2 questions...finger skin and pick guards

Kherome said:

The tuner came with a paper that said "Instruments with certain gloss finishes may be marred by this tuner" use at your own risk. I don't know anything about the types of finishes used and didn't want to make a rookie mistake and damage an instrument by doing something dumb just because I didn't know any better. It's easy to do those sorts of things when you're starting out.

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A tuner might damage the finish if you leave it clipped to the headstock all the time. Damage would most likely result from the rubber on the tuner clamp breaking down over time and adhering to the headstock. You can avoid any risk by removing the tuner when you aren't using it, and replacing it if the rubber starts to deteriorate.

As to the pain in your fingers, this is common for beginners. There are several things you can try:
1. Be sure your fretting finger is as close as possible to the fret (without being over the fret). The closer your finger is to the fret, the less pressure you need.
2. Experiment with finger pressure. Fret a string with the pressure you normally use. Now steadily pluck the string as you slowly reduce the pressure to the point that the string no longer rings. Increase pressure again until you get a clean sound. Find the minimum pressure that gives a good sound.
3. Break up your playing sessions to give your fingers time to recover. Over time your fingers will toughen, your technique will improve, and your fingers will stop hurting.

Kherome said:

I meant fretting at the top, like the first fret. That area makes my fingers hurt the most.

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Most likely, it's just a matter of getting your fingers used to playing, but if one uke feels worse up at the first fret than other ukes and you don't get used to it over time, it could be the string height at the nut is high.

Edited for the well being of whales and all creatures large and small.

gochugogi said:

One thing I've noticed, using the same make and gauge of strings, tension varies not only with scale length, but also with the soundboard material and bracing. A stiff braced top will create more string resistance than a lightly braced soundboard. Try a bunch or ukuleles strung with Nylgut in a shop and you'll soon notice some feel like stiff cables while others are loose and noodle like albeit it's the same string at the same pitch. Some of the cheaper ukuleles have little or no bracing inside.

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Something is wrong with your reasoning. The fundamental frequency of the string, be it G4, C4, E4 or A4 or some non tuned one pitch, depends only of the string mass, length and its tension. The ukulele construction has nothing to do with it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_vibration

Read about the frequency of the wave. Needs an engineer to bring some sanity to your discussions sometimes, boys and girls
That is a good formula there for string behavior/discussions.

Your new Kala Elite has fluorocarbon strings 1-3 and a wound 4th string. It was setup and the action is fine but you’re welcomed to take it to a shop to get it adjusted if it’s needed. You have a low wound g for your 4th string and that can be changed to an unwound low g or even a high g. All beginners go through finger tip pain, I know I did. When I wasn’t playing I’d dig my thumb nail into all my finger tips to knock the whimpy out of them. Keep playing, take breaks, then keep playing!!!

Slade said:

When I wasn’t playing I’d dig my thumb nail into all my finger tips to knock the whimpy out of them.

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That's funny...

(...but I thought it was only steel strings that had that effect on fingertips.)

Edited for world peace and the well being of whales and all living creatures.

No Peter and I'm sorry if you got that impression. And yes I must confess, well I don't know if it is a pleasure or rather wanting make things simpler with short answers.

As you told, tried anyways, but your message was so ambivalent and anyone, i mean anyone could read what in ever in those words and just get a wrong message in their head, so yes I had to step in.

The cheaper ukuleles, don't have much sustain, are not responding to the string excite as well, don't have the wide tonal range, etc. And also usually their intonation suck and are hard to play. The last one is though what matters most. We can accompany ourself and are so lucky that even if our uke is not some high end thing it does the job usually very fine, if just it was not for the bad intonation and hard to play. You probably know about these things much more than me.

Still and this continues against your original post I had to step in. We have usually some GCEA string set that we buy from a store or internet. These strings are usually selected in thickness so that the tension forces at the pitch are about the same. So there is no looser or tighter strings if they are tuned, all should be about even. The pitch also sets how much force it is to deflect a string. It does not vary either from one uke to the other with same scale.

What varies is that on better ukes the deflection gives with that string vibrating a better response, what you told also in above post

Kherome - the above posts have little to do with your original post. Don’t listen to the bickering. Keep playing using the tips of your fingers and they’ll harden over time. Let me know if you change your strings and what you think of the change. I can send you a set when I get back to San Diego. Take care.

Slade said:

Kherome - the above posts have little to do with your original post. Don’t listen to the bickering. Keep playing using the tips of your fingers and they’ll harden over time. Let me know if you change your strings and what you think of the change. I can send you a set when I get back to San Diego. Take care.

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I'll be fine, wimpy fingers be darned haha! I hope they toughen up quickly, but I'm not giving up.

Slade said:

Kherome - the above posts have little to do with your original post. Don’t listen to the bickering. Keep playing using the tips of your fingers and they’ll harden over time. Let me know if you change your strings and what you think of the change. I can send you a set when I get back to San Diego. Take care.

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I agree Slade so I have deleted my post, sorry for the side track. As Slade said just keep playing and your fingers will toughen up. If you are not accustomed to a wound low G it is more abrasive on flesh until it calluses form

DownUpDave said:

I agree Slade so I have deleted my post, sorry for the side track. As Slade said just keep playing and your fingers will toughen up. If you are not accustomed to a wound low G it is more abrasive on flesh until it calluses form

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Definitely not accustomed to it, but I will adjust. I was mostly just wondering if the peeling skin was normal or if I should be backing off etc. As of today the peeling seems to have subsided so, maybe I'm on my way to tougher fingers already!