Strings are too high and it's uncomfortable to play higher notes

Hello to all,
this problem of mine is the reason I got here. I recently acquired a Kala Ka-T tenor ukulele and I have been playing it for a couple of months.

This week, as I got to play higher notes on the ukulele, I noticed it's not as comfortable as I expected, the strings seem to be set too high, especially around the 12th fret and near the bridge.



My real question is: Can I just remove the saddle and do a little bit of sanding, take off some mm and make it more comfortable ?
I think it probably would help but I'm afraid it could cause buzzing in the first frets.

I measured with a not so good ruler and the heights are
2mm around the nut
5mm on the 12th fret
and 13mm near the saddle.

So, Should I do it on behalf of playability? I need opinions of those that are more experienced with the uke

I have the same uke. I do not have it near me, but IIRC, the action is not that hight on mine at all. I wont be able to measure it and report back on that until maybe tomorrow (FRI) evening.

I dont have a string height gauge to measure it with, and my preferences may not match yours, nor can I guarantee that we are using the same strings, but I will caution you that any 'absolute' measurements you read about are not going to match your exact playing style, nor your actual instrument, when in fact string height, and what you've encountered as playability issues, are all relative to the instrument and the preferences of the player.

However, I have a few thoughts for you...

1. You could call Kala, it does not matter how old your uke is or how long ago you bought it, or even if you bought it used. they have a tech support number on their web site, and since they made the uke, they can tell you how it was supposed to be shipped when it was made. That would be the only valid reference I would consider if you want to use a ruler instead of your own 'feel' for string height... Many folks will tell you about stacks of business cards, or the width of a guitar pick (I admit that I too have been guilty of that in the past), but these are only a reference, and not a mandate.

2. On Kala's web shop (linked from their main page), under accessories/parts they sell 5mm, 6mm, and 7mm saddles for like $3-4 each that will fit the KA-T. I have bought one of each size in order to swap them out if/when I use different gauge strings. Mind you this is the SADDLE height, NOT the height of the strings from the top wood of the uke body at the bridge. If you get the different height saddles, you can easily swap them out and still have your 'original' in case you want to go back, and also just in case you still need to make adjustments, you will have various spares to try again, so you are not left without any saddle at all, if you file/sand it down too far.

3. If this is your first attempt at modifying the saddle on a uke or guitar, I HIGHLY recommend watching like at least a dozen youtube videos on the subject and even more than that if needed until you have a comfort level with doing this yourself. YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF, easily.

4. If you are still lost or unsure, you can take it to a luthier or guitar tech at a local music shop and have them look at it, but you will probably pay at least $50 for any work done by a competent person, and for a uke that sells new @ retail for $115 everywhere, this seems like a lot to spend to me.

5. I have done much worse 'modifications' in pursuit of better playability, some were complete failures on the first try, but I persisted and educated myself until I got it right, and always figured on having spare parts (the first try almost always gets trashed, due to imprecision, impatience, lack of experience or some combination thereof).

6. If you are handy with a file and/or sandpaper, AND you ONLY modify the saddle (the white plastic/bone/other-material insert) that should be easy to remove from the slot in the bridge once the strings are loose enough, this should be a piece of cake to fix.

However, GO SLOW. Coarse sandpaper (100 to 400 grit aluminum oxide) can take off like 0.5mm in 2 strokes on a plastic saddle, and that by itself is enough to alter the string height/action enough to feel a difference. You also want to make sure that the sandpaper is on a perfectly FLAT surface otherwise when you sand down the bottom of the saddle, it will be uneven, and in fact create a worse problem. Alternately, you could also file/sand down the top of the saddle, but then you migh have to re-crown it to put a nice beveled edge on it, and now you are also getting involved with the intonation, and you've only got like 1/8" of material to work with, so this requires a bit of finesse and tons of patience (having spart parts beforehand is a lifesaver, see #5 above)...

Hope this helps...let me know if/what you decide and I can try to help further if possible...

Other members here on UU might have alternate ideas, and you might want to consider and integrate them once the others chime in too.

-Booli

The secret is to take it off a little at a time. I have had to lower the action (string height) on almost every ukulele I have ever owned. There is a way to measure how much to take off, but it gets more complicated, so I usually just take off a little and try 'm sure if you search the forums you can find that. Manufacturers usually set them high because they don't know what strings you will ultimately play, how well you will keep it humidified, etc. etc

If you go too far, you can either shim the saddle or buy a new one from Kala (or others) and start over. I hope that helps.

I've done it to every ukulele I own. As long as the frets are dressed properly and you don't go supper low you shouldn't have any problem. Draw a straight line across the saddle for reference as you sand. Otherwise it's a pane to keep it level. Even if you do mess it up you can get a new saddle really cheep and try again.

Thanks for taking time to reply,
I really like the idea of buying multiple saddles and modifying them rather than the original, this is exactly what I did on my acoustic guitar some months ago (The job wasn't perfect though)
My only problem is that I believe I will only find uke saddles online. But tomorrow i will buy and try to modify an acoustic guitar saddle and see if it works, it should buy me some time until a proper one arrives here.
I will only modify the original one if nothing else works.

PS: My strings are Aquila New Nylgut and where I live it is very hot with very high humidity.

matheusaavila said:

Thanks for taking time to reply,
I really like the idea of buying multiple saddles and modifying them rather than the original, this is exactly what I did on my acoustic guitar some months ago (The job wasn't perfect though)
My only problem is that I believe I will only find uke saddles online. But tomorrow i will buy and try to modify an acoustic guitar saddle and see if it works, it should buy me some time until a proper one arrives here.
I will only modify the original one if nothing else works.

PS: My strings are Aquila New Nylgut and where I live it is very hot with very high humidity.

Click to expand...

Glad to be of help.

If you buy a guitar saddle, getting one meant for a steel string acoustic guitar will be problematic since they are usually pre-'compensated' for the 2nd or 3rd guitar string, meaning that the top edge of the saddle where the strings rest, will have the crest of the saddle filed for you already which helps with intonation on an acoustic guitar with the transition from the unwound plain steel strings to the wound steel strings. This compensation is likely to not yield good intonation on a uke. Also, many of these saddles that I've seen have a slight radius, which unless the fretboard of your uke has a radius fretboard [with a matching radius] (which the Kala KA-T does NOT) will also yield unpredictable results...

However, typically saddles made for 'classical guitar', i,e, nylon string will not be pre-compensated, nor radiused, however, they may be slightly 'ramped', meaning that the end of the saddle that would be closest to your face (when installed) will be TALLER than the end that would be closest to the floor. You CAN work with this saddle, but if the ramp works against you (and puts the intonation off by too much), you'd have to file the top even or flat, and then adjust the height of the saddle (by filing MORE) after your top and bottom of the saddle are even...

FYI - Elderly.com , Ukuleleworld.com, stringsbymail.com also all sell ukulele saddles, bridges, nuts, tuning machines, etc., and of course there's ebay where you can get a dozen bone or micarta uke saddles for like $5 with free worldwide shipping, but I've experienced that it will be at least 2-3 weeks before you receive it, because it is literally being shipping on 'the slow boat from China'...

Please report back with your progress either way.

-Booli

Well, today I couldn't go out to buy the guitar saddles to "experiment", so I decided to give it a go.

The original saddle was 7mm high, and I removed around 2mm.
I can say that the high notes fell much better and sound cleaner, and also the uke looks even better.

I was gonna go for another mm but the sandpaper I have here today is not the perfect one, and it took me MANY strokes to get 2mm. So as soon as I get a better one I will try to finish the job and then I will post the final result here.

Thanks for all the replies and the help, my uke and I are really happy!!!

matheusaavila said:

Well, today I couldn't go out to buy the guitar saddles to "experiment", so I decided to give it a go.

The original saddle was 7mm high, and I removed around 2mm.
I can say that the high notes fell much better and sound cleaner, and also the uke looks even better.

I was gonna go for another mm but the sandpaper I have here today is not the perfect one, and it took me MANY strokes to get 2mm. So as soon as I get a better one I will try to finish the job and then I will post the final result here.

Thanks for all the replies and the help, my uke and I are really happy!!!

Click to expand...

Good for you!!
Out of curiosity......the saddle looks to be an sideways L shape. Did you have to sand down both edges to keep the string break angle on the top? If that makes sense LOL

the saddle is rectangular, is looking weird because of the angle and the camera flash

Normally Kala has very good action, too low for me. But, the picture does not show good action, is it possible that the saddle has been replaced by the music store you bought it from and a "new saddle" was installed prior to the sale ? or could this have been a used ukulele ?