My new Kala Acacia Tenor

flyingace

flyingace

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Thanks to my lovely wife for my birthday! Just got the aquilas off there last night and replaced with Worth Browns/aquila low wound G, the nut and saddle replaced with TUSQ. WOW what a difference. I liked it, now i LOVE IT! it's booming sound and really vibrates your belly now. It's got more projection and crystal clear tone. Intonation is dead on!!

I also polished the frets (which were perfect on the ends, no jaggies or flaws) lemon oiled the fretboard and put a light coat of carnuba wax on the body as I do with all my instruments.
kalaacacia6.jpg
 
Looks awesome! Lets see some videos with it! :)
 
Oh wow! I really like the look of those Kala acacias, and the sound clips/vids I've heard sound excellent.

What difference did the nut and saddle swap out make to the sound? Did you do that at the same time as changing the strings, or did you try the new strings with the stock ebony nut and saddle first?

Congratulations on your lovely new uke! :)
 
Thanks Paul
Thanks BuddhUU: I did restring with the original nut/saddle. they aren't bad but not the kind of resonance I can get with the TUSQ products. I don't own an acoustic or electric without a TUSQ nut (saddles on the acoustics, too).

The TUSQ saddle is tighter in the slot which is always desired. I was suprised to find the ebony one had so much play and was uneven on the bottom. Plus was able to lower the action a tiny bit to be more comfortable. Even if you don't replace with TUSQ, I recommend sanding the bottom of the ebony one.

I liked the look of the ebony nut better, it's bigger and chunkier. I had to laminate two pieces of rosewood to the bottom of the TUSQ nut to get it to the height I needed.

I was under a time crunch, so I did not get the chance to do any videos of before and after sound either. I wish I would remember to do that!! UGH.

Earlier this year, I updated the Oscar Schmidt Mahogany concert I had with both nut and saddle, along with worth strings....what a difference it made there too! It had such a dead sound that I thought was due to being cheaply made (not cheap to buy tho, I paid $329 with case!) but it was the horrible GHS strings along with cheap plastic nut/saddle that was the culprit. it has a super sweet rich and bellowing sound now. My daughter got that one for her bday recently and loves it!
 
flyingace said:
Thanks Paul
The TUSQ saddle is tighter in the slot which is always desired. I was suprised to find the ebony one had so much play and was uneven on the bottom. Plus was able to lower the action a tiny bit to be more comfortable. Even if you don't replace with TUSQ, I recommend sanding the bottom of the ebony one.
Click to expand...

Did you purchase a TUSQ blank and then sand/slot them to meet your specs?
 
Uke-lahoma said:
Did you purchase a TUSQ blank and then sand/slot them to meet your specs?
Click to expand...

I get the preformed one, then sand to finish. they are always too thick and too long, which is great and they have a finished top with slight radius and slant that saves a lot of time. The slant allows me to shape the string relief from the tie block giving more contact with the saddle, therefore the bridge. If the intonation needs work, I can always roll the edge back.

The blanks aren't bad to work with either though and can be helpful if you need to make more intonation adjustments on the C & E strings. TUSQ is super easy to work with. I use three levels of sandpaper from 60-220 to finish them. Some people polish them with 1200-3000 but I like the soft finish.

If I decide to add a pickup under it, I'll have to sand down another 2/32 but that's easy too.
 
Also, I may end up replacing the nut with the Black TUSQ XL material from blank once my good nut files arrive. Tired of having to explain what I want to my guitar tech guy, easier to do it myself! Thanks to Stewmac and Graphtech, I can!
 
flyingace said:
Also, I may end up replacing the nut with the Black TUSQ XL material from blank once my good nut files arrive. Tired of having to explain what I want to my guitar tech guy, easier to do it myself! Thanks to Stewmac and Graphtech, I can!
Click to expand...

Great idea. It looks nice with the whitish nut and saddle, but the dark material restoring the original look would be really cool. :drool:
 
flyingace said:
I get the preformed one, then sand to finish. they are always too thick and too long, which is great and they have a finished top with slight radius and slant that saves a lot of time. The slant allows me to shape the string relief from the tie block giving more contact with the saddle, therefore the bridge. If the intonation needs work, I can always roll the edge back.
Click to expand...

Can I ask where one can buy preformed TUSQ saddles for ukes? I'd like to try replacing the saddle on one of my instruments, but I don't really know where to begin.

Do you think switching from bone to TUSQ would make as big a difference as switching from ebony?
 
flyingace said:
Thanks to my lovely wife for my birthday! Just got the aquilas off there last night and replaced with Worth Browns/aquila low wound G, the nut and saddle replaced with TUSQ. WOW what a difference. I liked it, now i LOVE IT! it's booming sound and really vibrates your belly now. It's got more projection and crystal clear tone. Intonation is dead on!!

I also polished the frets (which were perfect on the ends, no jaggies or flaws) lemon oiled the fretboard and put a light coat of carnuba wax on the body as I do with all my instruments.
kalaacacia6.jpg
Click to expand...

:iwant: Real nice man! Your wife must be quite a lady.
 
fleadermaus said:
Can I ask where one can buy preformed TUSQ saddles for ukes? I'd like to try replacing the saddle on one of my instruments, but I don't really know where to begin.

Do you think switching from bone to TUSQ would make as big a difference as switching from ebony?
Click to expand...

I usually just buy from the Graphtech website, saddle model number: PQ-9250-00 nut model number: PQ-1250-00
 
Thanks for allowing me to share with you all! Yes, my wife is incredible! I love her and as Frank Sinatra correctly sang "love is lovelier, the second time around..." altho, I bought her a martin guitar, so fair is fair, right?
 
I tell you what, i'm interested in that mainland concert slotted headstock they are going to have soon!
 
any rec's?

Thinking of picking up one of these babies up from MGM, what worth strings do u think would sound better, browns or clears? By the way NICE UKE!:)
 
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