Hey everyone, I’m really excited to finally be able to reveal something I’ve been working on for the last few weeks. As readers of my blog know, I was a big fan of the sound of the new Aquila Red Series strings, but had broken 2 very quickly. Much discussion on the Ukulele Underground Forums revealed that I wasn’t alone and I began a correspondence with Mimmo Peruffo at Aquila in the hopes sharing what I had learned about this new product. Mimmo was great and replaced my broken strings and listened to my concerns.

Surprise!

Then about 2 weeks ago I got a new email from Mimmo asking if I’d be interesting in trying out their new formulation for the Red Strings. Of course I said yes! Two days later I had them in my hands.

Indeed they are “harder” with far less stretch, much more the physical elasticity of a nylon string. They were just slightly darker red, and significantly more “wiry” in feel, though still retaining that papery softness unlike a true nylon or flouro string.

I strung up my Islander immediately.

Wow!

That great sound that I loved from the original Reds was still there but the string itself had gone to boot camp and toughened up. It needed nothing more then the normal stretch and settled into its note very quickly. I’ve spent the last 2 weeks playing a LOT of ukulele, multiple jams and ukulele club—I’ve really wailed on it and it haven’t let me down. Once it got through the initial settling-in, it’s held note almost perfectly, requiring almost zero adjustment when I play.

I’m extremely impressed with the string and am once again confident in recommending them to others.

I’m going to record a video review soon, but I couldn’t wait to break this news.

The Nitty-Gritty

Aquila has destroyed the old stock of original Red Strings. Orders from now on will be this new formulation. These will have a small, white label to distinguish them initially while old stock makes it’s way off the shelves.

I highly encourage you to get yourself one of the new strings and try it out. Aquila has taken the feedback from the launch strings and made the adjustments necessary to really improve their product. They’ve also managed the difficult task of not messing up the excellent sound qualities in the process. I think you’ll be very happy with them.