banjo uke help please

Hi there all and a happy new year to all of you. My daughter recently bought herself a banjo uke to go with the other 8 we have managed to accumulate in the past 6 months. It is a countryman soprano and I have to say it is a lovely little instrument, however, like many out of the box ukes it has come with some awful strings, lifeless and dull is two words that spring to mind. I have purchased a set of Banjo Uke aquilas that I think will bring it to life. Here is the rub....I have never restrune a banjo uke, is there any guidance on how to do this, videos, links, advice etc. I could just take it to the local store, who are tremendous, but would rather we learn to do it ourselves. in fact when my son first started playing guitar he went into the same store to get it set up and they said. " we can do it for you, or we can go through it with you and you will know for the future" he was there an hour or so they went through the process with him step by step and only charged for the strings.I love a music store where those that work there have this attitude. Anyway help links and advice would be great. Thank you ladies and gentlemen.

Good morning.

This is actually a very simple process.

Measure the distance from the 12th fret to the nut. Then, place the bridge on the skin head so that the top of the bridge is the same distance away from the 12th fret as the nut. mark lightly with a pencil where the bridge's feet are sitting. set the bridge aside.

Now, you string your uke without the bridge in place. I don't know what kind of tailpiece you've got - on all my ukes, the tailpiece has a notch that allows you to put a knot in the nylon and then string it through the tailpiece. tighten the tuning pegs until you've got a enough tension to hold the string in place. You can also tie the strings on if you prefer that method.

Once you've got the uke strung, place the bridge under the strings with its feet in the positions you marked in pencil. Then tune the uke as you would a wooden uke. When you're done, you should have a strong harmonic right at the 12th fret. If your bridge has moved while tuning, simply adjust it so that you've got the feet in the right spot.

I hope that's clear. Let me know if it isn't!

Many thanks for that. I knew there would be someone on UU with a clear response.

DP

Another way would be to only take one string off, and put the new one off, then repeat with the rest. That way, you don't have to put the bridge back on.