What's the correct height of Ukulele Strings???

I think Amute was just feeling frustrated about his purchase.

I'm sure ,like most uke players here and elsewhere, he's a nice guy.

Thank you man and yes it's been a real bummer getting my first pricey Uke and have'n so many issues right away. I've left alot out I'd like to have said, with poor customer service, it getting left on my front door all day during summer and a blem on the front in the gloss finish.. No reply from Bushman yet....
I've been a lil'heated. So I do apologize folks.

As far as the negitive comment bs goes I ment no one any disrespect and don't understand why anyone else needs or wants to disrepect me, just be cool and try to put yourself in my place.
I was told by Bushman my Uke would be setup per what I requested and shipped first class, it was not.
But life goes on so again I do apologize if I came across upset and frustrated.

Thanx again for given a stranger a fair chance Hoosierhiver, very cool of you.
 
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No worries man,

I had no idea you were having that many problems and not getting any answers from Bushman.

I can understand the frustration with that. I'd consider sending it back and dealing with a more customer friendly retailer/company if Bushman is giving that much trouble.

I hear MusicGuyMike is the best online Ukulele retailer, or deal directly with Mainland Ukes. Top notch service form both form what I've been told.

JT
 
In regards to Post #5 This is the best thing I've read about "What Matters" is how the uke plays when you bar the first fret!
 
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Amute,

Trust me when I say this is a very easy fix. You spent $300 on this uke. If the playability isn't good for you then get yourself a piece of sandpaper and gently and patiently sand the bottom off the saddle as has been explained. I have lowered action on ukes that came already set up to be low, but still weren't low enough for my liking. Its a very easy thing to do. IMO a uke isn't with any amount of money if the action isn't right for me. Make it worth $300 to you by spending a few minutes fixing it to your personal preference.

Like others have said if you get it too low....(and you probably wont) you can buy a new one and start over. That has never happened to me. They just don't file off like chalk. It takes some work to blow it. Before you remove it take a very sharp pencil and mark where it sits in the bridge. Take it out and measure it and then you can keep an eye on how much you've removed. You will find that it takes some work to take it down even a little. I have taken them down with sand paper and Ive also used an emory board to file fingernails. Go to the drugstore and find one with a good grit on one side and smother on the other. You'll be fine!

Don't be afraid of ruining it! There is something very satisfying about learning to fix your uke and making it just right for you!

Take a deep breath and just give it a shot.
 
On second thought after reading the reviews and complaints on the Bushman I would consider sending it back. I would have to love it to keep it and work on it.
 
FYI, recent posts to this thread in the last week regarding that specific Bushman uke are likely to be lost in the abyss since those posts are from 2009, i.e., EIGHT yrs ago, and in the 4 yrs I've been on UU, I've never seen ANY posts from those folks, so to put it simply:

"That ship has sailed." :)
 
FYI, recent posts to this thread in the last week regarding that specific Bushman uke are likely to be lost in the abyss since those posts are from 2009, i.e., EIGHT yrs ago, and in the 4 yrs I've been on UU, I've never seen ANY posts from those folks, so to put it simply:

"That ship has sailed." :)

How has all of these old threads Gothenburg up lately? I'm leaving Gothenburg there just because it is crazy that my computer would even think that is the word I was typing. But I kind of understand Amute's frustration. Why do we accept that we are going to have to take our brand new ukuleles somewhere to have them made playable? Ever since I started into this ukulele playing I've wondered that. I don't think there is any other product that I buy that needs to go straight to the repair shop before I can use it.
 
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How has all of these old threads Gothenburg up lately? I'm leaving Gothenburg there just because it is crazy that my computer would even think that is the word I was typing. But I kind of understand Amute's frustration. Why do we accept that we are going to have to take our brand new ukuleles somewhere to have them made playable? Ever since I started into this ukulele playing I've wondered that. I don't think there is any other product that I buy that needs to go straight to the repair shop before I can use it.

This is WHY you buy a uke from a dealer that does a SETUP....

Otherwise if not a custom luthier, you are buying from a big-box drop-shipper that is supplied by an Asian sweat shop where folks are whipped bloody or denied meals and sleep if they dont meet the daily quota, and in the haste to churn out product, quality control is a small part of the process...if even at all...

Rollie, if you are in PR right now, I hope you have taken precautions and are ready for the 185 mph winds from Irma....
 
This is WHY you buy a uke from a dealer that does a SETUP....

Otherwise if not a custom luthier, you are buying from a big-box drop-shipper that is supplied by an Asian sweat shop where folks are whipped bloody or denied meals and sleep if they dont meet the daily quota, and in the haste to churn out product, quality control is a small part of the process...if even at all...

Rollie, if you are in PR right now, I hope you have taken precautions and are ready for the 185 mph winds from Irma....
Yes I am Booli, thank you. Incredibly we still have electricity and internet. I'm sitting here listening to the wind , eating Oreos for lunch, watching the radar, and playing my ukulele. I understand the benefits of buying a ukulele from someone who will set it up, and I understand all the about the manufacturers, but seriously, dealers shouldn't have to set them up. There are a lot of products manufactured under the same conditions, and they work fine right out of the box. Just saying. My skylights are leaking too. I don't think that they were built to stop water coming in sideways.
 
Yes I am Booli, thank you. Incredibly we still have electricity and internet. I'm sitting here listening to the wind , eating Oreos for lunch, watching the radar, and playing my ukulele. I understand the benefits of buying a ukulele from someone who will set it up, and I understand all the about the manufacturers, but seriously, dealers shouldn't have to set them up. There are a lot of products manufactured under the same conditions, and they work fine right out of the box. Just saying. My skylights are leaking too. I don't think that they were built to stop water coming in sideways.

Glad to hear you are ok. It's been raining pretty hard here all day in NJ, and we had to power go out 4 times, the first 3 were about 10 mins apart, and then about an hour later power was out for about 2 hrs, and the neighbor who knows folks that work for both the town and public utility co., said that 4 transformers were blown, in a sort of domino effect...4 mile radius was dark from it, but the neighbor told us that the folks needed were working on fixing it...

and once we got candles lit, and everything settled, and I had a glass of whiskey next to me and uke in hand, just as I strummed the first chord, all the power came back, and looking outside all the neighbors have lights on now, whereas before, you see the faint glimmer of, and flickering from candle-light only, from their windows.

I would agree with you about the ukes coming ready to play, but we have so many choices of vendors now, that it is usually only the newbies that dont know any better to ask questions that are getting burned by ukes that are unplayable out of the box, and ironically, those are the folks that need ukes playable from day one, otherwise they will be more likely to give up not knowing that high action, rough frets, and poor intonation CAN in fact be fixed - they will just thing that these badly-setup ukes are too hard for them to try and play...seen it happen many times with both guitar and ukes...
 
I'm very nervous asking this question but I couldn't find a definition for "Gothenburg up", just what does this mean Rllink?
 
I'm very nervous asking this question but I couldn't find a definition for "Gothenburg up", just what does this mean Rllink?

Just by context of how Rolli used it, I figured it meant something like:

'rising up from the ashes (or the past)'

or maybe

'evident of a resurrected necropost'

...but these are just a guess, and I might be close in what I was able to grok from it

...and yes, I too never saw that term before in common usage...maybe it's a common term in Rolli's circle of friends and family? a colloquial term? :)
 
How has all of these old threads Gothenburg up lately? I'm leaving Gothenburg there just because it is crazy that my computer would even think that is the word I was typing.....

Auto correct by computer program - possibly it was 'gotten brought'. :wallbash:

Some old threads rise up like a phoenix from the ashes. ;)
 
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It depends alittle on your style of play,if you strum it hard then you don't want to lower the action too much or it will buzz.
Measuring from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string,generally about 1mm at the first fret is considered acceptable.
Action at the 12th fret should be about 3mm for a soprano, about 3 to 3.5 for a concert, and 4mm or under for a tenor.

This is an old thread but I have to say thank you to Hoosierhiver for providing the most helpful short explanation for acceptable string height on a soprano uke for a newbie. I was wondering if the string height was acceptable on the Kala soprano I just bought and was getting frustrated with different measurements posed online for what is considered "proper." According to Hoosierhiver's specifications my Kala's string height is within acceptable range (1 mm on first fret; almost 3mm on 12th fret). Now, I'll just have to wait until I form the proper calluses on my left hand so that pushing down on the strings doesn't hurt as much! Wonder how long that takes... Didn't really want to have to sand down nuts and saddles that might be glued in...
 
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