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So a little over a year ago I bought a Kamaka pineapple soprano (my dream uke!) from HMS. It’s gorgeous to behold and sounds and plays like a dream—when it’s in tune.
The Kamaka factory strings leave a lot to be desired in terms of intonation and ‘feel’; they feel “sticky”, intonation is off as you play up the neck (which I know is not uncommon among shorter scale instruments, but my Kamaka is one of the worst of any soprano I’ve owned) and requires constant retuning as they randomly go sharp while playing, making me wary of taking it out to gigs. I thought at first they would eventually stretch out and settle, but nope.
The simplest solution is of course swap out the strings, but I have found that Kamaka cut the nut of their instruments with their own brand of strings in mind, which are apparently a unique, thicker gauge than other brands. I’m afraid of slapping on a different brand of strings will cause buzzing or other issues.
My question to those with any experience with Kamakas who swapped out the factory strings, what brand did you go with, and did it result in any fret buzz or exacerbated intonation issues? Will I need to have the nut filled and recut to work with the thinner gauge strings offered by brands such as Fremont or Worth (which I’ve enjoyed on other instruments in the past and originally planned to install on my Kamaka)?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
The Kamaka factory strings leave a lot to be desired in terms of intonation and ‘feel’; they feel “sticky”, intonation is off as you play up the neck (which I know is not uncommon among shorter scale instruments, but my Kamaka is one of the worst of any soprano I’ve owned) and requires constant retuning as they randomly go sharp while playing, making me wary of taking it out to gigs. I thought at first they would eventually stretch out and settle, but nope.
The simplest solution is of course swap out the strings, but I have found that Kamaka cut the nut of their instruments with their own brand of strings in mind, which are apparently a unique, thicker gauge than other brands. I’m afraid of slapping on a different brand of strings will cause buzzing or other issues.
My question to those with any experience with Kamakas who swapped out the factory strings, what brand did you go with, and did it result in any fret buzz or exacerbated intonation issues? Will I need to have the nut filled and recut to work with the thinner gauge strings offered by brands such as Fremont or Worth (which I’ve enjoyed on other instruments in the past and originally planned to install on my Kamaka)?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
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