First question should be relatively simple. I bought spare strings when I bought my uke, having heard that cheap ukes tend to come with cheap strings and nicer ones are an easy way to improve the sound somewhat. I didn't look very closely at the packet I was sold until recently, it appears that the strings are designed for specific notes, and that the ones I bought are for B, F#, D, and A respectively. Are these, as I suspect, unsuitable for use with standard tuning (GCEA) or can they simply be tuned to the desired note without too much trouble?
Second question is rather abstract, so I hope you have a good imagination. The C(3rd) string on my uke seems to become dull as I move up (down?) the neck, towards higher notes. By dull I mean it resonates very little, the volume diminishes much more quickly than playing it as an open string (more so than on other strings). I'm wondering whether this is normal, perhaps something to do with the thickness of the string, or different tension.
Final question; it appears that I can't tune my ukulele to itself. Using an online tuner and tuning each string by ear, as well as using a free tuning program with a microphone, I can get the open strings pretty well in tune, but the notes that are supposed to be the same such as the 4th fret on the 3rd string and open 2nd string etc (all strings are like this) do not match. Using the microphone and tuning program I can kinda sorta say they are about 3-7Hz too high on the fretted notes depending on how hard I press down. The program doesn't let me test every note, so I can only say that chords with a mix of open and fretted strings sound off, and those where all strings are fretted sound ok.
This phenomenon reminded me of the ghettofied lutherie technique I happened upon before I actually bought my uke. So I experimented a little with paperclips, but found that they were not thick enough to be held in place by the strings, so I settled on a bamboo toothpick. Messing around with the position of the toothpick it seems the best effect occurs when it is around 5mm from the nut, though even then it is not perfect. So my question is essentially "what should I do?". If this sort of problem is related to the action (which I really don't know how to judge) how risky is a DIY fix? If it's related to the bridge-nut distance, is it likely to be off by that much? and if so how do I go about finding a place for a zero fret more accurately?
Despite those problems I'm enjoying the ukulele just fine, the occasional off-sounding chord just adds accent to the occasional pause or misplaced finger
Second question is rather abstract, so I hope you have a good imagination. The C(3rd) string on my uke seems to become dull as I move up (down?) the neck, towards higher notes. By dull I mean it resonates very little, the volume diminishes much more quickly than playing it as an open string (more so than on other strings). I'm wondering whether this is normal, perhaps something to do with the thickness of the string, or different tension.
Final question; it appears that I can't tune my ukulele to itself. Using an online tuner and tuning each string by ear, as well as using a free tuning program with a microphone, I can get the open strings pretty well in tune, but the notes that are supposed to be the same such as the 4th fret on the 3rd string and open 2nd string etc (all strings are like this) do not match. Using the microphone and tuning program I can kinda sorta say they are about 3-7Hz too high on the fretted notes depending on how hard I press down. The program doesn't let me test every note, so I can only say that chords with a mix of open and fretted strings sound off, and those where all strings are fretted sound ok.
This phenomenon reminded me of the ghettofied lutherie technique I happened upon before I actually bought my uke. So I experimented a little with paperclips, but found that they were not thick enough to be held in place by the strings, so I settled on a bamboo toothpick. Messing around with the position of the toothpick it seems the best effect occurs when it is around 5mm from the nut, though even then it is not perfect. So my question is essentially "what should I do?". If this sort of problem is related to the action (which I really don't know how to judge) how risky is a DIY fix? If it's related to the bridge-nut distance, is it likely to be off by that much? and if so how do I go about finding a place for a zero fret more accurately?
Despite those problems I'm enjoying the ukulele just fine, the occasional off-sounding chord just adds accent to the occasional pause or misplaced finger
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