Kala KA ASAC-T set up - your opinion

Just ordered a Kala Acacia with lots of figuring in the wood. it seems to play on the brighter side of things. Plan to set up and string with Alohi with 3 and 4 low G. I am hoping this will result in a more refined, mellow sound yet with each not being distinct. Any opinions would be appreciated.

I have the concert size and didn't like the Aquilas on them. I tried the Aquila wound low g and it was just too overpowering I think. I tried Worth Brown low g mediums. Nice and mellow but maybe a tad too mellow and lots of boom. Switched to Worth Clear low g medium and sounds a little brighter and balanced, sort of between the Aquila and Worth Brown. I just got some Worth Clear low g hard but haven't installed them yet.

I have the tenor, and my favorite strings are the worth browns. aquilas don't sound good, and the savarez alliance classical guitar strings sound fabulous, but they're quite expensive. currently I have daddarios on there, and I find them much nicer to actually play, but they don't sound as good on this uke.

austin1 said:

I have the tenor, and my favorite strings are the worth browns. aquilas don't sound good, and the savarez alliance classical guitar strings sound fabulous, but they're quite expensive. currently I have daddarios on there, and I find them much nicer to actually play, but they don't sound as good on this uke.

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IMHO Aquilas are fine on mahogany but far too harsh on koa or acacia. I currently have Worth clear on my tenor and I'm very happy with the sound. Ko'olau Gold sounded also better than the Aquilas but I hated to get dirty fingers on that metal wound C string.

What I also found a bit disturbing was the string spacing on the ASAC-T: the string are running from nut to the saddle in parallel and are not following the outer shape of the fretboard. (same string spacing from nut to saddle)

I replaced the original ebony saddle inlay by a DIY bone one, which I slidly carved to extend the string spacing. IMHO it looks much better which that; plus the extended string spacing gives you a bit more room for finger picking.