Bending neck or what....?

Hi everyone,

I bought a Koaloha KTM about 6 months ago, and when I bought it, I had no idea about how to identify whether its neck is straight or not, and I often heard others said that Koaloha's string height is always higher than other K'brands, so I didn't take it seriously.

Recently, I sanded the saddle and replaced the original strings, but I found its string tension is still pretty high and the sense of touch is awuful... so sad about I paid so much money on it.

Could somebody help me identify whether its neck is bending or not, and is it possible to fix?

Sorry about that I am not a english native speaker, and I have tried my best to describe the problem...

Really thanks for the help....

Here are more photos

I cannot see anything in the photos to suggest that the neck is not straight/flat. A straight edge (steel rule) laid along the tops of the frets will show if there is a problem.

Best wishes,

John Colter.

Thanks John, I asked an experienced technicain help me check the ukulele, he said that there is a slight neck problem about my ukulele, which in fact I also cannot see anything neither...
The problem is that after he helped me sand down the saddle and the nut , the touch of the string got a little bit better, but is still very tense.
I owned another Kamaka Ukulele, which is completely differnent, the touch is awesome, so I cannot figure out the reason........

Thanks man, I already did that, but according to the technician, he said he tried his best to adjust the nut and the saddle, but the problem is still there, though it improved a little bit.
So sad, I might take it back to the dealer next month too see what he could do about it.

I am puzzled. Correct me if I am wrong. Your uke is a tenor, tuned gcea, with a low 'g' - not re-entrant. The problem is the string tension, or the amount of finger pressure required to hold the strings down when fretting.

It has been checked over by a guitar technician, who recommended that you should lower the action of the strings. You have lowered the action but still you have a problem.

Am I right about the low 'g'? The photos indicate that it is a thick string. If you are tuning a low 'g' an octave too high, that would result in very high string tension. It's not that, is it?

Sorry if I am stating the obvious. Just trying to help.

John Colter.

I totally get it John, there would always be some confusion when it comes to the "language barriers" lol, and thanks for your patience.

Yeah, my Ukulele is a Koaloha KTM-00 with the original low-g strings, and the main problem is the string tension, which I guess might be caused by the neck issue.

A guitar technician helped me lower the action of the strings by sanding down the nut and the saddle, but the problem still exists, and he told me that the Uku's neck seems slightly bending, but considering the structure of Koaloha's build, if I always loose the strings after I use it, it would be still good.

Then I tried to solve this problem by replacing the original strings by a set of Ko'olau Mahana strings, but it helps nothing, the sense of the 1-3th frets are good, but when it comes to the 10-12-the last frets, the sense is still awuful.

Some people told me that the problem might be related to the humidity, but my another Kamaka Uku is good and I keep them in a same condition basically.

So...Just have no idea about what to do now.

Just hope I could fix the problem by myself, as the shipping cost would be extremely high even if Koaloha does not charge me at all.

Hulala, difficulty pressing the strings against the fret board could be caused by a high "action". "Action" refers to the height of the strings above the fret board. You have adjusted this by lowering the saddle, and the nut. Your photographs do not seem to show a high action, the neck does not appear to be bending, or to have any other visible issue. A bent neck would be very obvious. Abnormally tight strings could damage your uke, but there is no way that any fault in your uke could cause abnormally high string tension.

The advice to loosen off the strings when you are not playing it does not make sense. It is simply not necessary. If you do that, the strings will never settle, and it will not hold tune consistently.

You need to take it to someone who understands ukuleles. If I had your uke in my hands for just a few moments, I would soon know if there was a problem.

I hope you can sort this out. The KoAloha is one of the best ukuleles you can buy.

John Colter.

Really thanks for your help John!

I know that the current action is acceptable and is not high actually, but just have no idea about why the string is so tight even if I replaced another set of 'low-tension' strings.

I would take it to the dealer where I bought it next month, and I would let you know if we find anything!

Thanks again!