Every musician knows that the instruments they play will only sound as good as the construction and the materials used in them. When it comes to the ukulele, some of the most important components that make that beautiful sound are the strings.
The strings on the ukulele are definitely not the same as the strings on a guitar. The guitar strings are metallic, rough and have a sort of texture on them. Ukulele strings are something else entirely and it just makes the layperson wonder what are ukulele strings made of?
You might have heard all kinds of strange things about cats and guts. Catgut was definitely a choice material to make ukulele strings. At the same time, no cats were ever harmed to make the ukulele strings. You must be wondering, “Then what are ukulele strings made of if not cat guts?”
What Are Ukulele Strings Made Of?
Ukulele strings were made of ‘catgut’ not ‘cat guts’. The material is actually a natural fiber which is found within the intestines of animals. Catgut makers typically used the intestines of sheep or goats to make the material.
Cattle animal intestines were also occasionally used to make catgut. No, nobody ever harmed cats in order to make the ukulele strings. If you are wondering how many strings does a ukulele have, we have the answer.
Of course, synthetic material fares better than natural material when it comes to ensuring long life and that is why even catgut is no longer used to make the ukulele strings. Modern ukuleles now use nylon polymer strings.
They have some variations within them like some are made with fluorocarbon and some with Nylgut. There is also the use of aluminum in some of the strings as the winding for the lower pitched strings as well.
What is the Best Material to Make Ukulele Strings
Now that you know about what ukulele strings are made of, we are going to discuss which ukulele strings give the best performance.
Some of the top musicians in the industry prefer to make use of an innovative material which provides them the longevity of the synthetic products and the performance quality of the catgut.
Appropriately named the Nylgut, it is the closest that you can get to hitting the sound closest to the natural catgut strings without using catgut.
Aquila Super Nylgut AQ-106
Even though it is not a gut string, the Aquila Nylgut gives you the sound that gets as close to the natural thing as it can get. The playing surface on the Aquila Nylgut is smooth so you know your fingers won’t start hurting after playing for a long time.
You can use it for a number of different variations of the ukulele like the baritone and the tenor. The Aquila Super Nylgut strings are not something you can just get at the corner store. They are handcrafted in Italy by specially skilled craftsmen.
Now that you know what are ukulele strings made of and what the best material out of the lot is, you can consider buying it and making the best of your time learning the instrument. Read our selection of the best ukulele brands reviewed.