Changing strings

I bought an amazing Kala Elite from a forum member, and it came with a low G wound string. I really liked the sound. But I struggled with play along with videos because most of them had traditional gCEA tuning instead and my efforts didn't sound the same, which as a newbie, that threw me off. I finally got brave and restrung the uke to gCEA, by myself, which was very unnerving *for me.* I'm sure it's nothing to most but whew, I feel like I survived something...to be done, restrung, and everything went ok. (I think!) To make it more complicated (IMO) the uke strings go through the body, it's not as simple as a tie bridge. Trying to get the strings in and out through the sound hole was a little tough a couple of times. When I am a better player, I look forward to restringing with a low g again.

Haha, yes, my favorite ukulele has a through-bridge, and I love the design; it looks great, keeps the bridge from popping off and it saves the hassle of trying to weave the string ends underneath each other, making sure they all point in the same direction, deciding how short to clip them off, avoiding poking oneself in the arm with then when clasping the uke tightly in difficult situations....

... But every time I change the strings, I forget *at least* two or three times to first poke the string through, and then tie a knot in the end!

Usually, I have it figured out by the time I reach string nr 4 :D
 
I would advise buying a pin lifter. Mine is also a winder which makes it much easier to achieve a tidy wind around the tuners and is a lot quicker unwinding and winding up.
 
Hello, I’m a newbie to both ukes and this site. I have a question on how do I know when to change my strings and thought this might be the appropriate thread. I have a Goldtone Little Gem banjo-Uke with what I think are nylon strings. I play some banjo and guitar, which are metal strings and I have a sense when to change them.....but never having nylon strings before what triggers should I be looking for to signal time for a change. And, I will be taking them to my music store I’m not prone to do stuff on it myself. Also, what brand and type of strings would you reccommend. Thanx any advice will be appreciated.

Rp
 
As your fingernails and frets wear the string, the diameter becomes untrue and loses sustain, volume and suffers intonation problems. The string actually feels slightly textured, as if sanded, and makes more finger noise when plucked. One obvious indicator is it becomes impossible to tune: funky harmonics and upper notes will be out of tune albeit the open string is fine. Fluorocarbon strings from Martin, Worth and Romero Creations sound good on my 'uku and I suspect would okay on a banjo-Uke.
 
Run your fingers under the strings. If you can feel groves where they hit the frets, change them.
 
Great! Thanx for the tips I appreciate them.
 
To the OP - I have just bought my second uke, a tenor, and I'm planning on restringing that as a low G, just to try it out. I'll keep my concert (and the soprano I got for my birthday just after buying the tenor - ukes are like buses, apparently!) as high G, for precisely the reason you changed; when watching videos, it'll be easier to tell when I'm getting things right than if one of the strings is always going to sound different.

Or, to put it another way, this is a perfect excuse to buy another ukulele!
 
Hello all, a newbie here. I was looking for at the replies on this from my previous post on when should i change the strings question.

I have a Little Gem, I’ve had it for about 6 months with the standard strings. When I asked when should I change them, the answers hovered around string wear. The issue I have is I do not see any wear on the strings but the tone on some strings is beginning to sound a little flat. I’ve checked the neck and such and all seems okay. Is this a sign my strings need changing? Or, something else. Thanx.
 
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When in doubt, change them out! Six months of playing is likely to have affected the strings. Changing them is easy and inexpensive.
 
Hello all, a newbie here. I was looking for at the replies on this from my previous post on when should i change the strings question.

I have a Little Gem, I’ve had it for about 6 months with the standard strings. When I asked when should I change them, the answers hovered around string wear. The issue I have is I do not see any wear on the strings but the tone on some strings is beginning to sound a little flat. I’ve checked the neck and such and all seems okay. Is this a sign my strings need changing? Or, something else. Thanx.

On my tenor banjo uke I found the same thing happening, plus I had a buzz start on one of the strings. Turned out, the head had become slack. I could see that the feet of the bridge were sunken when I looked at the head from the back. I had to tighten the head up by using a socket and slowly tightening the nut on the hooks. Starting with the one at 3 o'clock then doing the one directly across from it at 9 o'clock. And work your way around the head. There are several videos online about how to do it. Deering has a good one on YouTube.
 
I’ve changed strings but not the through the bridge type. I’m not a fan of needing a special tool to help me pull the strings through.
 
I’ve changed strings but not the through the bridge type. I’m not a fan of needing a special tool to help me pull the strings through.

I'm curious. What kind of special tool do you use for through-the-bridge strings? The only times I've done it, I've just used my fingers to fish the loose end of the string out through the soundhole, tied a knot, and then pulled it tight.
 
Nicely done! I just changed my strings as well. I’m stuck with a buzzing C string though now and struggling to find a fix. I tried raising the bridge with pieces of paper and that helped, but I still trying to figure out what to do. I don’t know if I want to take my Uke anywhere though because it was pretty cheap and I’d rather save my money for a better Uke in the future.
 
Nicely done! I just changed my strings as well. I’m stuck with a buzzing C string though now and struggling to find a fix. I tried raising the bridge with pieces of paper and that helped, but I still trying to figure out what to do. I don’t know if I want to take my Uke anywhere though because it was pretty cheap and I’d rather save my money for a better Uke in the future.

What size uke? What kind of saddle/bridge does your uke have? What kind of strings did it originally have? What did you replace them with? (Brand; Nylon or Fluorocarbon; Wound or plain) How high are the strings at the 1st fret and at the 12th?
 
It’s a tenor; nubone bridge and nut; Aquila super nylgut were original strings then I wanted to try a low g and a guy changed all of the strings to Aquila nylgut só then I changed them all back to the super nylgut plain; I’m not sure about the height exactly because I don’t have a special measurement tool for that, but it’s about .2-.3 mm at the first fret and .4-.5 at the 12th.
 
It’s a tenor; nubone bridge and nut; Aquila super nylgut were original strings then I wanted to try a low g and a guy changed all of the strings to Aquila nylgut só then I changed them all back to the super nylgut plain; I’m not sure about the height exactly because I don’t have a special measurement tool for that, but it’s about .2-.3 mm at the first fret and .4-.5 at the 12th.
Something's not right. The string height over the 12th fret should be around 2 to 3 mm. 0.4 or 0.5mm would be way too low.
 
Something's not right. The string height over the 12th fret should be around 2 to 3 mm. 0.4 or 0.5mm would be way too low.

From your description, it sounds like you might be missing the saddle. This is the bone or plastic piece that fits into a slot in the bridge that the strings go over. It raises the strings up off of the wooden bridge. It is what a tech person will sand down to lower the strings, or put a shim underneath to raise them. A piezo pickup also is fitted under the saddle.

It's the white bar across the wood bridge in this photo of a Kala Elite tenor. This is a through the bridge type. You feed the string through the hole into the body of the uke. Fish out the end of the string and tie a large knot or attach a bead. Then pull the string tight by the end sticking out of the bridge and run it up over the nut and around the tuner peg.

kala-elite-3.jpg

PS: There are some bridges with a slot in the wood to hold the string. The wood bridge also acts as the saddle with these. Usually found in vintage instruments.
 
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