So, I'm new and bought a Makala Dolphin

braaains

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Firstly, hi all!

I've been a guitarist for about 15 years, and recently wanted to learn the ukulele (mostly after listening to Eddie Vedder's album).

I got myself a Makala Dolphin last week, because it was cheap and had decent reviews. I love it!

It came with black strings (I have no idea what they are). I've read that some are stringed with aquila's and some aren't. I'm assuming these aren't but is there any way to tell? Some youtube videos mention 'black aquilas', which has left me not having a clue.

I've noticed that while it stays in tune really well, the E string is about a quarter of a note sharp starting at about the 7th fret (I can hear it's out, and a tuner on my phone confirms it). I understand that for £30 it can't be perfect, but is the only way to fix it to either file the nut or bridge? I don't trust myself to get it right!

Finally, when playing chords I've noticed that there's a lot less sustain than open. I'm confident that I'm playing it right - being a guitarist helps. Is this just due to it having nylon strings where I'm used to steel, or are the strings rubbish, or is that what's supposed to happen?

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this - I can't see it being long before I move up to the next price bracket!
 
Hi and welcome.

I've played (steel strung) guitar for a long time and took up the uke about 4 months ago - I'll never regret it!

What you will have to come to terms with is that you are dealing with a much shorter scale instrument, so intonation issues may be a problem for you. No matter what other players on this forum will tell you, the simple laws of physics dictate that 'stretchy string plus short scale' will always equal problems. The Dolphin is actually really good as intonation is concerned, for such an inexpensive instrument, but the cheap strings it comes with as standard do not do it any favours.

Invest in a set of Aquilas, (not my favourite strings for better quality ukes), but they absolutely do make one hell of a difference to budget ukes as far as intonation is concerned.

Give them a try before you get the file out.....

My blog: theukeshed.com
 
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+1 on the Aquila strings - I don't much care for them on most of my good ukes but on something like a Dolphin they will give you better volume and sustain.

Chances are fairly good that the nut will be a bit high which adversely affects intonation at the first couple of frets. Intonation further up is usually pretty good with the Aquilas - sometimes tuning up to D (A D F# B) helps both with volume/sustain and intonation (this tuning, incidentally, was once the "standard" ukulele tuning).

Here's a link to a video series I did recently on a Dolphin I bought to use as a prize in a contest and ended up using as a demo for how to do a setup...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bdv707ZZMw&list=PL0AEA7587C5D93985&feature=view_all

John
 
Yup! The strings are rubbish, or at least they are if your Dolphin came with the same strings mine came with, which they likely did. I waited about two months to change mine, and by that point I could practically hear the strings deteriorating as I played. (Happily, it was the strings, not my playing, deteriorating.) The Aquilas sound MUCH better. I may experiment with other strings later but I would say Aquila is a good place to start.

Do check out John's videos -- they're fun to watch and very informative.

Welcome aboard! Enjoy your 'uke!
Lily
 
I took the strings off my Dolphin the day after I got it, and used them to fix my wind chimes. I put on a set of Martins and it sounded like a different uke. Next set will probably be Aquilas though, the Dolphin is a little weak...
Congrats on your new uke, lots of people love the Dolphin!
 
You don't say where in the UK you are, but if you joined a uke club there might be someone who can look at it with you. Failing that, it shouldn't be terribly expensive to have a luthier look at it.

But yes, Aquilas will help it. They're a sort of translucent white colour, not black. Although the chap that used to run our uke club has Worth Browns on his and think they're good. Mind you, a packet is half the price of a new Dolphin.
 
Chris,yes the Worth Browns ARE good, I tried it as
an experiment,and was impressed,having used Aquilas
for a couple of years on it!
And yes,they are half the price of a Dolphin,but remember
that you get two sets out of a pack of worths! And on the
showing of the ones I have used,they seem to last a lot
longer than Aquilas too.
 
Def try Aquilas. They may actually solve the intonation issues on their own.
 
Hi all,

Thanks for the advice, looks like I'll definitely go for some aquilas :)

I've already noticed the sound is getting a bit duller so the stock strings must be pretty bad!

The string height does seem pretty good (this is the only ukulele I've ever played though), so if it doesn't fix the slight tuning issue then I'm happy to attempt a fix :D
 
I have a Lilac colored Makala that's what started me on this great adventure. It may be cheap but I have to tune it less frequently than my Kala ( same company ) Pineapple, or my 8 string. Takes the poundings in my strumming as well as some experimentation I do with chords and strumming. Aquila strings are great, I have them on my pineapple and 8 string. Still have the original black strings on my soprano. As for tuning, it can be all about the environment, I have to tune less frequently here in the desert than I did when I was on vacation in Hawaii.
 
Hello braaains and welcome. you made an excellent choice. the makala dolphin itself comes with ghs strings, straight from the factory. or at least mine did. i didn't change my strings out for almost 2 years, and it sounded alright to me. but upgrading to better strings will make a difference.
 
Welcome to UU! The dolphin is a good choice to see if you'll like playing. If you do like the uke you'll soon outgrow it however.
 
That you StarMonkey ?
 
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