Martin Style 0 ukulele

Noelle12

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A friend of mine has a vintage Martin style 0 soprano ukulele from the 1960s. She asked me to help he get it in tune, which I have done. It has the original friction tuners, so it's hard to get it perfectly in tune. I have 2 questions.

First of all, the C string loses its intonation immediately. Like on the very first fret. The other strings don't seem to have the same problem. At least it's not as noticeable. What should I do to fix this problem.

Second question, would it be a good or bad idea to replace the original friction tuners with gear tuners?

Thanks.
 
A friend of mine has a vintage Martin style 0 soprano ukulele from the 1960s. She asked me to help he get it in tune, which I have done. It has the original friction tuners, so it's hard to get it perfectly in tune. I have 2 questions.

First of all, the C string loses its intonation immediately. Like on the very first fret. The other strings don't seem to have the same problem. At least it's not as noticeable. What should I do to fix this problem.

Second question, would it be a good or bad idea to replace the original friction tuners with gear tuners?

Thanks.
Let's get some details clarified.
Did you put on new strings or the strings that came on it? How old were those?
If only one string is going out of tune and after you tune it up (and the open tuning continues to be in tune), an easy problem could be the strings itself..
 
I have not changed the strings. I believe the strings are very old. Maybe even original. My friend says she hasn't played it in years. But she let her grandkids play with it (yikes!) and they were messing with the tuning pegs.
Visually, the strings look like they are in good shape, but I also think they look pretty old.
 
I have not changed the strings. I believe the strings are very old. Maybe even original. My friend says she hasn't played it in years. But she let her grandkids play with it (yikes!) and they were messing with the tuning pegs.
Visually, the strings look like they are in good shape, but I also think they look pretty old.

People change strings 6 months to one year in.. some do it more often. Most likely the problem will be solved with a new set of strings, would recommend low tension strings to start with to be safe.

Folks, any recommendation for strings?
 
But she let her grandkids play with it (yikes!) and they were messing with the tuning pegs.
Take the uke from her, then defriend her, never allow her near the uke again...
Worth Browns BTW
 
A friend of mine has a vintage Martin style 0 soprano ukulele from the 1960s. She asked me to help he get it in tune, which I have done. It has the original friction tuners, so it's hard to get it perfectly in tune. I have 2 questions.

First of all, the C string loses its intonation immediately. Like on the very first fret. The other strings don't seem to have the same problem. At least it's not as noticeable. What should I do to fix this problem.

Second question, would it be a good or bad idea to replace the original friction tuners with gear tuners?

Thanks.

I had a similar intonation problem, a fresh set of strings solved matters. It will take a couple of weeks for the strings settle.

As far as I know Martin M600’s and Aquila Nygluts would be fine replacements, I favour the former.

It wouldn’t be wise to fit different tuners because that would most likely damage its resale value. Lots of folk find that friction tuners work just fine, but there is a knack to using them.
 
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People change strings 6 months to one year in.. some do it more often. Most likely the problem will be solved with a new set of strings, would recommend low tension strings to start with to be safe.

Folks, any recommendation for strings?

I usually replace my strings on my ukuleles with aquilas. Are they low tension?
 
Changing string may help. But first, there is a tiny screw at the top of the tuner button, tighten it. If you then can't move the tuner it is too tight. If the C string doesn't hold it's tune it is not tight enough.
 
Changing string may help. But first, there is a tiny screw at the top of the tuner button, tighten it. If you then can't move the tuner it is too tight. If the C string doesn't hold it's tune it is not tight enough.

Thanks. I did tighten the screws in the tuner pegs. They all needed a little tightening, but they seem to be holding just fine now.
 
Sounds like the strings are the issue for sure. I have a Martin soprano O with Waverly tuners and it is a joy to tune compared to my Martin tenor with original tuners. Is she going to play it or sell it? I have been debating for a year whether to change out the tuners on my tenor. And in that time I play it very little because I hate tuning it.
 
Hi Noelle, I hope I'm not muddying things up here, but just to clarify, when you indicate that the C string is "losing its intonation", do you mean 1) that it's slipping and has to be tuned back up to pitch repeatedly, or 2) that it's going noticeably sharp (or flat) when actually fretted? If it's the first situation, then the tightening of the peg screw should do the trick; but if it's the second situation, it may in fact be the "worn out" C string itself (especially if it's playing flat when fretted), or even an issue with the nut slot depth not being sufficient for that string (if it's going sharp already when fretted at the first fret). In any event, I think we'd probably tend to agree that a new set of strings would be a good place to start, and see what happens...
 
Hi Noelle, I hope I'm not muddying things up here, but just to clarify, when you indicate that the C string is "losing its intonation", do you mean 1) that it's slipping and has to be tuned back up to pitch repeatedly, or 2) that it's going noticeably sharp (or flat) when actually fretted? If it's the first situation, then the tightening of the peg screw should do the trick; but if it's the second situation, it may in fact be the "worn out" C string itself (especially if it's playing flat when fretted), or even an issue with the nut slot depth not being sufficient for that string (if it's going sharp already when fretted at the first fret). In any event, I think we'd probably tend to agree that a new set of strings would be a good place to start, and see what happens...

Thanks. Yes, the problem is that it is going sharp when I'm fretting it. The pegs seem to be holding their position just fine (although I did tighten the screws just a little to make sure). I have ordered a new set of strings and they should arrive Wednesday. I'm hoping that makes it better. But I will definitely be sad when I have to give the uke back to its owner.
 
My new strings arrived tonight. I have replaced the strings, and while they are still stretching, I can already tell that the problem is solved. Thank you so much, everyone who pointed me in the right direction. It's nice to have a solution that is pretty inexpensive.
 
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