The First Time Being Lefty Has Presented A Problem...

AncientMatingCalls

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well as far as ukes go that is. I've had plenty with other intsruments.

One of the things I absolutely love about the ukulele (and I'm sure other leftys will agree) is that I don't have to find a "left handed" uke. I can just get whatever model (almost) I want and just switch the strings around.

Well the model I ended up wanting was a Pono. Great uke for sure, got it from MGM who went out of his way to chase my uke down after shipping it just to set it up lefty for me. Can't ask for better service than that.

One problem though. The saddle is angled. For a righty the angle would go up on the 3rd and 4th strings, for me it is the opposite. The saddle angles up at the 2nd and 1st strings. What can I do to rectify this? Should I even bother or should I just learn to except it?

Other than that I'm quite happy with the uke.
 
It's angled to improve intonation.. if you switch the strings around the effect should be the opposite. Do you notice any intonation problems?
 
If you don't have intonation or buzzing problems then I think you are cool. I would think MGM wouldn't let a uke leave his facility without having looked at that. I have had him send me ukes that he has set up left handed without issue before.
I did order one uke from another company and asked them to set it up lefty for me. Well he forgot to do that and it arrived to me still set up righty. He suggested that if I had a buzzing problem, then a drop of superglue should take care of it. I don't trust myself enough to know what I am doing. I just switched the strings without doing anything else and haven't had any issues.
But let the "learn to play righty" discussions begin though. But good to see another true lefty here on UU
 
Well, as far as learining to play righty, probably not going to happen. I have my first child coming in a few weeks, so I think I'll have a hard enough time finding time to play at all, much less relearn to play in a different dexterity.

I haven't noticed any buzzing for sure and the intonation seems to be spot on. The height in the saddle causes the action on the A and E strings to be slightly higher at the higher frets, which is a bit annoying.
 
Question... is the saddle slot in the bridge angled or the top of the saddle angled?

I tried to find a picture of Pono with the saddle set on an angle to the bridge and couldn't find one.

John
 
Good question, can't really tell without taking the saddle out, but its glued in and I don't really want to chance taking it out. Maybe somebody with experience with Ponos will chime in with their knowledge.
 
Do you already know how to play? Maybe just learn how to play upside down? E and D would be a lot easier anyway..

either way. I wish you a lot of luck. I don't know much about intonation and such.. I am still a newbie...
 
I think I mis-understood you when you said angled. I think I now know what you mean by angled... do you mean that on one side of the saddle the strings are higher than the other?

In my experience, the strings are usually set at the same height. But if you want to reverse the strings and have the strings go higher from a left handed G to A string, I don't know why you cna't just flip the saddle around.

Now I don't want you to pull your ukulele apart, but if the saddle is truly glued in, I would be really suprised, especially coming from Ko'olau and MGM. But if in doubt, I'd call MGM.

Then pull out the saddle reverse it and reverse the strings.

John
 
being a lefty myself, its so annoying when the "play righty" thing comes up. some of us just cant. i always say "you play lefty then, if its so easy to swap."
dans
(this isnt very helpful for the thread, is it?) lol :)
 
SNIP - One problem though. The saddle is angled. For a righty the angle would go up on the 3rd and 4th strings, for me it is the opposite. The saddle angles up at the 2nd and 1st strings. What can I do to rectify this? Should I even bother or should I just learn to except it?

From the answers, you can tell we can't quite visualize what you are describing. But... you may mean that the top of the saddle has been "compensated" - I.E. the topmost portion of the saddle has been filed to a point such that the 3rd & 4th strings contact the saddle at a slightly different location (making the resulting string length slightly longer or shorter than the other 2 strings). IF you reverse the strings with a compensated saddle, you would indeed have a problem - the "intonation" would likely be off as you move closer to the bridge/saddle.

OR you may mean that the angle of the entire saddle is not perpindicular to the front edge of the bridge - we see this more commonly on guitars rather than ukes. Again, if you swap the strings around, you will end up w/intonation.

Which is it?
 
Yeah, it's not compensated.

I've been playing guitar for about 6/7 years and the uke for 2 1/2 so I'm not much of a beginner.

Whether its the saddle its self, or the pocket in which it sits, the saddle declines (that might be a better description, or maybe not) downward to the 1st and 2nd strings when strung up righty (opposite for me).

Let get some pics so you guys can see what I'm talking about.
 
Thanks Mike, quick question, it feels as though its glued. Am I mistaken? If it is glued, how would you suggest that I remove it.

Again thanks Mike, much appreciation for all that you've done.

Here are the pics so everybody can see what I'm talking about.

IMG_0378.jpg


IMG_0377.jpg


I hope you guys can see it from these pics. I know they aren't the greatest.
 
Its not glued loosen strings all the way and then use an small pliers to pull out its easier to grab one end and pull up

I could use one of the jackets in the background in Denver LOL
 
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You really should email me to finish up and should have emailed me when you first encountered this. aloha mgm
 
I just want to reiterate that I by no means started this thread with the intentions of placing any type of blame on or call out MGM. I have bought 3 ukes from him and each time the service was impeccable. He seems like a great guy who really cares about his customers satisfaction and is working with me right now to help work out my ordeal.
 
I didn't interprete your intentions as complaining, your first post said that you got great service from MGM. You were just trying to set up your ukulele for left handed playing.

I think the angled saddle threw a lot of us off because a number of us are familiar with angled guitar saddles that look like this...

Martin_000-28_soundhole_bridge_opt.jpg


It all good!

John
 
I didn't interprete your intentions as complaining, your first post said that you got great service from MGM. You were just trying to set up your ukulele for left handed playing.

I think the angled saddle threw a lot of us off because a number of us are familiar with angled guitar saddles that look like this...
Exactly, that was what I was thinking when I made my [thus irrelevant] reply.
 
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