Flight Pathfinder Solid Body Electric Uke Sharp Notes

[spirittoo]

I have the flight tenor uke and the notes on the first fret are sharp. What will correct this? The intonation is off too. Does anyone know of any instructions to set up a electric solid body tenor uke?

Thanks for reading my post.

 

[Jim Hanks]

Normally, that would mean the nut is too high but it looks like this model has a zero fret? If so, that not's it. Your only intonation adjustment is the screws on the other end. How far off are we talking?

 

[spirittoo]

Not that far off ... a half step maybe. It is a zero fret ... so the screws on the bridge is what needs to be adjusted?

Wow ... you have quite a selection. I'm recovering from GAS you?

 

[spirittoo]

Question ... when notes are sharp for the intonation do you turn the screws on the bridge counterclockwise?

 

[Jim Hanks]

When you say "half step" what do you mean by that? In other words, how are you measuring? Chromatic tuner?

here's a good guide to adjusting intonation

How To Set Up Your Electric Guitar Part 3: Intonation - SweetCare

🎸 In this article, we will set your guitar's intonation so that all the notes are the correct pitches up and down the fretboard. 🎸

www.sweetwater.com

 

[spirittoo]

What I mean by a have step is half way between the notes on the first and 12th fret and half step from being sharp if you get what I mean.

Thanks for the link.

 

[Jim Hanks]

Sorry, I'm still not understanding about the half step. If you want accurate intonation, you're going to need a chromatic tuner that can tell you exactly how sharp or flat a note is. For example, tune the open G string using the tuner then play the G at the 12th fret and see how many cents sharp/flat that note is from the G an octave up from the open string. I would expect that to be a small number of cents, perhaps 5-20. Then you can adjust the screws to compensate.

A "half step" is 100 cents, the difference between G and G#, for example. That would be an insanely bad intonation and probably grounds for a refund. I doubt that's what you're dealing with, but it can happen. I've had it happen exactly once.

 

[spirittoo]

Okay let me give it another shot explaining. I do an open G it's in the green on my tuner. Then I press the first fret and I get a G sharp with four notches pass the green mark on the turner. That's how it is when pressing the first fret and the twelve. Do you understand what I mean?

 

[Jim Hanks]

Yes, got it. How are frets 2-11?

can you adjust the tuning by how hard you mash the string or the "angle of attack" on the string? It might just be a "technique" issue?

 

[UkeStuff]

Rachel Webley at Ukulele Wales (YouTube( has a great video about setting up an electric ukulele. The process is different than an acoustic.

I’ve been working on my Flight Centurion and it is slowly being dialed in. I’d never buy another solid body electric from any vendor without it being set up first.

 

[Bill Sheehan]

Okay let me give it another shot explaining. I do an open G it's in the green on my tuner. Then I press the first fret and I get a G sharp with four notches pass the green mark on the turner. That's how it is when pressing the first fret and the twelve. Do you understand what I mean?

Spirittoo, is there any chance you could show us a photo of your Pathfinder's bridge? If the trend is that "everything seems sharp", your saddle pieces may be too far forward and/or too high in the air. You'd want to turn those rear Phillips-head screws clockwise in order to pull a given saddle piece further "rearward." That should correct any string that is currently sounding sharp at the twelfth fret (compared to its "open" note). Be sure to loosen the string's tension before you do that procedure.

As you may know, each saddle piece can be raised and lowered (for a comfortable playing action) by adjusting its two little "worm screws." (Probably a good idea to loosen string tension a bit before doing this too.) I don't have an electric uke, but on my guitars I tend to adjust each saddle piece to a height where I can just barely slide a Quarter underneath each string as the Quarter rests or "spans" like a little bridge across the two pieces of fretwire bordering your last marker dot (approximately the 17th fret position). If your strings are currently a lot higher off the fretboard than that, it could be contributing somewhat to "things going sharp", not to mention making it harder to fret your chords and notes comfortably.

I hope this might help, at least a little, but please feel free to follow up with further questions!

 

[kkimura]

Okay let me give it another shot explaining. I do an open G it's in the green on my tuner. Then I press the first fret and I get a G sharp with four notches pass the green mark on the turner. That's how it is when pressing the first fret and the twelve. Do you understand what I mean?

The nut/zero fret may be too far from the fretboard.