KoAloha buzzing problem.. PLEASE HELP!

rclifford13

rclifford13

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I recently received my KoAloha tenor with pickup installed from MGM, and it was fantastic until about a week ago when I changed strings from the standard low G Worth clears to high G D'Addario Pro Artes. Now, there is a buzz on the G string at the nut, where the nut slot appears to be too wide for the string, causing the string to rattle and buzz horribly. It seems that the nut has been cut widely, for the thickness of a low G string, and will buzz if a thinner high G string is inserted.
I was not aware of this when I bought the uke, and I intend(ed) to play the uke with high G tuning. Is there anything I can do about this problem, and more importantly, if there isn't, is this covered under warranty? Considering the sum of money I paid for it and KoAloha's "Better Than The Weather" warranty, it should be..
Please help!
Thanks in advance,

Rob :(
 
have you called the shop? i would call them and talk with them, or you can talk to a few of the people on the board that work in the shop. you can find there contacts in the Koaloha Crowns the group that is for Koaloha owners on this site. i am sure paul will chime in on here if he sees this..

d
 
IF that is the cause, might be able to use a little shavings and super glue to build up the gap a wee bit, this is often done with guitar repairs I know, should work. Could also be a tension issue that is actually resulting in buzzing from frets, etc if the neck tension has changed, less or more (usually more).
 
Toucan Mango said:
I was going to comment on your comment but I would be tossing myself right into the middle of the twisted UU members he he he..So I will hold off..
Click to expand...

I would never make such childish comments. never.
 
Rob,

I'm sure Paul will chime in, but before he does the business response. . .

First of all, there's nothing wrong with your `ukulele. It is common knowledge that when you change strings, you may have to reset the action, including recutting/replacing the nut. I'm just surprised with all the string changing going on, this doesn't happen more often.

As for warranty? Why would a string change be covered under warranty? I've seen so many people complain about the performance of their `ukulele after they do a string change. "But I wanted XXX Brand of strings." Well, maybe your instrument wasn't setup for those strings, and it has to be, as it is in your case.

The fact that you have to reset the instrument, ESPECIALLY after string change from low g to high G should come as no surprise. In your case, because you're going to a smaller string, I would change the nut if it were a higher end instrument. But, you'll get responses to fill the slot instead, which can, and has been done successfully many times.

Lesson learned: If you buy a low g instrument and intend to play it high G, plan on setting it up again.

-Aaron
 
There is a significant diameter difference between a non wound low 'g' and wound low 'g'. Most of our tenors are factory mounted with low 'g, as it tends to be the tuning preference of most players. Although the instruments are identical in bracing, we do file the nuts different for high and low string configurations. Same goes for wound 'c' strings, etc.

Our fluorocarbon low 'g' strings are pretty thick, close to .040". An average high 'g' will be about .026". That's big enough of a difference to cause string buzz at the nut, because the string has too much room to move around.

Buzzing is covered by our warranty, but limited to movement of the neck, loose frets, etc. Changing strings is not something I would consider to be a warranty issue. However, we do adjust the setup and action for free, if the customer wants to fine tune the instrument, or change tuning. While low 'g' is more common, we do have tenor players that request high 'g' and we file or adjust the nut slot width accordingly.

Since you live in Australia, shipping back here would be killer, which would not offset the cost of the free adjustment. For an easy fix, you can try filling the nut with some krazyglue and bone dust. If you don't have bone dust, baking soda will work just as well. Let the fill dry for about 10 minutes, then file down with a nut file. If you don't have a nut file, you can get away with using some welding torch tip cleaners, which you should be able to get at the local hardware store for pretty cheap. It's a good tool to have handy, in case you want to work on other instruments, in the future.

Don't feel too intimidated to file the nut. It's not as difficult as it seems. The beauty of doing the krazy glue fix is that you can do it over and over again, until you get it right.
 
koalohapaul said:
There is a significant diameter difference between a non wound low 'g' and wound low 'g'. Most of our tenors are factory mounted with low 'g, as it tends to be the tuning preference of most players. Although the instruments are identical in bracing, we do file the nuts different for high and low string configurations. Same goes for wound 'c' strings, etc.

Our fluorocarbon low 'g' strings are pretty thick, close to .040". An average high 'g' will be about .026". That's big enough of a difference to cause string buzz at the nut, because the string has too much room to move around.

Buzzing is covered by our warranty, but limited to movement of the neck, loose frets, etc. Changing strings is not something I would consider to be a warranty issue. However, we do adjust the setup and action for free, if the customer wants to fine tune the instrument, or change tuning. While low 'g' is more common, we do have tenor players that request high 'g' and we file or adjust the nut slot width accordingly.

Since you live in Australia, shipping back here would be killer, which would not offset the cost of the free adjustment. For an easy fix, you can try filling the nut with some krazyglue and bone dust. If you don't have bone dust, baking soda will work just as well. Let the fill dry for about 10 minutes, then file down with a nut file. If you don't have a nut file, you can get away with using some welding torch tip cleaners, which you should be able to get at the local hardware store for pretty cheap. It's a good tool to have handy, in case you want to work on other instruments, in the future.

Don't feel too intimidated to file the nut. It's not as difficult as it seems. The beauty of doing the krazy glue fix is that you can do it over and over again, until you get it right.
Click to expand...

always love the lessons you give paul! good job..
 
Thanks for all the excellent responses guys. I guess I was just worried that doing a DIY repair on the nut would void the warranty if something else went wrong, because I had "tampered" with the instrument.
I'll give the krazy glue a try.


Thanks,

Rob
 
Rob,

If you end up damaging the nut beyond what you can repair, let me know. Send me an e-mail at pokami(put an at mark here)koaloha.com with your address and I'll have one on the way. It can be intimidating if you've never done it before, but it's not that bad, once you get used to it.

Aloha,
Paul
 
Nah, it's no big deal. It's too bad you're on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. If you lived here, you could drive to the shop and get it adjusted no problem.

A bit of advice when filling the nut with dust and particles. Don't try to apply the glue straight from the applicator's tip. Put a little ball on a string cut off and use that to get just enough glue in the channel. It'll make it less messy, and you have less change of getting a blob on the finish. In the event that you do get some glue on the head stock, you can remove it with cyanoacrylate(CA for short) remover, or acetone. Our finish will withstand the chemical, but don't let it soak on the surface for prolonged periods of time.
 
Holy crap. Customer service on a forum! This is awesome I will buy a koaloha now. Is there any around 500-600 :(.
 
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