my current Hilo set on for
about six months. My goal is
always to change strings more
often, but I'd rather spend the
time playing.
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Posted By:
Guest_Kevin
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Date: 1/29/2005 |
| About NylGuts, I agree with
Pauline. I nicked the heck out of
them. I didn't like the way they
felt, either. I think the NylGuts
are good for making a small,
lightly built uke louder and
warmer. I put them on a couple of
old Supertones I had. Sounded
great, but I don't favor them for
my main instruments.
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Posted By:
Guest_jg
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Date: 1/30/2005 |
| thanks for the responses thus
far. i was wondering about the
nylguts. i'd never had them on
long enough but i was suspicious
they might not last as long.
i'm wondering if the worth's
might be the longest lasting and
most stable. considering what
they're made out of they might
be. i'd love to hear from someone
about those.
right now i have a couple of sets
of unused ghs black hawaiian
sitting here..
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Posted By:
Guest_CarlH
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Date: 1/30/2005 |
| For my fingerpicking use, I found
that Nylguts failed for the same
reasons Pauline stated. When new
they had a great sound. If you like
the sound and have to change
strings every 2 months, a years
worth will still cost less than a
movie date. I've not tried the
Worth's yet, but all sounds
favorable. I've got Hilos on a
tenor now - quite satisfactory.
Ko'olau Golds are another fine
choice. As far as strings go, one
must remember that each instrument
is different and the same set of
strings can sound quite different
on different instruments.
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Posted By:
Guest_Uncle Rufus
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Date: 1/30/2005 |
| I have to weigh in on the side of
Nylguts here. I'm no picker, which
may account for their longevity on
my instruments - but many of them
have sported Nylguts for well over
a year and are still great
sounding. No wear, no flattening,
no loss of sound. I don't use
wound strings. Maybe fingerpickers
slice hell out of them, but all
the strummers I know swear by 'em -
so don't be put off. Hilo Blacks
are always good - they were me
first choice without a doubt
before Nylguts came along, and I
still use them on some
instruments. Ko'olau Golds are
very squeaky and noisy, but sit
particularly well on tenor ukes.
I'm with Chuck Fayne on longevity
of strings: if thay ain't bust,
don't fix 'em. I have instruments
with ten year old strings on them
that sound fine. I have other
instruments where strings have
gone off in months - but these
were gut strings.
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Posted By:
Guest_Pauline Leland
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Date: 1/30/2005 |
| I'm not knocking Nylguts - proof:
they are on ALL my ukes at the
moment - just pointing out that
they do not last as long as nylon
or composite strings. Compared
to any wound strings, 5 months is
good, and 3 months is
acceptable. Ten years is
remarkable unless this is a
seldom played uke.
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