Big Island Mango Tenor

Greetings!

I purchased my first Big Island ukulele today, and I have to say so far I'm not impressed.

The ukulele itself is a thing of beauty, it looks amazing.
But the most important thing is how it plays, and it's in need of some serious setup work.

I understand it's a Vietnam factory instrument but I paid 600 euros for it, I should not have to sand down the saddle.

Either way, that is what I'm doing. Every string is sharp after the fifth fret. And I'm not talking around 5 cents, it's more like 20.

Is there something I'm doing wrong? I already filed off a serious chunk off the saddle and I'm not sure how much more I can take off without losing volume.

The nut is fine and the strings have settled.

Thanks in advance!

Ben, an instrument that's off as much as you described I would send back as I did a Koalana soprano that had the worst intonation of any ukulele I have ever received. Mine was replaced with a properly set up concert sized Koalana. Don't accept an instrument you know to be that problematic.