Need advise for a poor pickup install on a Koaloha, please.

[Brad Bordessa]

After reading this, I’m almost wondering if I should just send it to koaloha trusting they will make th best decision on what to do now.

I think if you want it to look the best, they will certainly know exactly what to do.

If you want functional without that headache and wait, I'd take one of your new saddles and square it off (you could round it off a bit) so the bottom corners sit inside the slot.

You might shoot them an email and ask how they do this themselves. Maybe they could give you some ideas for adapting the new saddles in a more elegant way, minus a state-of-the-art shop.

 

[Brad Bordessa]

It's kind of like they just never expected anyone to put in an aftermarket pickup...

 

[Poul Hansen]

I contacted Koaloha. They are sending me two new saddles.

As already said here, that won't help. You will still have to adapt the new saddle to the pickup. It is not feasile to make a cutout so the saddle is flush but also rests firmly on the pickup, which is a must.

SO: sand/file down the ends of your saddle vertically and be done with it.

 

[necessaryrooster]

I Brought my Koaloha KCM-25 to a local luthier that I have never used before in order to install a pickup. He seemed competent and legit. The good news is he install the pickup and it works. The bad news is he shaved the saddle down to compensate for the pickup but in doing that, the saddle is no longer flush with the bridge and actually has two sharp catch points on each side. My heart sunk when he handed it to me. Right away I knew I made a mistake going there and all I wanted to do was get out of there and find someone to fix it. usually if someone messes something up, I will want to them to fix it, but to be honest, I didn't want him touching it anymore. Anyway, I am attaching 3 photos in hopes of getting some advise on my next step. should I call Koaloha and order a new saddle and find a new luthier? I've never dealt with this before so that seems like the logical next step. or am I thinking about this wrong? help

Brock, dunno if this helps but I found this listing on TUS for a Koaloha with a pickup installed. If you look closely at the pics of the bridge it looks like they've squared off the ends of the saddle and there's a small gap. I bet if you reached out to them they could give you advice on how to get the saddle looking neat and square like that.

KoAloha Koa Tenor w/Mi-Si Pickup (KTM-00)

Another available KoAloha Tenor, always a great choice-

theukulelesite.com

 

[Brockketcher]

Brock, dunno if this helps but I found this listing on TUS for a Koaloha with a pickup installed. If you look closely at the pics of the bridge it looks like they've squared off the ends of the saddle and there's a small gap. I bet if you reached out to them they could give you advice on how to get the saddle looking neat and square like that.

KoAloha Koa Tenor w/Mi-Si Pickup (KTM-00)

Another available KoAloha Tenor, always a great choice-

theukulelesite.com

Thanks for the picture. I did the same thing and appears to have solved the problem. In hind site, was an easy fix, I have just never fiddled with a saddle before so wasn’t sure what to do. Thanks for all the help.

 

[necessaryrooster]

Thanks for the picture. I did the same thing and appears to have solved the problem. In hind site, was an easy fix, I have just never fiddled with a saddle before so wasn’t sure what to do. Thanks for all the help.

Looks good!

 

[merlin666]

Thanks for the picture. I did the same thing and appears to have solved the problem. In hind site, was an easy fix, I have just never fiddled with a saddle before so wasn’t sure what to do. Thanks for all the help.

So what did you end up doing?

 

[Brockketcher]

So what did you end up doing?

Neccessryrooster found a photo of an existing koaloha with a pickup and I copied the cut of that saddle. My first time messing with that so the picture was good for me to see. Worked great.

 

[Arik]

Neccessryrooster found a photo of an existing koaloha with a pickup and I copied the cut of that saddle. My first time messing with that so the picture was good for me to see. Worked great.

Glad it all worked out!!