the ideal uke setup?

say you had the money... and you wanted a custom uke.

How would you set it up? A mix of diff woods? A mix of certain brands of strings? And how many strings? Single hole/double hole? What brand ukulele? Acoustic/Plug-in? etc...

Let loose on this... I'd love to hear others opinions, especially those who have custom ukes!

Personally, I don't have a custom nor enough ukes to compare for myself. My main 2 ukes is a tenor kamaka w/ pickup and a Concert G-String acoustic. There's not much I would change on the kamaka, but my concert G-String, I'd lower the action and go w/ geared tuners. I think my next ukulele will be a Tenor 6 string w/ pickup and cutout. Yessir!!!

Oh and if anyone can answer this? What setup does Jake have? =)
I REALLY like the uke he uses on the tutorial for the "Plat It Loud" DVD.
looks like an easy 5 G's right there buddy! HAHA

how bout you?

Not getting much response here, huh? Maybe its the question. . .

You asked what setup, then got into "A mix of diff woods? A mix of certain brands of strings? And how many strings? Single hole/double hole? What brand ukulele? Acoustic/Plug-in?" which has nothing to do with setup (okay, strings and pickups can be included in the setup process).

Normally, setup refers to action, specifically at the saddle and the nut. I incorporate fret dressing with that, but that's not practical for factory instruments.

So, to answer your question of what setup, I'm sure the majority would say low action, yet retain high volume and projection (on the average build, dropping action at the saddle will also reduce volume and projection). There are some that don't like the action too low because, depending on the build, the strings are too close to the Fretboard when strumming, and if strummed hard, buzzing starts. I have a friend who likes the action so low that it actually does buzz (and he lives with it).

-Aaron

yeah not much response, it's ok... I was thinking that many people dont' have custom builds, but threw it out there anyways.

I do appreciate your response as it is good insight for me! Thanks again!

I do still wonder about actual build of the ukulele tho... like do some people prefer certain parts of the body to have a particular type of wood or finish? And why?

Strings... I'm experimenting w/ other string brands finally so I guess I'll be answering my own questions on that, but as for my next uke, I'm actually wondering if uke makers ever customize 6 stringers doubling other notes rather than just the C and A strings. I'm sure it's been done.

and of course from net browsing, it seems that it also depends if it's even offered by the company to make certain modifications.

if you have more insight... I look forward to hearing back!

shoots!

I'll quote one of the emails from Mike Pereira. This is what he said about the different combinations of wood that I inquired about:

"As far as tone woods...a koa/redwood combo is really starting to be one of my favorites. I have made a few of these lately, and they consistently make great sounding instruments. They produce a warm, mellow tone that pronounce the low end far better than an all koa...and the high notes are kind of bell like. So it's a well balanced tone all the way up and down the fingerboard (fingerpicking or strumming). Cedar is similar, but redwood I think has a darker tone. The only draw back to these woods is that they are a very soft woods, so if your one who plays very hard or if you have long fingernails the top will be more prone to scratching. I have put very thin hardwood pickgaurds on a few instruments for people who have that style of play. If your style of play is easy on your instruments, then it is not a problem."

Maybe this helps you a bit. Cheers!

I don't know enough about woods to have a specific preference, but I've bought a few custom ukes with different woods. My answer would be that my next uke will be one made out of a combination that I haven't heard yet. I love the bright tones of my maple tenor from Bluegrass Ukes. Waverly street uses spruce and fir and it sounds great. Redwood has a full tone in Bluegrass uke's cigar box tenor.

Variety is the spice... !

Kekani said:

Normally, setup refers to action, specifically at the saddle and the nut. I incorporate fret dressing with that, but that's not practical for factory instruments.

Click to expand...

I meant to ask... what exactly is fret dressing? Is that when you make your own adjustments to the nut and saddle? If so, I've done that with some cheapo $30 ukes, just to experiment. Filed the saddle slightly and knocked the nut out.. Felt really jerry-rigged, but sure made the ukes sound better! Brought a more parrallel string level for the action.

JoeyJr858 said:

I'm actually wondering if uke makers ever customize 6 stringers doubling other notes rather than just the C and A strings. I'm sure it's been done.

Click to expand...

I have what I call a 3/4 `ukulele - 6-string with Octave G and double high A. Basically, 3/4 of an 8 string. Actually, in my family, there's two of those - my nephew has one. Stretch that a bit further, after my friend saw mine, now he has one, too.

JoeyJr858 said:

I meant to ask... what exactly is fret dressing? Is that when you make your own adjustments to the nut and saddle?

Click to expand...

Fret dressing is just that, dressing the frets - nothing to do with the nut and saddle. It took me a while just to find the right angle and round shape on the ends of my frets, then I hear guys are now doing semi-hemispherical fret ends - guess that works very well with bound fretboards.

Adjustments to the saddle and nut is usually referred to as setup, or setting up the instrument, adjusting the action, et al.

As for woods, personally, Milo/Spruce is my favorite combination, and although I have one at home, I've yet to get one for myself. For some reason, guys gravitate to me for Maple/Spruce, which is way more of a pain to work with than Koa, or Mahogany. Then again, working with Milo is probably the worst.

Hope this helps. - Aaron