My new uke fret buzz (spruce top)

Hi I posted up a week or so ago about the uke I treated myself to at Chrimbo (a Kala KA-ST) and how it annoyingly had fret buzz on the 'c' string (1st 2nd fret) and that I was unsure if I should send it back to the on-line shop I bought it from or hack away at it myself.

Well, I sent it back (cost £9/ $15-ish) and they called me today saying they had dressed the frets and done a set-up on the uke and the issue is all resolved, so now I'm a happy man. They offered me another uke but I thought at least the uke I'm getting back has now been set-up (with dressed frets which doesn't happen in a standard set-up) whereas a new uke would be as it was straight from the factory. Anyway, all-round i'm happy with the result.

The only thing I'll add to this is, I've now obviously played the spruce and it is brighter/sharper than other ukes I've played (It is a Spruce soundboard after all so that is to be expected) and I'd say it has an element of travel guitar to the tone which I'm not 100% taken with, although that may change with time. At the moment I can only compare it to mahogany which for me has a more mellow honeyed sound, however this my change over time with the spruce as it loosens?

Nevertheless, all said I'm done I'm happy with today's results.

Dressed Frets, bonus! (I thought it was a fret issue)

Kala has some nice customer service...congratulations you got it back all set up ......yes generally spruce and cedar tops are kinda bright.....give Kala a shout out....Happy Strummings, MM Stan

Leodhas said:

The only thing I'll add to this is, I've now obviously played the spruce and it is brighter/sharper than other ukes I've played (It is a Spruce soundboard after all so that is to be expected) and I'd say it has an element of travel guitar to the tone which I'm not 100% taken with, although that may change with time. At the moment I can only compare it to mahogany which for me has a more mellow honeyed sound, however this my change over time with the spruce as it loosens?

Click to expand...

Hi, Leodhas:
I have the KA-ST tenor and mine is perhaps two-plus years old. I currently have Worth CH-LGHD strings on it, experimenting with a lower sound. It's nice! And it's still plenty loud.
I have the same string set on a solid mahogany Islander MST-4. Between the two, I probably prefer the CH-LGHD sound on the Islander, so I will likely go back to High-G strings on the KA-ST.
Rambling, here, but my point: I kind of like the bright, cutting sound of the KA-ST now that I also own a deeper, smoother tenor. The contrast between the two is nice!
Cheers.

cheers

gokidd said:

Hi, Leodhas:
I have the KA-ST tenor and mine is perhaps two-plus years old. I currently have Worth CH-LGHD strings on it, experimenting with a lower sound. It's nice! And it's still plenty loud.
I have the same string set on a solid mahogany Islander MST-4. Between the two, I probably prefer the CH-LGHD sound on the Islander, so I will likely go back to High-G strings on the KA-ST.
Rambling, here, but my point: I kind of like the bright, cutting sound of the KA-ST now that I also own a deeper, smoother tenor. The contrast between the two is nice!
Cheers.

Click to expand...

Interesting, I was thinking about a string change so now I may stick with the aquilas that are on it. Thanks for the heads up. I was interested by the spruce on the uke but was worried it would stray too far from that mellow uke sound which it kind of does, however spruce does mellow with time so that will also be interesting. There is a technique to speed that process up which involes a guitar amp, feedback and a duvet cover which I'm not too keen on doing so I'll probably allow the spruce to grow into itself. It is however as I've previously alluded to, a wee bit too travel guitar sounding for me but still a very interesting sound. I'll see how it plays once it comes back with the fret dress and lower action, that alone should chill it out.