Those of you that have purchased new HF-3 tenors from the factory, are setups required or are they setup quite well on arrival. A pretty general question but a setup was was required on a Soprano I got a few years back.
My HF-3 was purchased at Hawaii Music Supply 5 years+ ago. Joel at HMS did a set-up adjustment before sending it to me. I go to Oahu once a year, I have brought my tenor in for minor tweaks and adjustments. I have always been welcomed back to the factory store by Chris Kamaka and his friendly staff.
I purchased an HF-3 from HMS in July, and it arrived with a perfect setup. I did opt for HMS to do the setup, so I am not sure how much they actually tweak the setup as it arrives from Kamaka. If you are concerned, HMS would be a good shop from which to purchase.
I received my Kamaka tenor last month. The koa, build and finish are amazing. It definitely required a setup, the string heights were quite high. Luthier said this was not unusual, strings are set high from factory to allow you to set up the way you like. Switched to Worth strings but will give Kamaka strings a second chance with proper set up eventually.
I received my Kamaka tenor last month. The koa, build and finish are amazing. It definitely required a setup, the string heights were quite high. Luthier said this was not unusual, strings are set high from factory to allow you to set up the way you like. Switched to Worth strings but will give Kamaka strings a second chance with proper set up eventually.
Congratulations on the new Kamaka, they are wonderful instruments. The luthier was correct about most ukes leaving the factory with actions on the high side. An aggressive strummer benefits from this, no buzzing. The action can be easily lowered but it is harder=more expensive to raise the action.
