ukulele strings

Ernie Ball nylon ball-end ukulele strings

Nylon sets with guitar-style ball ends — quicker to fit and quicker to settle than tie-end strings.

Watch

Josh Vanjani fits the black ball-end set and plays it, covering the installation as well as the warmer voice of the black nylon.

Why it matters

Almost every other ukulele string here is a tie-end, which means knotting it at the bridge. Ernie Ball uses ball ends, the same as its guitar strings, so the string seats in one motion and the knot that slackens as it stretches is gone. That is where the faster break-in claim comes from, and it makes these the simplest set on this page to fit. Clear is the brighter of the two colours and black is warmer with a more percussive attack; the low-G variant's fourth string is nylon multifilament wound with 80/20 bronze, and there is a baritone set.

Note

Ernie Ball's ukulele sets are plain nylon in clear or black, and the ball ends are the feature: they seat in a bridge the way guitar strings do instead of being tied, which Ernie Ball measures as up to 20% faster break-in.

Specifications

• 100% nylon monofilament
• clear and black
• concert and soprano
• wound low-G variant uses a 0.030 in 80/20 bronze-wrapped multifilament fourth string
• baritone set adds silver-plated copper and 80/20 bronze wounds
• ball-end construction
• made in the USA

Before you buy

• ball ends suit a bridge that takes them — on a traditional tie-end bridge they are no advantage
• clear is brighter and black is warmer; both are plain nylon, so neither reaches the brightness of fluorocarbon
• the low-G variant uses a wound fourth string, the only wound string in the range

Sources

• ernieball.com
• heidmusic.com
• musicarts.com