Do-It-Myself Pocket Uke Set-Up?

Papa Tom

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I'm scratching at the door waiting for my new Tom Pocket Uke to arrive any day (it's due two days from now, at the earliest). In the meantime, I've been reading some comments about how the nut is often too high on this instrument. This sounds like something that will bug me a lot, even though I am fully aware it's a $37 toy.

I've never had a set-up on any of my three other ukes, let alone do a set-up myself. However, given the nominal price of the Tom, I am thinking that, if the nut needs to be filed a bit, I don't want to pay someone a hundred dollars or so to do it.

So...can anybody point me to the right tool, and maybe provide some tips? Can I simply use a sheet of sandpaper?

(All you hardcore luthier-types: Please go easy on me. I'm just a former drummer who took to the uke late in life, got pretty good at it fast, but knows almost nothing about the construction of stringed instruments!)
 
Would probably do better in Tech Support Forum
 
Removing the nut to sand the bottom is very bad information in my opinion.

Try this:



or...
 
For about $4 you can get a set of welding tip cleaners ("Blue Hawk" brand) at Lowes or some other big box hardware store. The tips come in a tin, are of various sizes and are perfect round files for filing nut slots. Have been using these welding tips for quite a while in setting up my stringed instruments based on a recommendation I got over at a mandolin forum I visit a lot. The tips make a rounded slot bottom which prevents any grabbing or pinching of the nylon string.
 
i second steve there with the torch tip cleaners. Make sure not to widen the slots, that adds buzz. Keep baking soda and thin ca glue around just in case you need to fill and refile. Just dropping some ca glue into a pile of baking soda is fun by itself, make sure to have good ventilation...

I'm not sure if it matters but I think I might suggest first taking down the saddle to get the high frets in tune before going after the nut slots. Doing the nut slots before the saddle might increase the chance of getting a low fret buzz.

Oh business cards or cereal boxes work good for saddle shims in case you screw that up.

Then again its probably better to do an 80% setup first with both the saddle and nut and then fine tune it the rest of the way. That's how i did my working rubin sopranino.

It's likely these cheap ukes will end up taking hours of work to get them nicely playable. But you learn a lot and then it's really your ukulele.
 
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I'm scratching at the door waiting for my new Tom Pocket Uke to arrive any day (it's due two days from now, at the earliest). In the meantime, I've been reading some comments about how the nut is often too high on this instrument. This sounds like something that will bug me a lot, even though I am fully aware it's a $37 toy.

I've never had a set-up on any of my three other ukes, let alone do a set-up myself. However, given the nominal price of the Tom, I am thinking that, if the nut needs to be filed a bit, I don't want to pay someone a hundred dollars or so to do it.

So...can anybody point me to the right tool, and maybe provide some tips? Can I simply use a sheet of sandpaper?

(All you hardcore luthier-types: Please go easy on me. I'm just a former drummer who took to the uke late in life, got pretty good at it fast, but knows almost nothing about the construction of stringed instruments!)


If your Tom pocket uke is anything like my Rubin travel sopranino then it's far from being a toy although it will almost certainly need some tweaking to make it playable.

First off, I'd check for proud frets by laying a short metal rule along the fretboard and seeing if there's any rocking. If you find any high ones, you might need to file them down.

The action will most likely be too high at both ends. as others have suggested, welding tip cleaners will work on the nut, albeit slowly as they aren't designed for cutting but the best option I've found is round saw rods in a range of diameters which are available on ebay as "GeetarGizmos GUITAR NUT SLOT SAW RODS". You won't need the hacksaw, just the rods. Just make sure to angle down towards the headstock when cutting and go slow - there are loads of youtube videos showing how.
If you are really unlucky you might get one where the nut has been cut so that outer strings are too close to the edge of the fretboard such that they "fall off" when fretting. I've seen 2 Rubins with that problem, which needed new narrower nuts cutting to remedy.

For the saddle, slide it out of the bridge and sand the bottom on a flat surface. Aim for 3-3.5mm action at fret 12. If you go too low, there will be buzzing on 1 or more strings, in which case, shim under the saddle with cardboard to raise it again (or get another saddle as they are cheap).

You will also want to check that the tuners are screwed in tightly but careful not to thread any of the screws.

That's about it really. Good luck!
 
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I am a lot less picky about my ukuleles than many. But I really don't think you are going to have to worry about this issue with a pocket ukulele. I have one, it isn't a Tom but My Rubin has really good frets, no rocking on any of them. The action came pretty low, no buzzing. the fret wire was the smoothest of any out of the box uke I own. I for the first time checked the intonation and there are two spots where it not spot on on the "G" string rather far up the neck the other two are pretty close. (I didn't check all the strings.)

I have never encountered a pocket ukulele where people didn't just think it was the cat's pajamas just because of its size. And I have never had anyone play mine for more than just a few minutes at a time when they asked to see it. If you are going to play it in a concert maybe you should get it set up professionally, but also remember it is a novelty instrument, setting one up in my opinion would be like tuning a kazoo :2cents:.
 
If you are going to play it in a concert maybe you should get it set up professionally, but also remember it is a novelty instrument, setting one up in my opinion would be like tuning a kazoo :2cents:.

I disagree that these Chinese pocket ukes are just novelty instruments. Correctly set up, which should take less than an hour (even in the worst case) and with decent strings they are very playable and can sound really good.
 
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OK, well, some of you have scared the heck out of me now. There's some great information here, though, so thank you all. I am going to keep my fingers crossed that it arrives ready-to-play, out of the box. I'm using it exclusively as a workulele and a carkulele, so dead-on intonation won't be an issue. But if the strings are too high and I walk away with bone-deep indentations in my fingers every time I play it, I'm going to be a miserable little boy.

I will report back after my Tom arrives safely. (PS: I'm a little disappointed that the logo only reads "T." The main reason I chose this over the Rubin is that I thought I'd have an instrument with my name on it. I guess Les Paul will still have that over me.)
 
I disagree that these Chinese pocket ukes are just novelty instruments. Correctly set up, which should take less than an hour (even in the worst case) and with decent strings they are very playable and can sound really good.

I agree they are playable and mine sounds "okay". My pocket uke is possibly my favorite I was very excited when I saw it for sale, and for me it was a "must have" and the minute I opened the package I wished I had bought two of them. It is an icebreaker when you go to a Kanikapila or jam session. However, IMO to play one in front of any listener the size of the uke will overshadow any music that comes from it. I can see it being brought out during a live performance and played for one song but I have never seen anyone perform an entire "set", "concert", or "show" with one. Maybe they are played for an entire jam session, or something but I doubt that many play it primarily. (But more power to anyone who does)
 
it's the one that goes with me in the car when i think there's a remote possibility I'll need to play. I ordered a factory second rubin that was total bust, I haven't decided whether to wait for rubin again or grab one of these tom sopranino's. I really don't need another ukulele though...but sopraninos are great gifts for ukulele players who don't already have one!

The sad part is I really have no clue how any of my ukuleles sound. I'm the only one who ever plays them so all I get is the biased first person sound sample.
 
The sad part is I really have no clue how any of my ukuleles sound. I'm the only one who ever plays them so all I get is the biased first person sound sample.

I am in agreement with you on that, that is why I say mine sounds "okay" :)
 
OK, well, some of you have scared the heck out of me now. There's some great information here, though, so thank you all. I am going to keep my fingers crossed that it arrives ready-to-play, out of the box. I'm using it exclusively as a workulele and a carkulele, so dead-on intonation won't be an issue. But if the strings are too high and I walk away with bone-deep indentations in my fingers every time I play it, I'm going to be a miserable little boy.

I will report back after my Tom arrives safely. (PS: I'm a little disappointed that the logo only reads "T." The main reason I chose this over the Rubin is that I thought I'd have an instrument with my name on it. I guess Les Paul will still have that over me.)

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

― Frank Herbert, Dune

If you have ever used tools to build a model, repair eyeglasses, sew anything together before? That is about the dexterity needed to pull off a setup in my opinion.

If you have a Harbor Freight nearby go look at a few cheap file sets and the cheap diamond sets as well. I look for imperfect files with slightly rounded knife edges perfect for rounding the bottom of the nut channel with a slight twist of your hand. If you have a grinder and a bucket of water and fear the file look up safe files for ideas of how to produce a cheap set. Go slow look closely and ask questions if you do not understand something before doing it.
 
I don't own a Tom pocket uke, but I have a concert, and if the pocket uke is of similar quality, you have no reason to worry. The concert was very well set up - straight from the box.
 
These aren't novelty instruments. The Tom mini-ukulele, as small as it is, is quite a real instrument that can play some serious jams.

Mine came reasonable well setup. The nut height was perfect, but I did sand the saddle down a little bit so it handles high-dgbe tuning a bit better.

It's an amazing instrument. Definitely not a toy! (although it is loads of fun too!)
 
I have a Rubin soprano and the only setup required was sanding down the saddle a bit. I'm very pleased with the quality of the Rubin and in the month I've owned it this uke has gotten the most play.

I also own a Tom tenor and again the only setup required was sanding the saddle. Great quality and the only reason it doesn't get much play is I've discovered soprano is my favorite scale.
 
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These aren't novelty instruments. The Tom mini-ukulele, as small as it is, is quite a real instrument that can play some serious jams.

Mine came reasonable well setup. The nut height was perfect, but I did sand the saddle down a little bit so it handles high-dgbe tuning a bit better.

It's an amazing instrument. Definitely not a toy! (although it is loads of fun too!)

I guess I am the one who started the "novelty" uke comments in this thread. I have N.U.A.S. (novelty UAS) . I do believe a pocket is a novelty but in my opinion that does not mean low quality, it means it has more spirit. IMO whatever it lacks it makes up for in personality. Do I think a pocket is a novelty uke, yes, but I am least likely to part with my Rubin pocket out of my entire collection. (But I don't ever plan on parting with any of them) My definition of a novelty ukulele is a ukulele that when played the uke is more of the focus than the music that comes out of it.

Ie. If Jake was to play a pocket uke, I think his audience would be amazed at his talent and even more amazed that he is able to do what he does pn such a small ukulele.

When I was a kid in the 70's variety shows had a novelty act where a guy did tricks on a bicycle at the end he brought out a bike that had wheels made of half dollar coins, and with a big build up he ended his show riding the tiny tiny bicylce. Pocket ukes remind me of that act, that I've remembered for 30 years. Turns out riding the bike wasn't as hard as he let on they sell them now, and I can't even find his act on YT. But if you fail to see the novelty and entertainment from this clip you just need to trust me that I don't use the term Novelty ukulele as a negative thing:

[video=youtube;bPBwuP73SK8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=85027636&v=bPBwuP73SK8&x-yt-ts=1422503916[/video]
 
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From the OP: By the way, when I called the pocket uke I ordered a "toy," I was referring to its PRICE -- NOT its size.

The Tom is $38 shipped from China to Canada to the US. The only pocket uke I see in any music store is $179 before tax.
 
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