Harmonic division

Unlike a piano, all the strings of the ukulele are equal in length. Therefore the rules of the harmonic division apply equally to all strings. When a string is beaten and begins to swing, the resulting length and speed of the waves on the string depend on where the string is held. An open string oscillates between nut and bridge in its entire length and thus moves the slowest. On the 12th fret, which marks half the length of the string, it oscillates twice as fast and high, producing a sound which is one octave higher than the open string. On the seventh fret, which marks about one-third of the string, a corresponding shortened oscillation (defined as a fifth) is produced on 2/3 of the total string, and on the 5th fret, the string is shortened to 3/4 (defined as a fourth).

Construction

In the ukulele, the strings are tied to the bridge of the body and the fretboard to the pegs on the neck of the instrument. With the help of the pegs they are stretched so that the desired tuning results.

Currently, mainly the following types of strings are commercially available:

Changing strings

Re-stringing your instrument is the best thing you can do for its tone; this often fixes apparent buzzing and intonation problems that have crept up as well. You should be putting on new strings about every 3 months.

Gordon and Char Mayer¹⁾

• If several strings are to be replaced, this should be done individually and sequentially with all strings. To do this, turn the pegs of the 1st and 2nd string clockwise and of the 3rd and 4th strings counterclockwise to loosen the string tension.

   * New strings should be wound up so that they are straight for as long as possible; they should therefore be threaded over the „inside“ of the pegs    * The 1st and 2nd string pegs are turned clockwise, the 3rd and 4th strings pegs counterclockwise.    * The wound ends should not be too long: two or three turns around the tuning peg are enough!    * When wrapping, do not cross over.    * As an aid for mounting on ukuleles with tuning machines, the use of a string winder is recommended.

Leveling

New synthetic strings warp easily until they are leveled. To accelerate leveling, it is customary to stretch the strings vigorously (but sensitively) after pulling on and first tuning one after the other on the 12th fret by pressing, pulling the strings sidewards (bending) and retuning. This process is repeated several times.

Environmental Issues

Synthetic strings meet all the environmental concerns that are also raised against fishing lines of the same material. Fluorocarbons, unlike some polyamides, are virtually non-biodegradable by nature. According to scientific estimates, it takes 600 years for a synthetic fishing line to disintegrate.

Aquila

Aquila Nylgut

Country	Colors	Character	Break in time2)
	white	soft; loud; comparatively expensive

Aquila Red

Country	Colors	Character	Break in time3)
	red	Nylgut encased in copper powder and twice as dense as the white strings. Therefore, the strings are thinner and feel rougher.	2-3 days

D'Addario

D'Addario makes ukulele strings from the following materials:

Clear Nylon

Warm, bright sound.

Black Nylon

Warm, soft sound. Recommended for Hawaii sound.

Nyltech

The material is Nyltech, developed by d'Addario in cooperation with Aquila.

Titanium

Brighter sound, louder.

D'Addario produces black strings for Kamaka which are distributed under the brand name Kamaka.

GHS

Country	Colors	Character	Break in time4)
	black	weak sound; cheap	2 weeks

Made from Nylon.

Orcas

Country	Colors	Character	Break in time5)
	black, transparent, red, lemon	warm, bright, balanced	2-3 days

Orcas, produced by Nihon Goraku, are considered a bit more high-end than Worth. The material is fluorocarbon. Strengths offered are easy, medium and hard for soprano and concert as well as a style for tenor, both in linear tuning and high G tunings.

Worth

⇒ Main article: Worth Creation Japan

Country	Colors	Character	Break in time6)
	clear; brown	thinner than nylon or nylon; hard (brown: softer than clear); bright sound; permanently; good for solo playing; difficult for use with the pick	1-2 days

Made from fluorocarbon.

Recommmendations

In practice, however, the question of which strings sound best on which ukulele can only be decided by trial and error.

Here are rough and completely non-binding rules of thumb:

References

• String Theory