With death comes new life...

thejumpingflea · Nov 10, 2008

So my Tenor G-String uke was taken in for repairs at my local uke shop, Dusty Strings, because it was buzzing and the intonation was WAY off. So I just expected some bridge adjustments and that myself and that awesome tenor to be playing together again in no time. Well it turns out that to fix the uke they will have to re-adjust the bridge in a manner that would require to detach and move where the bridge is located on the uke. So what they told me is that I have two options: A) I can just take back the G-String as is... or B) They exchange it with another uke in the store.

Needless to say I chose B.

Gotta have fun with Photobooth.

Videos are incoming soon!

UkuLeLesReggAe · Nov 10, 2008

nice looknig uke, i want one as nice.

UkeNinja · Nov 10, 2008

thejumpingflea said:
B) They exchange it with another uke in the store

That is a very beautiful natural looking ukulele. Did you "exchange" your old one for this one-on-one??? That would be a very good deal.

But what amazes me...your old uke went so far out of tune it couldn't be helped anymore? How old is it? Pretty amazing or a high-quality instrument. Humidity? Strummed the thing to shreds?

Or just very heavy string bending??? :rock:

thejumpingflea · Nov 10, 2008

UkeNinja said:
That is a very beautiful natural looking ukulele. Did you "exchange" your old one for this one-on-one??? That would be a very good deal.

But what amazes me...your old uke went so far out of tune it couldn't be helped anymore? How old is it? Pretty amazing or a high-quality instrument. Humidity? Strummed the thing to shreds?

Or just very heavy string bending??? :rock:

I had to pay the difference of what I payed for the G-String.

They did put a pick-up in the Ko'olau just free of charge as the G-String had one.

The intonation was just bad. Not sure how it got so bad, but I'd love to say that it was me strumming it to shreds! Haha, it is sad to see it go, but this new uke really sings. :rock:

hawaiianmusiclover06 · Nov 10, 2008

That is one nice looking uke! Wish I could have one.... Maybe Santa will bring me one this christmas.

deach · Nov 10, 2008

Nice trade.

The more I read about G-strings, the sadder I become. I really wanted one.

hoosierhiver · Nov 10, 2008

Looks like a sweetheart,don't forget to do your homework!

nikolo727 · Nov 10, 2008

I might have to give into my UAS, now that i read this.

pebbleInDaPacific · Nov 10, 2008

haha, hey I thought you looked familiar. I was in there while you were explaining your situation. I thought you looked familiar! Well, sad to hear about your G-String. I love Dusty Strings and go in there at least twice a month. Was that the G-String they had on display? One thing that may have contributed to it is that everyone picks up those display models and strums them, so it may have been a factor.

I bought a Soprano Kamaka from them a couple of months ago, but I was the first and only one who put my hands on it as they just received it and they grabbed it from the back room when they thought they sold out of it.

That Ko'olau is a beauty! I saw that there too and glad you found something comparable. Oh, btw, you've got mad skills when you were playing in there. rock on bro! :rock:

Howlin Hobbit · Nov 10, 2008

pebbleInDaPacific said:
One thing that may have contributed to it is that everyone picks up those display models and strums them

Sorry, can't agree with that one. Ukuleles are, by design, meant to be strummed. Normal use (i.e. strumming) should not throw them out of whack. It's either:

Bad design or...
Bad execution of said design.

thejumpingflea · Nov 10, 2008

pebbleInDaPacific said:
haha, hey I thought you looked familiar. I was in there while you were explaining your situation. I thought you looked familiar! Well, sad to hear about your G-String. I love Dusty Strings and go in there at least twice a month. Was that the G-String they had on display? One thing that may have contributed to it is that everyone picks up those display models and strums them, so it may have been a factor.

I bought a Soprano Kamaka from them a couple of months ago, but I was the first and only one who put my hands on it as they just received it and they grabbed it from the back room when they thought they sold out of it.

That Ko'olau is a beauty! I saw that there too and glad you found something comparable. Oh, btw, you've got mad skills when you were playing in there. rock on bro! :rock:

Oh sweet dude! Were you the one playing Red and Silky? I was about to ask if you were familiar with UU, but didn't... this is exactly why I just need to buy a UU shirt!

Howlin Hobbit said:
Sorry, can't agree with that one. Ukuleles are, by design, meant to be strummed. Normal use (i.e. strumming) should not throw them out of whack. It's either:

Bad design or...

Bad execution of said design.

I'd say the latter.

Kekani · Nov 10, 2008

Before I go off on my own tangent, I have to ask, what kind of strings did you change to, and what, if any, adjustments were made after the string change (most common answer to this would be "None.").

h-drix · Nov 10, 2008

Howlin Hobbit said:
Sorry, can't agree with that one. Ukuleles are, by design, meant to be strummed. Normal use (i.e. strumming) should not throw them out of whack. It's either:

Bad design or...

Bad execution of said design.

i think he meant that people come over and mess with it not thinking its a real instrument, kids come over and just start smacking the strings, etc.

pebbleInDaPacific · Nov 10, 2008

Howlin Hobbit said:
Sorry, can't agree with that one. Ukuleles are, by design, meant to be strummed. Normal use (i.e. strumming) should not throw them out of whack. It's either:

Bad design or...

Bad execution of said design.

yeah, sorry, I should've been more clear, it's one thing to know how to "strum" but the shop is situated in the community of Fremont that it has a lot of tourists come in too, who don't really know anything about instruments, and they are fascinated about what they see. h-drix got the idea.

The last time I was there, there was a mom in with her two - threeish? year old child, and she bought a little cheap ukulele for him, but the child was pulling on it like a bow as it was hanging on the wall.

I should've been more clear in saying that not everyone who touches the displays know exactly what they are doing or how to properly strum it. Sorry for the confusion.

thejumpingflea said:
Oh sweet dude! Were you the one playing Red and Silky? I was about to ask if you were familiar with UU, but didn't... this is exactly why I just need to buy a UU shirt!

haha, no, that was actually one of my cousins. I was there with two of them and we all went to jam out when we left there. We just went there to buy some strings and I was going to change their strings for them. The three of us jam out when we can get together. We should all do it sometime!

thejumpingflea · Nov 10, 2008

pebbleInDaPacific said:
haha, no, that was actually one of my cousins. I was there with two of them and we all went to jam out when we left there. We just went there to buy some strings and I was going to change their strings for them. The three of us jam out when we can get together. We should all do it sometime!

Yeah dude! That'd be awesome. :music:

sweets · Nov 11, 2008

Aaagh, I was playing that T-1 (and loving it) last week. Glad it's going to a good home - hopefully they'll be getting more in.

thejumpingflea · Nov 11, 2008

sweets said:
Aaagh, I was playing that T-1 (and loving it) last week. Glad it's going to a good home - hopefully they'll be getting more in.

Yep! It'll get tons of use here.

I heard from Aaron (Employee there) that it takes FOREVER for them to get the Ko'olau's. I hope they can get some more in soon though, they are a lot of fun to play!

Kekani · Nov 11, 2008

Kekani said:
Before I go off on my own tangent, I have to ask, what kind of strings did you change to, and what, if any, adjustments were made after the string change (most common answer to this would be "None.").

Sorry, I should've been more clear - Jumpingflea, these questions were for you. If they were intentionally unanswered, no biggie.

But, I am curious, what is the store going to do with the G-String now?

thejumpingflea · Nov 11, 2008

Kekani said:
Sorry, I should've been more clear - Jumpingflea, these questions were for you. If they were intentionally unanswered, no biggie.

But, I am curious, what is the store going to do with the G-String now?

Sorry, I looked right over the questions!

I strung it up with Aquila's. When I realized just how bad the intonation was I changed the strings (to a new set of Aquila) and it still had the bad intonation. I didn't alter it or anything like that. This was June (I had recieved the uke in late May) and I had to leave for the camp I work at. The G-String worked wonderfully for the summer, but I never really played past the 7th fret. (I did all strumming things to show off to kids

) This has been the first chance I've had to take it in and they told me what you have already read.

I too wonder what they are doing with the uke! Maybe let an employee take it home to fix as a project? Dunno.

Kekani · Nov 11, 2008

thejumpingflea said:
I strung it up with Aquila's. When I realized just how bad the intonation was I changed the strings (to a new set of Aquila) and it still had the bad intonation. I didn't alter it or anything like that.

Never thought that the strings were the problem?

I can say from experience, I've seen a customer return a factory instrument, that the factory replaced because the customer complained about intonation problems, same like you. This customer changed the strings, and like you, changed to Aquila. Funny, the factory changed the strings to their "stock" string, and bam! no intonation problems, but they lost money on the sale anyway, due to no fault of their own.

Here's a kicker (if there ever was one), the `ukulele was from a local factory as well, not G-String, so there's no correlation to a certain factory, but there does seem to be one with the strings.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Aquila's are bad strings - they serve their purpose on the right instrument, which is usually a lower end one that is in dire need of something, and probably has intonation problems anyway. Of course, Kanile`a and Compass Rose string with Aquila, but they match. Also, a friend of mine that sells `ukulele upgrades to Aquila, so to speak, but not on his factory and higher instruments, as far as I know.

In any case, your experience isn't the first, and it probably won't be the last.

Just my thoughts, going on an admitted tangent. . .

With death comes new life...

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