First I got an Oscar Schmidt

About ten yrs ago. You know the one, concert size, with the fake plastic abelone all around. Nicely made in Indonesia, spruce top. Got the electronic tuner.... But after a month, i could not keep that thing in tune. It wears you down. i gave it to my niece and went back to my classical guitars, my favorite being a 1950 Hofner flamenco which i bought out of an old junk/pawn shop in Frisco for $75 bucks. Wonderful instrument, jet black ebony board, and altho old, it stays in tune....... So i came back and got a Lanikai soprano for about $50. also made in Indonesia. The fit and finish on this is exc. the tone is good, tuners work good, well made, smooth, put new Nylguts on, "made in Italy" After a month, still spend as much time tuning as playing. Is this the norm, or is my tin ear too sensitive? I gave up the fiddle for the same reason....

Too bad about Oscar. He can be kind of a grouch. (Sesame Street)

Seriously, I had a couple of Oscar Schmidts, and they were fine. I sold a spalted mango soprano to a friend a few years ago, and it's one of her favorites.

I suppose that strings take longer to settle and stretch on the short scale of an ukulele, so yes: I'd say it's normal to frequently retune during the first couple of months. It will get better over time.

My Oscar Schmidt just arrived yesterday. It is the OGQS 19" scale 6 string mini-guitar model that I plan to convert to a 5 string bari-tenor uke as a beater for the boat. The enclosed gear tuning gears look good. For just over 100 bucks delivered to my door, I could not ask for more and expected less. I tune always prior to play or practice. Those Snarks work very well and are well worth the price of admission. If the tuning gears won't hold through a few songs after the strings have stretched, time for a better set of tuners.

Dr.Ukenstein said:

My Oscar Schmidt just arrived yesterday. It is the OGQS 19" scale 6 string mini-guitar model that I plan to convert to a 5 string bari-tenor uke as a beater for the boat.

Click to expand...

You should have gotten a uke in the boat paddle shape.

Jerry, I appreciate the sentiment but the scale length might be beyond ukedom to replace my daily driver. Did consider painting a bikini on that cute soon to be uke but I prefer the look of a bare body. Nuff said.

Unless you have friction tuners (then tighten them), the strings should settle down in a couple of weeks and only need tuning at the start of your session. Maybe a retune a while later if you're playing a long time. Possible intonation problems? Could be the nut is a bit grabby and not letting the strings slide (graphite helps here).

Glenn I will try this on my Lanikai. But the tuners on this are gear and these modern gears are machined to such close tolerances that there is no slackness in them.

How many turns do you have on the post? The more turns, the longer it will take to settle.

Everything but my A string seems to settle within a few days after a string change. I do tune it up half a step before putting it away, though.

Aquilas are the stretchiest strings I think one can buy. It used to take me 2 weeks to get mine to stop stretching and settle in. Now the only thing I use them on is my banjouke, when they wear out, I'll change to something else. Just to thick for my fingers.
I find them to be expensive too.