So you’ve picked out your favorite ukulele, and you’ve been playing it for a while now. But you notice that the strings are starting to sound a little dull and lifeless. It’s probably time to replace them. So you may be wondering how to determine which are the best strings for your ukulele. How do you choose the right strings for your soprano uke versus a larger concert or tenor uke? There are a lot of options, but don’t worry, we’ve put together a helpful list of the best ukulele strings.
Martin
Martin is one of the most respected guitar makers in the world. But did you know that since the early 1920s, Martin has rightly enjoyed a large share of the ukulele market? Turns out, they’re just as good at making strings as they are at making beautiful, great-sounding guitars and ukuleles. The M600 Ukulele Fluorocarbon strings live up to Martin’s high standards of materials and production and are designed for use on either soprano or concert ukes. They’re made of high-tensile fluorocarbon, for enhanced tuning stability and superior harmonic resonance. Martin M600 strings are a great choice for revitalizing your soprano or concert uke and are also available for tenor and baritone ukuleles.
Aquila USA
Another one of the best types of strings for ukulele is a non-animal-derived version of traditional gut strings called Nylgut. Nylgut is more affordable than natural gut, because the production steps are much more efficient than the labor-intensive process involved in making gut strings. Invented and patented by the Italian string maker Aquila – and available for all sizes of ukes – Aquila Nylgut does a great job of reproducing the tonal qualities of natural gut strings. Nylgut also has an advantage over animal-derived strings in its enhanced durability and immunity to changes in climate. You can even get Nylgut strings in cool lava black!
La Bella
While we’re discussing Italian string makers, we would be remiss not to mention La Bella. The Mari family began making violin strings (and, much later, church bells!) in the 1640s in Salle, Italy, and it wasn’t long before they were supplying strings to renowned violin makers of the Amati and Stradivari families. Nearly four centuries later, the company is still family owned and operated. La Bella’s Uke-Pro Series of ukulele strings are specially made to retain perfect intonation at all points on the fretboard. Uke-Pro ukulele strings are made of high-quality, comfortable, rectified nylon and feature Modified Atmosphere Packaging to keep strings fresh longer. The No. 100 strings are for concert and tenor ukes, and the lighter No. 200 sets are for soprano ukuleles.
D’Addario
D’Addario has partnered with Aquila to produce another gut-like synthetic string material called Nyltech. Made in the USA, Nyltech uke strings are optimized for standard GCEA uke tuning and are exceptionally comfortable to play. Just like Aquila’s Nylgut strings, Nyltech strings evoke much of the warm yet punchy sonic signature of natural gut strings but feature much better tonal stability. D’Addario Nyltech strings are available for all sizes of ukuleles.
Whatever the size of your instrument, these are some of the best strings for ukulele. If you have any questions about ukulele strings, call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700.