A Dead Sound...Is it me?

Hope4U

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My uke is sounding dead. I changed the strings, but it hasn't made any difference. Could it have something to do with how my finger is strumming? If so, what am I doing wrong? It's making me lose interest in playing. Any help you can offer is appreciated.
 
Maybe you're resting your forearm on the face of the uke and deadening the soundboard?
Maybe you're holding the back of the uke so the whole back is pressing against your body? If so, try pushing the neck forward or away from your body so the back opens up and is not pressing against your body so much.
Sometimes my uke has sounded dull and when I looked, the sleeve of my shirt was dampening the strings without me even realizing it for the longest time.

These would be my first guesses. Check them out and see if they might be the case. Good luck.
 
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Do you recall the condition and specs your ukulele was in before it started sounding dead to you? Climate.. strings.. Has the humidity/air changed where you're playing? Are you using the same brand strings as before? Maybe share what ukulele you have--could help us.
 
Study carefully exactly what you're doing with your fingers.... play each string at a time, open than fretted - see how clean the sound is. Strum a C chord with your thumb - make sure your clothes are not catching the strings. Then try a finger strum. Then try a two finger chord.... just look very carefully to see where you might change something in your fingering to improve the sound.... are you sure the uke is correctly tuned? I'm sure you'll find the cause if you stick with it..... don't lose heart! We've all been there, one way or another! Good luck..... :)
 
My uke is sounding dead. I changed the strings, but it hasn't made any difference. Could it have something to do with how my finger is strumming? If so, what am I doing wrong? It's making me lose interest in playing. Any help you can offer is appreciated.
There was an older thread where the OP mentioned the uke didn't sound the same after he changed out the strings. Well, turns out the saddle wasn't in the bridge. Just sayin it could happen.
 
Did the uke sound dead before the string change or only after the string change....it could be that you put the strings on the wrong places...or you have different strings from GCEA
or bad strings...try to put the old ones back and see if you have the same dull sound...if all fails get another new set and try it out....how long did you have the strings on...on Aquilas
it may take a week to break in.... good luck....
 
If the old and new strings are Aquila Nylgut what is the humidity like right now? I took a uke to Louisiana with NylGut strings - it was pretty dead while I was there and for a week or so after the return. I went back later with the same uke with Fluorocarbon strings and the humidity didn't affect it.

Also, did the uke once sound good and now is bad, or has it always sounded dead?

Finally, if all else fails and you can't make the uke sound better don't give up playing, just chalk it up to lessons learned and get a better uke!

Finally, people talk a lot about ukes "playing in" and sounding better the more they are played. It's a thing I've only seen that for certain a couple of times out of dozens of good instruments I've owned and I think a lot less common than people are willing to admit. However, one thing simply makes sense - if some instruments sound better as they "play in" and joints settle, wood changes, etc. then there are probably a few instruments that get worse. I have one of those, in fact. It's still not a bad uke and if anyone played it they would think it was fine, but it was spectacular out of the box and faded to merely good - several string changes to try to take it back to spectacular have not worked. :)

John
 
The uke was sounding dead, so I thought it was the strings, which I changed. It still sounded dead. I am using Aquila, so maybe I need to try different strings. I have a Kala KA-SMHC. I think I might be putting too much of my arm on the face of the uke. It seems I have to though if I'm strumming at about the 10th or 12th fret. The uke did sound good, and now sounds bad.
 
There was an older thread where the OP mentioned the uke didn't sound the same after he changed out the strings. Well, turns out the saddle wasn't in the bridge. Just sayin it could happen.

That happened to me once. I actually have a spare for that uke now in case it gets lost.
 
Can you post a video of you playing or something? Or even just a sound sample.
 
The uke was sounding dead, so I thought it was the strings, which I changed. It still sounded dead. I am using Aquila, so maybe I need to try different strings. I have a Kala KA-SMHC. I think I might be putting too much of my arm on the face of the uke. It seems I have to though if I'm strumming at about the 10th or 12th fret. The uke did sound good, and now sounds bad.

A uke usually don't sound bad after a string change unless you've got bad strings or they are breaking in or changed something while doing so..Aquila take a long time....be patient....are you sure you stringed the strings in the right position....
 
Can you post a video of you playing or something? Or even just a sound sample.

I don't know how to post video or audio?? And, I don't own a video camera. Go figure :eek:
 
Does your computer have a mic or a webcam? Maybe a camera on your phone?
 
Yes, I do have a mic and a webcam. Can you record from skype?
 
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