UkeStuff
Well-known member
Kala very kindly donated 40 Makala Watermen to our school.
We have been using them for a while now, and I am convinced--after using my own ukuleles and the very inexpensive Mahalos that we purchased before the donation--that the Waterman (and its ilk, like the BugsGear) are ideal ukuleles for school programs where the ukulele is an addition to a program rather than THE program (such as in Langley, BC). They are rugged and hold their tuning better in the sad climate conditions of a school (A/C is turned off at the end of the day and in the summer, heat is lowered in the winter at night and weekend, etc.).
One of my observations is that the 2nd String E is most likely to be out of tune.
But what I wanted to ask about was tuning the 1st String A. The Snark SN-6 tuner doesn't get a clear reading on that string (it does with the other 3), unless the A string is played ridiculously strong or a chord is still ringing from the other strings.
Otherwise, when tuning the A String, it shows as "in tune" on the tuner, but when played in any chord, the string is distinctly sharp. As we have 40 of these instruments, I can verify that this is the case, versus a fluke (no pun intended).
If you have a Waterman, have you experienced this, and if so, what is your solution? Is there a clip-on tuner that is better for the Waterman (and worth buying)?
I know I can tune by ear--but this is a school where time to tune is often limited and there is often other noise in the room. Speed is of the essence.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
We have been using them for a while now, and I am convinced--after using my own ukuleles and the very inexpensive Mahalos that we purchased before the donation--that the Waterman (and its ilk, like the BugsGear) are ideal ukuleles for school programs where the ukulele is an addition to a program rather than THE program (such as in Langley, BC). They are rugged and hold their tuning better in the sad climate conditions of a school (A/C is turned off at the end of the day and in the summer, heat is lowered in the winter at night and weekend, etc.).
One of my observations is that the 2nd String E is most likely to be out of tune.
But what I wanted to ask about was tuning the 1st String A. The Snark SN-6 tuner doesn't get a clear reading on that string (it does with the other 3), unless the A string is played ridiculously strong or a chord is still ringing from the other strings.
Otherwise, when tuning the A String, it shows as "in tune" on the tuner, but when played in any chord, the string is distinctly sharp. As we have 40 of these instruments, I can verify that this is the case, versus a fluke (no pun intended).
If you have a Waterman, have you experienced this, and if so, what is your solution? Is there a clip-on tuner that is better for the Waterman (and worth buying)?
I know I can tune by ear--but this is a school where time to tune is often limited and there is often other noise in the room. Speed is of the essence.
Thanks in advance for any advice.