One man and his Guitalele - A tale of strings

The ultimate search for Guitalele strings. About three months ago I fell in love with an instrument that came into the shop. I don't know if many of you have ever had the chance to play a Kanile'a GL6 but they are all a much welcome addition to any high end ukulele/guitar collection. In my job I get to play quite a few Guitaleles. I have had my pick of Islander's, Yamaha's, Kala's, Stagg's, Korala's and even KoAloha and Mele's but really, everytime I open one of those beautiful white boxes from Hawaii and take a gander at a GL6 I would always take a moment to contemplate just how upset my wife would be with me for buying one. Eventually, just after Christmas I built up enough equity in washing up and the like that I bit the bullet and took one home. The one thing that I had always wanted to try with them instore was finding the right strings to achieve standard tuning and if that wasn't possible - find the happy medium between A to A and E to E in the process. If you are unfamiliar with how a Guitalele is tunes if it is tuned AECGDA which is like a guitar with a capo on the fifth fret or a ukulele with two extra bass strings. I tried all of the readily available guitalele strings in the UK that I could find. That really wasn't much of a choice though because currently the D'addario Folk Nylon strings and the Aquila Nlygut Guitalele strings were the only advertised options at my disposal. Original Nylon/Bronze Strings The ukulele came with an Aquila tag on the machinehead but I know it couldn't be so with a bit of research have come to believe I was dealing with by GHS Ukulele Strings. This set had 3 Bronze wound bass string and 3 black nylon trebles. They had a lovely warm bassy tone to them but i found them to be slightly out of tune on the D and G when I moved up past the first position. I know many people like to play fingerpicked melodic arrangements exclusively on a guitalele and I think these strings would have been a joy to use for this purpose. They definitely were not my favourite strings for rhythm playing as the bass overpowered the mids and even in A to A these strings felt a little loose and flabby which is surely a rhythm players worst nightmare. Pros: Great fingerstyle strings, Warm Bass Cons: Light gauge is limiting, cannot be detuned effectively Aquila 96C Guitalele Strings - RRP £14.50 (AECGDA) I must confess, I am not big on Aquila strings. As unbiased as I try to be - I have spent far too many hours of my life restringing the shops instruments in a bid to improve poor intonation or underlying noises and squeaks. Even so, Aquila have been accommodating enough to make a dedicated set for me to try so I powered through with an open mind. However, I found these strings to be quite shrill to the ear and the silver plated copper bass strings took days to settle. They were sadly once again, a very light gauge. Of all the strings I tried, this set proved to be my least favourite. They weren't completely without merit though - They sounded and felt the most like ukulele strings. Tuning down/forget it however, if you play AECGDA all of the time, these strings may be a great addition to a Yamaha or Kala guitalele. Pros: ironically good intonation, easy on the finger Cons: Light gauge, a little tinny on a solid wood instrument. The next sets I tried were a variation of sets recommended to me by a customer that had previously purchased two very different Guitalele's and found them to be the best set available for both. D'addario Folk Nylon EJ34 Black Nylon Trebles with 80/20 Bronze basses - RRP £9.99 These D'addario strings appealed to me when I opened the packet because they felt like a more substantial version of the 'GHS' strings my ukulele arrived with. They also had ballends which is a convenient advantage when restringing a Kanile'a with a pin bridge. These were the first strings I felt comfortable using. They intonated well and were a tighter gauge which suited my playing style and I felt improved the feel and tone of the instrument. These strings are mellow and have quite a vintage folky balance to them. You wouldn't get away with EBGDAE tuning with these strings but you can comfortably tune down a few steps without the strings becoming too loose to use. Pros: Gauge feels designed to work on this instrument, mellow bass heavy tones Cons: Very quiet when tuned below AECGDA. Daddario EJ32 Folk Nylon Strings Sliverplated Basses/Black Nylon Trebles - RRP £9.99 The same strings as the previous set with Silverplated strings in place of bronze.. Sounded very sibilant on my instrument. The Black nylon trebles were fine but the Silverplated basses seemed to squeak, pop and react badly to the fretboard on my ukulele and Koa isn't very forgiving of any undertones. Pros: They looked cool. Cons: Everything else. Aquila Ambra 800 82C Nylgut Classical Guitar Strings - RRP £15.99 I dare you to find out more about these strings than I have. I was recommended these strings as a great AECGDA set by both a supplier and a customer that plays one of Kala's new guitaleles. I think they are basically the guitar version of the Aquila Nylgut ukulele strings. They are technically a guitar string aimed for period guitar players that play a lot of 'romantic' music and want a string that sounds like gut without getting intimate with cattle! These strings can be comfortably used in most tunings above standard guitar tuning, even in F which proved to be the lowest tuning I could comfortably live with. Pros: Everything - they feel nice and they are a good tight gauge so they are loud and responsive to a strummer and a picker. Cons: They are white and could be basically a heavier gauge of Aquila Guitalele strings in a different pack. Aquila Rubino Series 134C Classical Guitar Strings - Red Trebles with Silverplated bass strings - RRP £17.99 These strings are nearly perfect. When I finished this experiment and decided I was going to spend more time playing the instrument than restringing it - I kept the Red Aquila trebles and ordered another set for when they inevitably break like all Aquila red strings. Tonally, they are so smooth they should be wearing a leather jacket and holding a martini. They are somehow pleasingly loud as well which is bloody rare. The bass strings however are just a bit average. If Aquila could manufacture a ukulele or guitalele set that had wound bronze strings for the bass and the reds for the trebles I think they would have a very unique sounding and popular set of strings on their hands. In fact I think I just stumbled into another blog subject by mistake. Pros: Felt good, sounded great, looked fantastic Cons: Some people won't like the rubbery consistancy of the red strings. I can confirm that they are a much firmer tension than the Aquila ukulele strings. Aquila Gut and Silk 900 Classical Guitar - Cat-Gut Trebles with Silk Wound Gut Basses - RRP £39.99 I had so much hope for these strings and they were bloody expensive with an RRP of £40. An actual gut string ready for Guitalele. They sounded fantastic but couldn't be tuned upto AECGDA without snapping which is a shame. If you are going to tune your Guitalele into G instead of AECGDA then I think these strings are worth every penny. Using these strings forced me to play a style of music that challenged me. They simply don't sound good unless you are delicately picking a Romantic or Classical piece on them. That isn't a wholly limiting problem for someone who specialises in instrumental pieces. I only wish I could have done them justice before tuning them upto AECGDA and snapping two strings on the way. Pros: Perfect for fingerstyle or lower tunings Cons: Too expensive and prone to snapping. La Bella Folksinger Black Nylon Bronze Trebles - RRP £15 These strings are very similar to the Daddario folk nylon. I tried them one after the other and aside from measuring with a mircrometre that the bass strings were slightly thinner than the folk nylon - You would be fine to use these as a direct replacement for factory strings on any guitalele. Pros: Well made and bright Cons: Perhaps a little bit too expensive Eventually, I tried so many strings that I didn't really know what sound I wanted anymore. The strings I have critiqued above were the highlights of my experiment. I learnt after a while that just buying hard tension classical guitar strings was a waste of time because clear nylon or black nylon trebles and silverplated basses all sound the same on a guitalele and are inevitably going to suit players of certain styles. In an effort to save someone else some money I have made a list below with the strings I tried and a rating out of ten for tone and tension on a guitalele tuned upto AECGDA. Rotosound Ball End Classical Strings (£8) - 5/10 D'Addario EJ27H Hard Tension Classical strings (£5) 5/10 Sevilla Silvered Copper Wrap (£16.99) - 5/10 Everly Concerto Classical Guitar Strings (£6.99) - 6/10 My Conclusion I hope that someone out there gets the insight they need into Guitalele's from my recent research. It has been incredibly interesting and a little frustrating trying so many different materials on something I was so new to trying. If you want to play a guitalele like a tiny guitar then I really wouldn't bother getting one at all and look at travel guitars instead. If you are approaching it with an open mind, you will find like me that a Guitalele comes to life when you approach it much more delicately and it has turned me into an introvered player in a refreshingly good way. The strings I am keeping on my Kanile'a are the Bronze wound strings from a set of D'Addario Folk Nylon's and the unwound red strings from the Aquila Rubino 134C's. If you would like to talk Guitaleles then its safe to say I am your man. Give me a call at the shop on 01202 430820. Until next time. Alex