This is one of the most important things to check. I have nerve and tendon damage in my L hand. You end up with an instrument that isn’t too bad, but not great either. Copyright © 2008 - 2020 Got A Ukulele / Barry Maz - All Rights Reserved, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To get the optimum action at the first fret, press the string at the 3rd fret and the string should just clear the first fret by about the thickness of a piece of paper. If they’re too close then you may get some buzzing. I dropped the action about 1/8″, and put on new strings. make a fence 6 inches long 1 inch wide and 1/8 inch thick. We will sand down the frets also to give them a nice shiny finish. But no - lowering the action will not help. that there are issues that could have slipped through that initial factory quality control that wouldn’t meet their standards. If that didn’t work, I’d try Winsor Newton Brush Cleaner which can remove hardened “varnishes”. No issues with tuning or intonation. If the saddle is glued in you have a problem. Sharpness at first frets can indicate nut is too high. 3. Update: Martin 0XK 35.5mm nut and a whopping 30.7mm string width! of orders currently being processed and the setup option you have chosen for your order, once the instrument reaches the work bench we give it the same time and attention as the rest. Our store in Haleiwa is now OPEN 12-6 Wed-Fri. Stop by and visit us. I’d try grabbing the saddle with a pair of pliers and jiggling it back and forth and up and down. I am not afraid of mucking it up. Melt or file? Oh, did you totally remove the strings or just leave then very loose and slide the bridge out? The main reason for not doing that Bob is that it makes it very hard to keep the break angle right on the top of the saddle. SADDLE ADJUSTMENT: in most cases the height of the saddle is higher than it needs to be, so we are able to lower it to reduce the So cannot find one at all.! Working great ! I actually deliberately dealt only with the saddle for the simple reason that reducing the nut is a lot more difficult.If the nut is easily removed, yes you can take some off the bottom, but the margins are much much smaller. Impossible to say without examining the ukulele. Both ukes can also be tuned with Low G tuning, but it is more common with the tenor. I have a soprano i used at the beginning but went on to the Concert which i like. I'd miss it! Ken Kelly. But it could be a combination of things. There’s not a lot to grip on a saddle and even though I felt like I was keeping it pretty flat, that turned out to not be the case and I had to make some slight adjustments to even it out. I will try doing as advised by you.However, in case i need to raise the nut on that string will it be possible to do it myself? I could have gone more but didn’t want to take the chance of strings buzzing. We check for wood inconsistencies, chips, cracks or dents. You can always write a blues song about it. Nice article, Barry. Measure string action (the height of the string above the fret) at any point by placing the gauge behind the string. Bone Nut for Ukulele, Ukulele Bridge Saddle Guitar Bone String Saddle and Nut for 4 String Ukuleles Musical Instrument Repair Parts 3.7 out of 5 stars 4 $8.08 $ 8 . SETUP and delivery, for an extra fee, one of our setup technicians will work overtime outside of normal business hours to complete the setup within 2-3 days of the order being placed and immediately hand it over to the shipping department the option to play or record with amplification. Can some experienced uke player please tell me if this too much? Hold the string at the third fret and check how close it gets to the crown of the first. Good description of lowering the action. Thanks for yr help Barry much appreciated! I've seen brand new ukes with defective strings. My other problem is very low tuning pegs,hole is right on the bottom,with no way to wrap down as everyone advises. The string at the 1st fret is just one mm away from the fret. No issue doing one without the other. Each ukulele that leaves our warehouse will undergo a strict QC and setup process by our experienced staff. Sounds mellow. It's a Cynthia Lynn Ohana concert uke. I think I picked a decent starter which will last me some time (Kala Pacific Walnut Concert), but it seems to need some adjustments. And thanks for the comment on the Kala PWC; it makes me feel better on my choice since I've been second guessing it for weeks now. Color options are also available. We aim to find the sweet spot between comfort and performance. We use a special nut file and then low grit sandpaper. If the check with 3rd fret checks out ok, then it may simply be you getting used to strings (they are never 'easy' on fingers starting out) or you might want to try a low tension set of strings. Could be the nut. There is no luthier where i live. beginners pack featuring tips, chords, worksheets and more! We mark the saddle and then sand it down evenly. A 6-string tenor ukulele typically is tuned similarly to the standard GCEA tuning (it can be high G or low G), except that the C and A strings are doubled. Now it’s time to get your ukulele back in tune. Additional setup work is not performed though we can still re-string the instrument and install strap buttons if you 08 $9.29 $9.29 Copyright © 2008 - 2020 Got A Ukulele / Barry Maz - All Rights Reserved, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. non-compensated saddles, some compensated saddles will need to be re-shaped or replaced for left-handed setup. How should i go about it? If you're really serious about learning the ukulele and want to learn at a much faster pace then I'd highly recommend checking out these ukulele ebooks. I use a feeler gauge to set the bottom of the slot .050 inches (1.27 mm) above the fretboard. For me a low action would be about 6/64ths of an inch (or 0.093 inches, or about 2.2mm). for packing and shipment. Tonight, I became tired of my Martin t1k uke just not feeling great and made lowered the saddle......what a difference. SLOW IS QUICKER ON THIS TYPE OF WORK. I hope I can take it in and have it done the same day so I don't have to leave it behind. Action is high. It should only just kiss the top but not quite. That is a skilled thing to do and requires specialist tools that cost a fair bit of money (nut files).