JimInAlabama - Posted - 08/29/2015:  15:04:41

There has been a lot of discussion on these and many consider it a dead horse but some who share my OCD may find this interesting.

In a moment of weakness when placing an order for guitar strings recently I decided to give Aquila Reds one more last chance.  These have a run date of July 2015.  I've gone through quite a few sets over the past year and these are different.  They are more brown than red and they have a different feel.  These are not as textured as the previous sets.  Not as smooth and slick as regular Nylguts but much smoother than the other Red sets I had.  And they don't feel quite as stiff.  They're not floppy at all but the 1st and 5th don't have that "I'm about to snap" feel.  They sound good.  They've only been installed a few days and once again, time will tell if they're gonna hold up. 

It's certainly possible that the consistency just varies and this is a fluke ..... but has anyone heard anything about Aquila changing them recently?

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 08/29/2015:  16:12:19

I seem to remember a thread about a change in Aquila strings perhaps a year or two ago. Try searching with terms like:

Aquila Red

New Aquila Reds

New Nylguts  (although I think they are dropping the brand name Nylgut - which IMO, is a really good idea)

Etc.

davidppp - Posted - 08/29/2015:  18:13:05

I had the enormous pleasure of meeting Meastro Mimo (the man behind Aquila) in person last January. The smoother, browner "reds" are indeed a new formulation. He handed me a partial set, but I haven't tried them -- simply because my older reds are fine (not broken) on modest scale-length instruments. Following Tony's search, it seems they've been around for a couple of years, but i don't know if one can easily request them and not the older ones from a particular distributor. They're certainly worth looking out for and sharing evaluations.

JimInAlabama - Posted - 08/29/2015:  20:31:22

Thanks David.  I'd read something about a change in the formulation for uke strings a year or so back and wondered if Mimo was just starting to offer them in banjo sets..... or if sellers were just beginning to restock with newer sets.

jtafaro - Posted - 09/04/2015:  14:15:52

I just put a set of Aquila banjo uke strings on my banjo uke. It has a red third string. I have had no problems with it and like the sound. I seems to be of a smaller diameter than the old third string. We will see how long it lasts.

rendesvous1840 - Posted - 09/16/2015:  21:43:46

Here's an archived thread about the Aquilla Reds, dated 3/21/2013: banjohangout.org/archive/258992 The original poster, mimmo2us, is the founder & CEO of Aquilla, he would know if there was a change since that date.

JimInAlabama - Posted - 09/17/2015:  15:26:35

Just FWIW, I have exchanged emails with Mimmo and he verified that they have recently changed the Red Series banjo strings to a new formula.

I've had a set on for a couple of weeks now with no issues tuning to standard G on my 25.5" scale banjo.  I use a spike at 7 and capo to play in A/D.  I don't know exactly when they started shipping the new ones but as I mentioned earlier the newer version I got was tagged July 2015.

I don't have a dog in this fight, and your mileage may vary but if you tried the early Reds and gave up because of broken 1st/5th strings it might be worth another try.  They are definitely brighter and livlier than Nylguts, somewhere between Nylgut and steel without the harshness of steel.

rudy - Posted - 09/17/2015:  19:11:00

Jim, Thanks much for the head's up on reds.  I'm still rooting for Mimmo, I was hoping that the previous things I'd read about the new Uke formulations would transfer over to banjo; it sounds like it's getting close to being a done deal.

Crusty - Posted - 09/17/2015:  20:08:02

it's difficult to know.  You can't even tell from reading the label on a set what you've supposedly just bought.