Improving how your basic Uke Sounds.

Graham Greenbag

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I’d be glad to hear other members’ experiences on what they have done to improve the sound of their own or a fiends basic Uke.

I’ve had several basic laminate Ukes over the years and have made them all sound better. It seems to me to be a process of getting marginal improvements here and there that add up to a noticeable change.

Some years back I bought a Makala Concert Uke - it was my second Uke. As supplied it sounded fine to me then but as you play for a while your ear starts to change. I discovered Aquila strings and they sounded better than the black ones (?? nylon GHS) originally fitted. I sort of did work on the nut and again it sounded better and I think that I must have done the saddle too, but after that it wasn’t played by me for a long time.

I started playing the Makala again recently and it seemed quiet and out of tune down the neck - that surprised me as years back I’d thought it sounded good. So with skills learnt since last playing it I set to to improve my earlier work on the nut. The intonation all along the fretboard is now perfect, my earlier efforts hadn’t taken the strings down quite far enough.

Next I replaced the ‘Aquila’ strings with Martins, nothing wrong with Aquila Nygluts but I usually prefer Martins and the ‘Aquila’ strings where, IIRC, supplied from China so could have been fakes. Anyway another improvement - a louder and more pleasing tone.

I them replaced the cheap saddle with a better plastic one - something already sitting in my parts box - to get a further improvement and I also made certain that the saddle seating area within the bridge was good - a bit louder and better tone again, maybe more sustain too.

Finally I made a bone saddle and fitted it, again there's a small but noticeable improvement (more bass and more sustain), and I think that it now sounds better than the other Uke that I have been judging earlier improvements against.

I’d love to hear what others have done, please share your experiences.
 
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Very good work, Graham. My first hit on stringed instruments is to always adjust the playing action - intonation from the get go. While doing this, I also usually opt for bone for the saddle and sometimes the nut. I have used Tusq before, and like it for what it is, but usually prefer bone. Then find strings to suit.
 
Most of my good ukes had Living Water Low G fluorocarbons fitted replacing the Nylguts they came with, they work better for me as I'm mainly a picker of melodies, (& I keep the Nylguts in reserve for fitting to the laminates that I strum). :)
 
Raising the action helps tone and volume.
However, you can only raise it to a reasonable height before you introduce structural fallibility-= ie too much pressure on the saddle which causes the bridge to break etcetcetc
 
Thank you all for the points so far.

I usually like to change both the nut and saddle to bone, but in this case my Makala will need me to make a custom nut from a bone blank (I have a factory nut with 10 mm spacing ready to fit but to my surprise it is too short). Making a nut from a blank isn’t something I’ve attempted before and I’m uncertain whether the pay back will be worth it - probably some small gain versus several hours of effort.

The saddle hieght ‘thing’ is a new one on me but it makes sense - I need to get my head around the mechanics of it more though. The higher the saddle (relative to the string anchor point) the greater the preload on the bridge and soundboard, but too much preload is going to break something and I wonder about throwing the intonation out at the 12th fret too. I might have to get a set of saddles (or shims) together to trial out height versus intonation changes. Thanks, :)
 
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Re saddle height, I remember reading here that a 1 mm increase of the saddle height will result in a .5 mm increase of the string height at the 12th fret. Whether that change increases volume or provides better tone, I'm not sure, as I haven't tried it yet, but those are benefits I've heard of a higher saddle (with the acceptable range being a 2-3 mm string height at the 12th fret)
 
I have a laminate Tanglewood soprano that I changed two main things on:

1) lowered action at the nut, that helped a lot with ease of play

2) tuned it up to ADF#B. Oh my goodness did that make a difference - it sounds so much better for it. It sounded thunky and tubby at C, it sounds far more expensive that it is at D. I tried this with flouros first and didn't like the feel, so now it's got D'addario Titaniums tuned up and that has been the sweet spot for me.
 
On my instruments from Magic Fluke Company that had friction tuners, I replaced all of them with Grover 9NB geared tuners save for my concert Flea which I replaced with Goto UPT-L planetary geared tuners. My koa tenor Fluke came with Pegheds so I left them, and made no modifications to that instrument at all.

I flat out refuse to deal with, nor 'learn' how to use friction tuners. I want to spend my time playing MUSIC and not playing tiddly-winks with adjusting the tension of the screw on the friction tuner

I know folks love friction tuners and good for you, but I dont have to use them when better technology is available and I am skilled with a dremel and calipers...I find that using friction tuners is a torture and an anathema to me and I will NEVER be convinced otherwise.

Aside from that, most of my ukes have needed some tweaking at both the saddle and nut to improve intonation. I cannot tolerate intonation that is more than 2 cents +/- and will resolve this whenever it is needed.

Also some ukes I installed pickups myself. Some surface transducer, some under-saddle, some active with preamps and some passive with external preamps.

Most of my ukes have the action at the 12th fret perfectly at 2.65mm, which is how the Fluke and Flea ukes come from the factory, and this is my preferred setting for both strumming and finger-style playing.

I have always removed the factory installed strings and replaced them with something else.

Strings are variable across all my ukes, but all are fluorocarbon, but usually different gauges from one uke to the next to enhance the natural properties of that instrument for clarity, tone and sustain to my ear and for my playing style and technique.
 
I’m definitely one of the ones that like the benefit of a higher action. I have bought many ukes that Ppl didn’t like; probably had a lot to do with the action being so low. Raising it as high as you can comfortably play is what I go by. I think 2.65 is pretty good!! Though I’m not super picky either as long as it’s not super low! Low may have its benefits but I think the drawbacks outweigh. Just my personal opinion.
 
Improving how your basic Uke Sounds. Practice works well for me.
 
Just a line to say thank you to those who have contributed to the thread, all good and useful thoughts and certainly some things that I hadn’t considered.

I got home ‘dog tired’ last night, having spent the day helping someone move home. With tired brain I noted a good response from someone who’s comments are always a joy to read, but sadly that response is not here this morning. It’s their (puzzling) choice but I’d encourage them to restate their (always) excellent remarks. As best I can recall they made two points, the first confirmed the importance of practice and the second the advantages of using a strap. The two Ukes that I play most both have buttons added to their lower bout and I use a strap with them, I’ve found it a great aid in control of the body and fretboard/headstock and that has allowed me to play noticeably better - YMMV.

If others have a thought or two to then please do share them, your ideas are welcome and they give all readers the chance to see whether your suggestion might help them too.

Edit. This thread started by drbekken gives an interesting example of what can be achieved son a cheap Mahalo, http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...-Kahiko-Soprano-Ukulele&p=2063868#post2063868

Edit. And there’s an example with a Rogue brand Uke and drbekken again, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=76nFRq72W88
 
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Improving how your basic Uke Sounds. Practice works well for me.

Yep, works for me too so I think that you’re bang on right - a helpful reminder. With most things that I do I typically find that simple and inexpensive tools produce a good job provided that they are both well set-up and carefully used. For me both of those areas are things that I’m working at and trying to keep in balance; here I’m focusing on mechanical and material changes to improve what my Ukes are physically capable of delivering, but playing skills are important too.
 
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