Lowering the action

BrettWatchorn · Jan 9, 2009

Hello all,

I am a new member... I just bought a Lanikai CK-TEQ (a tenor) from my trip to Hawaii and am very happy with the uke so far.

I would love some advice with the action of the uke though. I would love to adjust the action down as its impossible to play past the fifth fret. If I sand down the saddle, will it alter the tuning of the instrument?

As I said, any advice would be fantastic!

I'm very excited to be part of this forum and hope to hear from you all! :nana:

Cheers,
B

Tanizaki · Jan 9, 2009

The tuning of the instrument will not be altered. You should take care to sand down the saddle evenly, which you can do by moving the saddle over the sandpaper rather than vice versa. Also, I would mark on the saddle with a pencil how far you wish to sand it so you can avoid sanding it down too far.

hoosierhiver · Jan 9, 2009

Before you sand it, check the action at the first and twelveth fret.1mm. at the first fret and 4mm. at the twelveth is considered acceptable.I think the best way is to do just a little sanding,then check and do it again if needed,it's not hard to over do it and ruin your saddle/action by making it too low.It's a pain to rewind the strings 3 or 4 times but in the end I think you understand you're instrument better.And you of course want to sand off the bottom not the top of the saddle.

BrettWatchorn · Jan 9, 2009

Thanks guys...

I'll try and see if its any help.

Ukuleleblues · Jan 9, 2009

I alway adjust the nut (1st fret action) first then the saddle (12th fret action) if you do it the other way around you can end up with issues, and no one likes issues, do they?

hoosierhiver · Jan 10, 2009

Ukuleleblues said:
I alway adjust the nut (1st fret action) first then the saddle (12th fret action) if you do it the other way around you can end up with issues, and no one likes issues, do they?

Very good point there! Bringing your nut down a half MM is alot different than lowering your saddle the same amount.

Kekani · Jan 10, 2009

After adjusting the action at the nut, I adjust the saddle by sanding the top, and taking care of intonation at the same time. David Hurd has a formula on his site to compute how much compensation you need to project.

I usually never sand the bottom, simply because I install LRBagg's UST's, which are very finicky about the flatness of the saddle bottom. Well, so are the instruments without pickups, as that is one of THE means of vibration transference into the soundboard. Get the bottom wrong, and you'll have balance problems.

Just a different way to skin a cat - Aaron

BrettWatchorn · Jan 11, 2009

Is there any way to get extra saddles and nuts?

I haven't found many websites for uke parts...

Kekani · Jan 11, 2009

If you bought a Kamaka, go to them. KoAloha, call Paul. Kanilea, call Joe. G-String, call Derek. Custom builder, call them. Imported, not so easy.

While Stew Mac has ukulele nuts and saddles, I can tell you that they are very generically cut, and are hit an miss based on the `ukulele, not them. I use GraphTech Tusq blanks - oddly, my saddles are made of the 1/8" nut blank (closer in size to what I need for saddles). There are some players that have become very adept at making nuts and saddles (John Kavanagh), and they are very basic to do. BUT, they are not so easy to get accurate, without the proper tools.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles.html

http://www.graphtech.com/products.html

-Aaron

beeejums · Jan 12, 2009

hoosier - I was wondering how high the action is supposed to be... I'm going to run home when I get off work and measure.

When I got my uke (Kala red mahogany tenor... I can't remember the model number), the action was unplayably high, but I didn't want to mess with it as it was my first uke and I thought I might just have been acting like a wimp.

After a couple of days, I gave in and tried to sand down the saddle, but it made very little difference, so on a whim I just tightened the strings with the saddle missing, and now the action is alright. No buzz anywhere. I've tested the intonation, and it's still fine, somehow... did I just get a screwy uke, or should I do something to fix it to benefit my instrument's longevity?

Thanks!

upskydowncloud · Jan 12, 2009

BrettWatchorn said:
Hello all,

I am a new member... I just bought a Lanikai CK-TEQ (a tenor) from my trip to Hawaii and am very happy with the uke so far.

I would love some advice with the action of the uke though. I would love to adjust the action down as its impossible to play past the fifth fret. If I sand down the saddle, will it alter the tuning of the instrument?

As I said, any advice would be fantastic!

I'm very excited to be part of this forum and hope to hear from you all! :nana:

Cheers,
B

Hey just a quick question: why is it impossible to play past the 5th fret? Did you try it out at the shop beforehand, I have the CK-C version and haven't got that problem. My other Lanikai didn't have that problem either!

Lowering the action

BrettWatchorn

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Tanizaki

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hoosierhiver

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BrettWatchorn

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Ukuleleblues

Well-known member

hoosierhiver

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Kekani

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BrettWatchorn

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Kekani

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beeejums

Well-known member

upskydowncloud

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