Fixing a flat

I just bought a 1998 Kamaka HF3 that was strung low G for years, probably sense 98 the original purchase. This Tenor had Kamaka low G strings on it with the 3rd string being a wound string. Now I changed out the old strings with Martin Flourocarbons because I was impatient waiting for my new strings just to get high G's on it. Any way that 3rd string is flat at the 12th fret. Can this be caused by this wound string and fixed with just changing out the saddle? And also I have heard that Kamaka uses a compensated saddle now, what are my best options?

If the string is flat at 12, the saddle would need to come forward slightly. Intonation can very as much as 30% from string to string, so sometimes swapping a string out can produce better results. Also the string action is a factor, so adjusting the saddle height can affect intonation somewhat as well. Probably the best suggestion is to try a few different things and see what the effects are. You only have a few variables to manipulate, so go for it. Try a different saddle, or slightly raise the action a little, or swap the C string out and see what happens. How flat is the string at 12? If its only a small amount I might just not worry about it.

Depending on how you play, it might be more advantageous to have the intonation more accurate in frets 1-7, so keep that in mind. If you "fix" the 12th fret intonation, you may very well negatively effect the 1-7 action, which is often very noticeable. I play a lot of things higher up on the fretboard, but don't really very often use the 12th fret C (since that note also exists at the 8th fret of the E string). Intonation on ukulele is often a "best case scenario". Its very difficult to have a perfectly intonated neck and usually compromises must be made somewhere. Good intonation is most valuable where you play the most, so be sure to check the lower frets intonation first.

Most people learn to check intonation by tuning the open string and checking the 12th fret for accuracy, but really you should be checking the lower frets first. Ukes are often sharp in the first 3-4 frets, so sometimes the 12th could be intonated flat to counteract this issue somewhat. Anyway, just my 2 cents. Good luck!

Thanks, that helps. All the other strings are close to perfect at the 12th fret. I was just wondering if the wound string over time has changed the saddle just a bit to cause this. As it is a Kamaka and sounds very sweet I would like to try to get as near to perfect as I can for how I like to play. It seems you can buy saddles very cheap. Saddles are not glue in correct? Nuts I have seen seem to be glued in. I am a little hesitant with this as even though it was used it was still a pretty penny.

Correct, saddles do not get glued in. You would have to adjust the height of the saddle, but you could use the previous one as a template for that. The wound string could have cut into the saddle over time, but you would certainly see a pronounced indention. You can always put the old saddle back in!

Thanks, sense saddles are so cheap I think I'll try that maybe a compnesated saddle as well. Because it is a Kamaka I just want it just right.

I'd try the simple things first....maybe you got just a bad set of strings....yes if that does not help, shorten the scale by compensation on the saddle...

Turned out to be not so simple. Yesterday afternoon I got a call from Kamaka offering to trade out my saddle for $5. It turns out that I have a solid Koa uke, neck, fret board, bridge all koa and the saddle is possibly an unconventional size. They said if I sent them the original saddle they would make me a new one if I could get the old saddle out. Great customer service from Kamaka I was totally impressed only problem was the saddle was glued in and bone and I couldn't get it out. Tried and tried until I made a small superficial fracture in the bridge and gave up. So I took it to The Blue Guitar in San Diego an authorized Kamaka dealer. The techs were reassuring that my tiny small fracture was nothing and promised they would take great care of my new baby.
Anyway learned a valuable lesson with this endeavor, “take it easy, take it slow and try before your pry” and if all fails call your local luthier/tech.

Dwave said:

Turned out to be not so simple. Yesterday afternoon I got a call from Kamaka offering to trade out my saddle for $5. It turns out that I have a solid Koa uke, neck, fret board, bridge all koa and the saddle is possibly an unconventional size. They said if I sent them the original saddle they would make me a new one if I could get the old saddle out. Great customer service from Kamaka I was totally impressed only problem was the saddle was glued in and bone and I couldn't get it out. Tried and tried until I made a small superficial fracture in the bridge and gave up. So I took it to The Blue Guitar in San Diego an authorized Kamaka dealer. The techs were reassuring that my tiny small fracture was nothing and promised they would take great care of my new baby.
Anyway learned a valuable lesson with this endeavor, “take it easy, take it slow and try before your pry” and if all fails call your local luthier/tech.

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You could just have Blue Guitar make a new saddle for you instead of sending it to Hawaii. Since they have your uke, they could make it, and fine tune it.