Koaloha saddle location

I have measured the location of the front of the saddle on my Koaloha long neck concert ukulele and it seems it is pretty dead on at 430mm from the nut (x2 the distance between between the nut and the 12th fret), not leaving much for compensation. I was able to correct the intonation by flipping and sanding the crown of the saddle pushing the contact point of the strings on the saddle closer to the back of the bridge.

Is this common for all Koaloha ukuleles?

Thanks,

David

There have been a number of threads on a dead spot on KoAloha ukuleles...but discussion has led to a realization that there are dead spots or wolf tones on every ukulele. I was just talking about high end ukuleles with some other Minnesota folks at our winter ukulele event yesterday, and KoAloha has a boomy tone that is unique to their build—isn’t the sound of a Kamaka or Kaniela. (Can’t remember where to put the apostrophe at the moment). As a result, I think (obviously an opinion here) the dead spot is amplified on the KoAloha because it is even more different than the regular boomy tone that you are used to. On my Opio Tenor Sapele, it is on the 3rd fret, 3rd String and the issue is a noticeable lack of sustain compared to other notes on the screen instrument.

People have discussed different ways to deal with the “dead spot” including a change of strings (even to use a wound string) but I’ve decided that I’m simply not going to worry about it. If I worry about it, it can take away the joy of playing my instrument—and in truth, the dead spot resonates just as much as any other tenor I own....it’s just that the other notes all resonate longer than any other note versus any other instrument I own.

I jokingly say that I’ll be happy to adopt any KoAloha whose dead note makes you unhappy...just PM me and I’ll send you my address where you can send the instrument.