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CB Uke - Aquila strings snapping

I play uke and love Aquila strings.

Last night, when I put them on my latest build (a cookie tin uke), I tuned them up to pitch, and after about 30 minutes the 2 highest ones snapped at the tail end. (I have them running thru the neck and knotted at the back of the neck). They were tenor strings and the uke is tenor scale (18"). So I'm just wondering if anyone has had a similar problem or if another type of string might be a better option.

Any thoughts welcomed. Mahalo!

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Permalink Reply by Hilo Greg on October 20, 2014 at 7:17am

Thanks for reading my post. All valid points.

The strings go through the neck and then through a small ferrule so I don't think there are any sharp edges. The tension should be right (tenor scale, tenor strings). The angle might be the culprit. It's a little over 90 degrees.

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Permalink Reply by Bufo Bill on October 20, 2014 at 5:38am

Hi I have a great interest in these strings and have spoken to many users and read hundreds of forum posts and the general gist of it is that these stings sound wonderful but can be very temperamental. You often find that even one rough edge can cause breakages, and some individual sets seem particularly vulnerable. Make sure there are no sharp edges before trying again. I love the sound of these but Aquila strings can be an expensive vice.
All the best from Bill. :D

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Permalink Reply by Hilo Greg on October 20, 2014 at 7:30am

Hi Bill, Thank you for weighing in. Expensive vice it right... Normally I wouldn't use Aquilas on an untested home build, but it was late and those were the only tenor strings I had. I'll let you know how it turns out. Cheers, Greg

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Permalink Reply by Hilo Greg on October 21, 2014 at 2:58am

I think I found a solution. I removed the ferrules and tied the strings down with 4 wood screws. The strings tuned right up and sound pretty good. Unfortunately I could not salvage the A string, so I'll put on a cheap one for the time being. When I'm satisfied that the instrument is "as good as it's gonna get," I'll buy some nicer (matching) screws and a new set of Aquilas.

I also should note that I'm using a CB Gitty banjo bridge with the middle leg sawed off and the left/right legs filed way down to keep the action low. The grooves in the bridge are pretty small (made for banjo strings obviously) so the Aquilas were getting stuck in the grooves. So, I widened those a little to alleviate that pressure. When it all gets settled in I'll post a video to demonstrate the sound.

Slightly OT... Prior to this I've built 3 or 4 CBGs and 3 or 4 canjos, and one thing I really enjoy about the process is the problem solving aspect, and finding out ways to improve designs based on each instrument's characteristics, and also factoring in my time, tools and somewhat limited woodworking skills. It's really a blast to play music on my own instrument and it would not be possible without the CB Nation members' posts and videos, and also the great, affordable parts all in one place at CBGitty.