New uke - tuning problems

Hi,

I was given a ukulele for Christmas. I'm a total beginner, although I play a bit of guitar. I'm trying to tune the instrument to itself, and all the online resources I've found say that the C string fourth fret should make an E. Sounds sensible... but mine doesn't! Third fret sounds an E. Also first fret on all strings is a full tone up from open, not a semitone. Is that right? C and F chords sound ok, haven't got any further.


Any suggestions? Am I doing something wrong? Tuning from a tuning app on my smartphone is problem free, but C string fourth fret is NOT an E!

Thanks
W

EDIT: G7 is definitely not right. Compared to the G7 here: http://www.ukeschool.com/access/basic/3_chords_c_1.html , the way to get the same chord is to play C string first fret, not second.

sounds like your action at the nut is too high, so the strings have too much vertical travel to reach the fret, and they get stretched. your uke needs a setup.

That makes loads of sense - the action is a lot harder than I'd expect on nylon strings. The strings are about 5mm above the fret board at the nut end, and close to double that at the other end of the neck.

Surprising though that this only seems to affect the C string? I'd have thought that all strings would be affected. F is fine, even though it uses first and second frets...

Individual strings can be affected because some nut slots can be cut low enough while others aren't. When only one string is at fault it is usually the C string because it is the thickest string so doesn't sit fully in the slots molded into the nuts on inexpensive ukuleles. With action that high I would be willing to bet that the other strings are also pulling quite sharp at the first fret, just not a whole step like the C.

Actually...I reread your post and it does sound like all of the strings are pulling very sharp - a whole step at the first fret is very unusual but so is an action that is 5mm high. Typically, you should just be able to slip a business card between the strings and the top of the fret at the first fret...

John

I think it's very much an entry level instrument. I read on another site that the distance between 12th fret and strings should be 2mm or so. To achieve that I'd need to sand down the bridge, not just the saddle.

So steps are:
1. Check that all grooves in nut are same height above nut base, and wide enough for strings.
2. Sand nut until strings are ~2mm above frets at nut end.
3. Sand bridge/saddle to bring strings closer to fret board at 12th fret.

All assuming the nut/saddle is even removable...

W

wanstronian said:

I think it's very much an entry level instrument. I read on another site that the distance between 12th fret and strings should be 2mm or so. To achieve that I'd need to sand down the bridge, not just the saddle.

So steps are:
1. Check that all grooves in nut are same height above nut base, and wide enough for strings.
2. Sand nut until strings are ~2mm above frets at nut end.
3. Sand bridge/saddle to bring strings closer to fret board at 12th fret.

All assuming the nut/saddle is even removable...

W

Click to expand...

I will leave it to others to give you advice, but I certainly wouldn't remove those to sand. Tape around them sure. Remove. I wouldn't.

wanstronian said:

I think it's very much an entry level instrument. I read on another site that the distance between 12th fret and strings should be 2mm or so. To achieve that I'd need to sand down the bridge, not just the saddle.

So steps are:
1. Check that all grooves in nut are same height above nut base, and wide enough for strings.
2. Sand nut until strings are ~2mm above frets at nut end.
3. Sand bridge/saddle to bring strings closer to fret board at 12th fret.

All assuming the nut/saddle is even removable...

W

Click to expand...

Are we to take it that this is the main part ot a setup?

Nickie said:

Are we to take it that this is the main part ot a setup?

Click to expand...

I'm after advice - confirmation/contradiction that those steps are the best way to proceed. Just want the darn thing to play in tune so I can start to learn!

wanstronian said:

...The strings are about 5mm above the fret board at the nut end, and close to double that at the other end of the neck...

Click to expand...

I'm going to put this to you as gently as I know how, my friend.

What you have there is not a uke. It is a piece of firewood.
Oh, sorry, maybe that's too harsh.
Is it pretty? Then maybe it's a "wall hanger."

I wouldn't even give something like that to a child as a toy, for fear he would be traumatized for life.

If you are handy with tools and fearless, you could potentially learn something from trying to improve the setup, but where you are starting from is ridiculous.

If the giver of your gift thought they were doing you a favor, we must forgive them and presume they didn't know what they were doing, unless they intended to start you on a ukulele overhaul course.

Did they save the receipt? Can you get your money back?

Whatever you do, please don't "re-gift" an unplayable uke to anyone else.

you can try and set up the uke to get it playable, but there's a chance that it's not really worth it. But even if you decide to get a better uke for learning, you will have a lot of fun (and learn a lot about ukes) if you use this tutorial to set up your uke. It's quite easy, actually.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGGz14ohX9Y (repair)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbp7dApxAuE (diagnosis)

main language for both tutorials is German, but the important stuff is written in english, and the vid is pretty much self-explaining.

wanstronian said:

I think it's very much an entry level instrument. I read on another site that the distance between 12th fret and strings should be 2mm or so. To achieve that I'd need to sand down the bridge, not just the saddle.

So steps are:
1. Check that all grooves in nut are same height above nut base, and wide enough for strings.
2. Sand nut until strings are ~2mm above frets at nut end.
3. Sand bridge/saddle to bring strings closer to fret board at 12th fret.

All assuming the nut/saddle is even removable...

W

Click to expand...

It's much easier than that.

Do NOT remove the nut...in fact, for the first part you don't even have to remove or loosen the strings, just lift each one out of the slot and set it to the side as you are working on that slot.

1) Work each nut slot down until the string does not pull sharp when fretted at the first fret. This will almost certainly be much lower than 2mm between fret and string at the first fret. 2mm between fret and string is a decent goal for low action up around the 12th fret, at the first fret they need to be much closer to avoid the strings pulling sharp. If you go too far and the string begins buzzing, use a dab of super glue or clear fingernail polish in the bottom of the slot to raise it back up. If you can't get the string low enough to not pull sharp at the first fret without it buzzing you probably have poorly leveled frets - that's a whole 'nuther step. I've only run into one uke that was that bad (it was a Makala Dolphin).

2) (For this part you need to loosen the strings). If the string is more than 3 or 4mm above the frets at the 12th, loosen the strings enough that you can slip the bridge saddle out. Sand the bottom of the saddle being very careful to keep it perfectly straight and even. Don't take too much off at a time. If you can't get the action down to around 4 or 5mm at the 12th fret without strings buzzing you're looking at poorly leveled frets again. You can either shim the saddle back up and live with the high action or break out the long sanding block to level the frets.

Make sure you do them in the order given - high action at the bridge end is not as big a deal as it is at the nut end. You want to get the intonation and ease of fretting as good as possible at the nut end before lowering the bridge saddle at all.

That's all there is too it.

John

Thanks for all advice - I'm not averse to a bit of fettling so I'll give it a go. If it doesn't work out I've lost nothing, and gained an experience!

gift or not take it back to the shop and get one that has a better action, you may get away with altering the action yourself or you may end up with a piece of wood