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Silicone Strings

Posted by Great Ape on January 17, 2014 at 7:50am in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts

Has anyone tried using silicone strings on a CBG ? I've been think more about a bass version, some of you might have heard of the Kala U Bass which is a 21 inch scale bass, but gets its sound using silicone strings. The reviews are extremely positive so wondered how those same strings would fare on a CBG.

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Replies

  • Skeesix January 18, 2014 at 4:56pm

    I've built a couple. My most successful one copied the Kala U Bass scale length and used Road Toad Pahoehoe strings. I think they're polyurethane instead of silicon. I've tried silicon too and they were too sticky to get used to. Owen Holt from Road Toad Music is the person who designed the Kala U Bass for production. Prior to that he was hand making them.

    http://www.roadtoadmusic.com/main.html

    http://www.bassuke.com/string_store.html

    One other point is you'll need special tuners. On one build, I used guitar tuners and attached a wooden spool. On another one, I was lucky enough to get hold of some Ashbory tuners. Owen used to sell tuners, (don't see them on his site anymore) - they were expensive.

    Here's a thread on solutions for tuners: http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?70016-Kala-ubass...

    If I built another, I would try making the slots on regular bass tuners bigger. That looks like what was done on the Dukes Brothers bass. The Aquila Thunderguts seem to be similar to the Pahoehoe strings, except Pahoehoe's are black.

  • Piht Bull (Delta Dawg Guitars) January 18, 2014 at 11:02am

    ive been doing a lot research on basses lately . heres a link to the  Dukes Brothers with a U bass and it has Thundergut strings on it . http://youtu.be/oXbVWAvAaQ4

  • Ron "Oily" Sprague January 18, 2014 at 9:53am
    Ape,

    Check out the Ashbory bass and Kala U bass: both are recommending the Aquila Thundergut Nylgut strings as less expensive, but equally good-sounding, replacements for silicone strings. These have also been used on 18" scale length ukes with good results.
  • Great Ape January 18, 2014 at 5:11am

    Thanks, I'd always expected to have had to use amplification on it. They made the same comment regarding the U Bass, very quiet unplugged but great sound when through an amplifier. However I don't want to to buy any strings before knowing if it would work, they cost around £25 pounds over here in UK which is a lot to throw away if the result is awful :/

    • David McQueen > Great Ape January 18, 2014 at 9:12am

      To get the sound you want you will be looking at a piezo pickup - rod, disk, film or wire of some kind in conjunction with a preamp.  Try Googling Piezo and Bass and Preamp - I think you will drag up some useful things

  • David McQueen January 17, 2014 at 3:50pm
    I haven't used silicon strings, but I did some with Silk 'n Steel strings - a classical/steel string hybrid. It gave a mellower sound than any of the steel sets I have tried. You would have to use a piezo pickup of some sort to amplify.
  • Ron "Oily" Sprague January 17, 2014 at 2:39pm
    Apparently, the Aquila Thundergut strings are a well-liked, far cheaper replacement for the silicone rubber strings used on the Ashbory bass...
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