re-setup at luthier – does he have to remove the strings?

zivilars · Dec 3, 2018

Hi everybody,

I'd like to have a re-setup of one of my ukuleles by a luthier as I think there's still a little more room for a nicer lower action, especially with the G string as I have changed from High-G to (a thicker, still non-wound) Low-G. However, I just put new strings on it and didn't thought this through when I already clipped the excess length at the top – meaning: If those strings are completely removed from the ukulele, they are too short to put them on again.

Can the luthier do the setup (mainly action on bridge and/or nut, I think) with only loosen the strings, but still keeping them on? Or do I have to wait for my next string change not? It's not that I am cheap, I would "sacrifice" this set of strings, but the problem is that this is one of the last sets of my beloved Southcoast strings which aren't produced anymore ...

Thanks a lot in advance for the info, really appreciated!

saltytri · Dec 3, 2018

You should ask the person who will do it, but it shouldn't ordinarily be necessary to remove the strings. There is a possibility that the strings might be damaged in the process but I'd forge ahead.

bellgamin · Dec 3, 2018

My luthier often lets me watch him while he does set-ups involving only the nut &/or the bridge or doing a bit of fret dressing. He just loosens the strings unless I specifically want a string change, & want the set-up to be based on those specific strings.

bazmaz · Dec 3, 2018

Strings are cheap consumables, not things to be kept forever. I’d never contemplate playing for a setup without assuming new strings...

In reality I do my own setups but then I always swap the strings when doing so. Why wouldn’t you??

Even if the strings are hard to find, the ones you have won’t last forever anyway so I personally wouldn’t worry for that reason either. But then I change mine every 2 or 3 months...

zivilars · Dec 3, 2018

Thanks for all your fast and nice answers, really appreciated! I'll just take my ukulele to the luthier and ask then, I guess - hoping that removing them won't be neccessary. Again, I am not cheap when it comes to strings, but in this special case, every left set of my beloved Southcoast LML-NWs is really precious ... If anybody out there also used those and has an non-wound alternative to suggested with the same tention on linear GCEA tuning (I like my strings a bit more loose), let me know ...

Thanks again!

Jim Hanks · Dec 3, 2018

I haven't compared side by side, but Living Water comes to mind. You *might* need to go to B or Bb tuning to find the tension you like - or C might be fine

zivilars · Dec 3, 2018

Hi Jim, thanks for the hint – checking out Living Water was what I had in mind, too. I never tried any of those strings and aren't informed in detail about them yet, but judging by what I read when they are mentioned here in the forum, Living Water probably is one of the few (the only?) brand that offers a variety of different tensions. Definitely will have to find a worthy replacement once my LMLs are gone ...

Graham Greenbag · Dec 3, 2018

zivilars said:
Hi everybody,

I'd like to have a re-setup of one of my ukuleles by a luthier as I think there's still a little more room for a nicer lower action, especially with the G string as I have changed from High-G to (a thicker, still non-wound) Low-G. However, I just put new strings on it and didn't thought this through when I already clipped the excess length at the top – meaning: If those strings are completely removed from the ukulele, they are too short to put them on again.

Can the luthier do the setup (mainly action on bridge and/or nut, I think) with only loosen the strings, but still keeping them on? Or do I have to wait for my next string change not? It's not that I am cheap, I would "sacrifice" this set of strings, but the problem is that this is one of the last sets of my beloved Southcoast strings which aren't produced anymore ...

Thanks a lot in advance for the info, really appreciated!

I’ve set-up all my own instruments and some that are now with other folk too. None of those set-ups has required me to replace the strings and so far I haven’t found the need to replace any strings that aren’t either naff sounding or physically worn - but that’s not to say that it wouldn’t be a good idea, YMMV, etc. The way I see it is if it ain’t (recognisably) broke then why fix it, but YMMV.

re-setup at luthier – does he have to remove the strings?

zivilars

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saltytri

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bellgamin

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bazmaz

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zivilars

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Jim Hanks

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zivilars

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Graham Greenbag

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