Best ukulele strings for beginners

A set of ukulele strings costs less than almost anything else on this site, and on an inexpensive instrument it does more. The ukuleles people buy for under a hundred dollars are usually assembled well enough and strung with something generic, and that string is the single biggest limit on how the instrument sounds.

That is the whole case for this page: it is the cheapest real upgrade there is, and the first thing to try before concluding an instrument is disappointing.

We have not played these sets. What we compared is the material, gauges and tension each maker publishes; the method is on how we pick.

Why the factory strings are the problem

A ukulele at the entry price has to hit a number, and strings are one of the easiest places to save. What you get is a plain nylon set that sounds muted, stretches for a long time before it settles, and makes the first week a cycle of constant retuning.

Change them and the instrument typically gets louder, clearer and quicker to settle. None of that requires spending more on the ukulele itself, which is why we treat strings as the first move rather than as maintenance.

The materials, briefly

Nylon. The traditional cheap string, and what most budget instruments ship with. Soft, warm, and usually dull.

Nylgut and similar synthetics. Engineered to imitate the gut strings ukuleles originally used, with more volume and a warmer, more traditional voice than plain nylon. This is the default upgrade, and what many reputable ukuleles are fitted with at the factory.

Fluorocarbon and carbon. Denser material, usually described by their makers as brighter and more precise in intonation. They are thinner for the same pitch, which some players prefer under the fingers and others do not.

Wound strings. Metal-wound over a synthetic core, used on low-G sets and on baritone ukuleles for the lower strings. They add depth and they also add finger noise.

Size is not optional

The one mistake worth avoiding. Ukulele strings are sold by body size, because the scale length — the vibrating length of the string — changes between a soprano, a concert, a tenor and a baritone.

Fit a soprano set to a tenor and the strings are either too short to reach the tuners or under noticeably lower tension than intended, which feels slack and sounds flabby. Several makers, including both D’Addario and Martin here, sell one set covering soprano and concert, because those two scales are close enough to share.

The other decision is high G or low G. Standard ukulele tuning puts the fourth string above the third, which is the sound most people recognize. A low G set replaces it with a proper bass note, which suits fingerpicking and makes melody playing easier to follow. Sets are sold specifically for one or the other, and that is covered in ukulele tunings explained.

How we ranked these

Holds tune first, then intonation, then how clearly the size fit is published, then what the change does for setup, then room to grow. Every figure below comes from the maker’s own page.

The picks

The D'Addario Pro-Arte Carbon EJ99SC#ad is the set we would buy for a player who wants to know what they are fitting. D’Addario publishes the gauge and the tension of every individual string — 7.2 lb on the A, 6.8 on the G, 6.5 on the E, 6.2 on the C — which nobody else here does. It is carbon monofilament, which D’Addario ties to intonation accuracy and a bright modern tone, and one set covers soprano and concert.

The limits are practical. It is tie-end only, so it needs a knot at the bridge rather than dropping into a ball-end bridge, and D’Addario publishes no low-G option in this size.

The Aquila Super Nylgut ukulele strings#ad is the default, and it is the string most good ukuleles arrive wearing. If your instrument came with something generic, this is the change that makes it sound like the ukuleles in the shop: louder and brighter than plain nylon, with more sustain, and quicker to settle than you expect.

Sets are size-specific, so buy the one that names your body, and any new string stretches for a few days before it stops moving.

The Martin M600 ukulele strings#ad is the cheapest way to hear what a material change does. Clear high-tensile fluorocarbon across all four strings, with the gauges published individually and a set tension figure, for soprano and concert bodies. There is no wound string in this size, so nothing to wear through.

Two things Martin does not publish: the end type, so bridge compatibility has to be checked on the instrument, and whether the set is high G or low G. If either matters to you, the D’Addario set is the better-documented purchase.

Fitting them, and what to expect

Change one string at a time if you are nervous, though on a ukulele there is no soundpost or floating bridge to disturb, so taking them all off is safe.

Expect several days of stretching. New ukulele strings go out of tune quickly at first. Tune, play, tune again. After three or four days they settle and stay settled. The full procedure is in how to change ukulele strings.

Do not expect a fix for a bad instrument. Strings cure dullness. They do not cure intonation error, a warped neck or a high action, which is why we are cautious about the very cheap end in are cheap ukuleles worth it.