Tips for more sustain when plucking

JessicaM

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I'm not quite sure how to describe my problem or ask my question, so bare with me:

When I pluck open strings or notes fretted closer to the nut they sound nice and loud and a long sustain.

When I pluck strings fretted closer to the sound hold, they too sound nice with a long sustain.

When I pluck strings fretted around the 5th or 6th fret, they sound dull and dead unless I fret a tiny little precise window within the fret.

What gives? Do I just need to keep practicing until I can hit that sweet spot with more accuracy?

(Ohana ck 50g)
 
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Was the uke properly set up when you bought it? Have you checked to see if the frets are level? Could be a high fret or frets in there somewhere.
 
I'm not quite sure how to describe my problem or ask my question, so bare with me:

When I pluck open strings or notes fretted closer to the nut they sound nice and loud and a long sustain.

When I pluck strings fretted closer to the sound hold, they too sound nice with a long sustain.

When I pluck strings fretted around the 5th or 6th fret, they sound dull and dead unless I fret a tiny little precise window within the fret.

What gives? Do I just need to keep practicing until I can hit that sweet spot with more accuracy?

(Ohana ck 50g)

Hi Jessica
If you are able to upload a short video it will help explain it better.Your uke may have a few dead spots on it most ukes I have tried have had a few dodgy notes on them. It is very frustrating when you venture up the neck and you realize this. It may be just your fretting. You should be able to finger anywhere within the frets and it should sound ok.
Phil.
 
Phil, I'll try to get a video, but probably not until tomorrow. I got the uke new from Mim & it's seems she set it up very well. I know it's really just a Best-Of-The-Affordable-Ones type of uke, not a step-up instrument, but I am kind of frustrated with this little quirk.
 
I find that it is a common problem on the 4th to 6th frets particularly on the 1st or A string. I'm now in the habit of putting a bit of vibrato on when finger picking those A string notes.
 
In general, an open string will sound more lively and bright than a fretted string. To get the best sound fretting a string, the position right behind the fret should give you the optimal sound. Strings can be an issue too. Sometimes strings are not a consistent thickness, and can cause some issues with tone and intonation. Sometimes flipping the string the other way, head to feet as it were, will fix it or you might have a bad string. Short scale ukes require more precise fretting, especially on the higher frets. It is easy to bend the string enough to make it go sharp. It is also trickier to keep the notes sounding sweet on those frets. Longer scales are more forgiving.

–Lori
 
I find that it is a common problem on the 4th to 6th frets particularly on the 1st or A string. I'm now in the habit of putting a bit of vibrato on when finger picking those A string notes.

I had the problem with my Lanikai Banjolele A string, but I readjusted the bridge and mostly got rid of it. :eek:ld:
 
You may find that where you pluck the string makes a difference. The "sustain" that you're hearing may be harmonics that are not being activated if you pluck in the "wrong" spot on the string.

Try plucking nearer the bridge or the sound-hole to see if the problem changes.

You may not like the tonality for all notes played like that, but if the problematic notes improve you may be able to work around it :)
 
Do I just need to keep practicing until I can hit that sweet spot with more accuracy?


(Ohana ck 50g)

Yes.

(Edited your post because this is all you needed to ask)
 
You Might try checking how tightly you are holding the ukulele. You might actually be changing pressure as you are changing hand position. The uke might be reacting to pressure differently on different frequencies.

I try to regularly check myself and often find I'm holding it in a death grip with no awareness of the fact until I remember to check.
 
As you pluck further up the scale, towards the soundhole, the scale becomes shorter therefore a higher pitch, more tension on the strings, less resonating and substain. This is with all ukes
Grow your nails
 
Nails definitely help. As an experiment, I let my nails grow out a bit, just long enough so that I can pluck strings properly without any flesh touching them. For me, this means about 4-5mm long. The sound this produces is very different, both more loud and sustained. Longer than this, though, and it becomes unhelpful as the nails become more prone to bending when plucking more deliberately, which isn't what I want when I pluck strings (also annoying when typing on a keyboard). The exception is the thumbnail, which is fine when it's longer. All of this probably depends on one's nails, though. I have fairly good ones that grow fast, probably because I eat a few gummy bears on most days (just a few, not half a bag!).
 
As you pluck further up the scale, towards the soundhole, the scale becomes shorter therefore a higher pitch, more tension on the strings, less resonating and substain. This is with all ukes
Grow your nails

I'm firmly in the pluck with fingertip flesh camp. It'd take a serious re-learning effort to switch at this point (more than a decade of fingerpicking a guitar).
 
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You Might try checking how tightly you are holding the ukulele. You might actually be changing pressure as you are changing hand position. The uke might be reacting to pressure differently on different frequencies.

I try to regularly check myself and often find I'm holding it in a death grip with no awareness of the fact until I remember to check.

I'll play with this. It doesn't seem to make a difference how tightly I fret the notes, but I hadn't checked how tightly I'm holding th body of the instrument!

Also, to this suggesting changing where on the string I pluck: I'll try that too!!
 
As you pluck further up the scale, towards the soundhole, the scale becomes shorter therefore a higher pitch, more tension on the strings, less resonating and substain. This is with all ukes
Grow your nails

Your explanation makes sense, but why then do I get more sustain at the 7th fret and higher? The "dead spot" seems only around the 4, 5, & 6th frets.
 
I'll play with this. It doesn't seem to make a difference how tightly I fret the notes, but I hadn't checked how tightly I'm holding th body of the instrument!

Also, to this suggesting changing where on the string I pluck: I'll try that too!!

Also, no difference when I hold the instrument tighter or looser against my body. There might be a slight difference when I change where on the string I'm plucking...or maybe just wishful thinking?
 
Well, that's a bummer. For now I'll just work on doing what I can with what I've got.

Hi Jessica - your problem sounds surprisingly familiar. I also have a cedar top / rosewood body ukulele ( a Mainland tenor) which also had a dead spot (C string, frets 5,6,7). I pick with my fingertip pads as well as strum with fairly short fingernails.

This is what I found:
1. Changing from Nylgut strings (as shipped) to fluorocarbon strings virtually eliminated the problem.
2. Nevertheless high humidity will still have an effect - I live in a city with a fairly high humidiy, so I don't leave my ukulele in a damp, dark corner of the house. I know the humidity is out of control when I get serious waves in the top behind the bridge.
3. I street busk several times a week, so the uke sees a lot of direct sun, and guess what, intonation, brightness and sustain seems to get better and better.
4. I change strings reasonably often, since I found inexplicably, my string set doesn't slowly deteriorate, rather just suddenly go dead.

In short, I frequently play up the neck, and I am very happy with its performance.
 
Hi Jessica - your problem sounds surprisingly familiar. I also have a cedar top / rosewood body ukulele ( a Mainland tenor) which also had a dead spot (C string, frets 5,6,7). I pick with my fingertip pads as well as strum with fairly short fingernails.

This is what I found:
1. Changing from Nylgut strings (as shipped) to fluorocarbon strings virtually eliminated the problem.
2. Nevertheless high humidity will still have an effect - I live in a city with a fairly high humidiy, so I don't leave my ukulele in a damp, dark corner of the house. I know the humidity is out of control when I get serious waves in the top behind the bridge.
3. I street busk several times a week, so the uke sees a lot of direct sun, and guess what, intonation, brightness and sustain seems to get better and better.
4. I change strings reasonably often, since I found inexplicably, my string set doesn't slowly deteriorate, rather just suddenly go dead.

In short, I frequently play up the neck, and I am very happy with its performance.

Humidity is at about 100% here the past week. aND I was playing outside quite a bit (not in the sun -- just in the soupy air). This sounds like a serious possibility!

Which brand strings do you prefer? I have 3 month old Aquilas on there now.
 
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