Fellow KoAloha Owners

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Baseballhack

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New KoAloha owner he thanks to erivel letting go of one of his. I love this Uke and it is so addicting. I have a question for you fellow KoAloha owners. Granted I have only played to ukes thus far my Kala Tenor Cedar Top, and the KoAloha. But the action on the Kala is a lot lower than the KoAloha. I am torn I like the low action of the Kala for chording as it uses a lot less finger pressure, but I like the higher action of the KoAloha for picking much more room for my fingers. So what do you fellow KoAloha addicts have your action set at?
 
Action is a personal thing. Myself, I tend to favor a little lower action.
 
That is my only "beef" with my KoAloha, actually, is that the action (at the bridge end) is pretty high for such a quality instrument. The nut is perfect, but the bridge is noticeably high. Not enough to be "bad" - just not as good as it should be. My Mainland has a noticeably lower action.

John
 
My action is very low on my KoAloha.
 
SailingUke said:
Action is a personal thing. Myself, I tend to favor a little lower action.
Click to expand...

I totally understand, from my guitar electric guitar playing. The difference though is that with my electrics I can adjust the action and if I don't like it set it back. With the Uke I don't really have that option. So I'm just trying to get feel of how KoAlohas respond to lower actions, that is if anyone has adjusted them from what the factory sets it to.
 
OldePhart said:
That is my only "beef" with my KoAloha, actually, is that the action (at the bridge end) is pretty high for such a quality instrument. The nut is perfect, but the bridge is noticeably high. Not enough to be "bad" - just not as good as it should be. My Mainland has a noticeably lower action.

John
Click to expand...

Mine is exactly as you described, John. I like it like that, though, as I generally only play in first and second positions. Plus, in the (etremely) rare instances in which I attempt finger picking, it's easy to do since the action is higher over the fingerboard down by the bridge end.
 
OldePhart said:
That is my only "beef" with my KoAloha, actually, is that the action (at the bridge end) is pretty high for such a quality instrument. The nut is perfect, but the bridge is noticeably high. Not enough to be "bad" - just not as good as it should be. My Mainland has a noticeably lower action.

John
Click to expand...

I prefer to get stock ukes at a medium action so that it can be lowered to your preference. If it is low to start it is much more time consuming to raise it. I believe most manufactures will send out ukes this way, even Kala.
 
Ronnie Aloha said:
I prefer to get stock ukes at a medium action so that it can be lowered to your preference. If it is low to start it is much more time consuming to raise it. I believe most manufactures will send out ukes this way, even Kala.
Click to expand...

I can see that. I imagine a lot of even these higher-end ukes probably go to people who are indifferent about care and, if they let them dry out, the top can drop a few mm - so if the action is "perfect" it will end up too low after a few months in the tender embrace of those folks. One of these days I'll get around to lowering the saddle a bit but it's not high enough to be high on my priority list. Especially since I've half decided to look for a really nice concert-neck soprano at which time I might sell the concert, anyway.

As for the "factory" ukes - totally different story there - they just flat don't put in the hand work to do a setup at all from what I've seen - they have to ship with high nuts and bridges or they'd be buzzing left and right. Keeps folks like MGM and Mim gainfully employed and drives folks like me, who have the tools and knowledge to do setups but begrudge the time spent on them, crazy! :)

I think with my Mainland tenor Mike had seen from these forums how much I like low actions so when I ordered a mango with a pickup he took the time to get it as low as humanly possible. It's just about perfect for me in that the action is low enough that if I really try I can make it buzz, but it doesn't buzz when I'm playing normally. Half a mm lower at the bridge would probably have been too low.

John
 
Wow! I'm glad it's not just me! I just got my KoAloha Concert this past week -- I absolutely LOVE it except for the fact that the action seems really high. This was my first Uke that I ordered from a knowledgeable dealer (MGM) -- my previous two Ukes were from Amazon and Guitar Center. I was excited to finally play a Uke that was properly set up so I guess I was a little disappointed when I found out how high the action was (particularly at the saddle).

I suppose I can't blame MGM since I didn't tell him I wanted low action -- I just assumed that it would be set up lower than my non-setup Ukes.

I'm otherwise really happy with my KoAloha -- should I just learn to play with the high action or should I try to get it lowered?
 
I had my 6-string adjusted at the factory.............Action was a little high at first, be they brought it down nicely.................Love it !!
 
I can't believe this! I just sent KoAloha an email asking them if they could recommend a luthier that I could send my concert sceptre to because my action is too low at the nut. Don't get me wrong I like low actions but if I know this is a tad too low. It is buzzes when I strum and it is driving me crazy!!!!! I am only playing on the first 5 frets at this time
 
The Pineapple Sunday I got from KoAloha had action so low that it had some buzz. But I had them put in a UST and it raised the action a bit and became perfect. I've also had a supersoprano with the action too high. And that was an old model with the ebony saddle. I'm pretty comfortable doing work with Tusq saddles, but not ebony, so I took that in, and they fixed it right up for me. My sceptre, concert, superconcert, soprano, and tenor all had good action. But at the end of the day, KoAloha can help you fix it if you take it in to them. And with Tusq saddles, sandpaper, patience, and some skill, you can probably do it yourself.
 
Baseballhack said:
Did you by chance adjust it yourself or have it done? I am at least two and a half hours from anywhere that I might let touch my baby.
Click to expand...

I usually setup my own instruments. I think most builders send out instruments with higher action since lowering is a rather simple process. Raising the action can require a new saddle or using a shim. The trick to lowering the saddle height is go slow. I usually put a pencil line on the saddle at the bridge so as I sand the saddle down I can see the change in saddle height. I color the bottom of the saddle with pencil so I make sure I am sanding evenly. Depending on how much I need to take off determines how course a sand paper I use. You always want to finish with a fine grit and make sure the bottom is smooth and even. It is ALWAYS easier to take of a little more so be conservative in sanding. After you do a few it gets pretty easy. If you have a cheap uke practice first. If you do mess up, don't worry saddles are not very expensive.

As a side note when I purchased a uke from MGM I told him I liked my action "dangerously low", when he did my setup he set the action low and when I got it it was perfect.
 
Any factory ukes can come with varying degree of action. My Pineapple Sunday came with super low action, probably as low as it can get without buzzing. But I have also tried a Pineapple Sunday at a shop in Oahu that had action so high that it was practically unplayable. I don't really consider action to be a characteristic of a particular ukulele or company. Action can change for a wide variety of reasons. If your ukulele has action that's too high for your liking, learn how to adjust it and you'll be fine.
 
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