Koaloha Opio uneven string volume

Hi everyone, I have been mostly a lurker here and have learnt a lot from you guys here. I started with a Pono Concert and now have them in all 3 sizes. I have discovered that the Soprano is too tight for my fingers(but I love the sound of it) and I am really between a concert and a Tenor. For some songs the concert is too tight and on others my fingers struggle for reach on the tenor. So I tried using a capo on the first fret on a tenor and it seems to be the perfect fit. Unfortunately no one I know of makes ukulele like that.

I just acquired a Koaloha Opio made in Thailand with a concert body tenor neck. This is my most expensive uke so far. First impression is wow the sustain is really good. But after more playing I am discovering that the A string tends to be a lot more muted compared to the 2 middle string. The 2 middle ones have more sustain than my Pono Tenor even with a smaller body. Unfortunately this is my best comparison as I have not owned or played many ukes before. When finger picking and going down to the A string it just suddenly gets a lot softer. It is fine if I strum and stick to the first 5 frets but going up the fingerboard it gets a lot more obvious. Do you guys think it is due to the string? I heard that the factory strings are worth so I am really at a lost if it the strings or uke itself. Or maybe it hasn’t open up? Also I was told that the factory strings them with tenor strings but I remember reading somewhere that for longnecks the recommendation is to use the strings for the body size. Any suggestions or advice would be great. Thanks all

I don't have all the answers for you. Did you acquire this new or used?

It might be worth trying other strings; I've heard all kinds of things about KoAloha stock strings over the years (from Fishing Line to Worth Clear), so what I'd recommend is either Worth Clear or Living Water, and see if that solves your string issue.

I'm not a luthier, and there may be another reason why the A string wouldn't carry...and that's important as the first string is used as the primary melody note in so many chord melody and tablature arrangements. I suppose you could check to make sure the frets are level, particularly looking for an inverse bow (up bow), but that would cause a buzz rather than a dead string.

And because it is happening as you move up the neck, it isn't going to be the nut slot, either. That said, I'd check the action to make sure that action at the nut isn't too high...because that could lead to the next potential issue:

I do have to say this: it is a possibility that it is an issue of user error, and that you're not fretting cleanly or in the right location as you move up the neck (e.g. touching the fret, not pressing down all the way and muting the string). I don't mean to insult you with this one, but I know there are some ukuleles and tensions that I struggle with, too.

As for strings, I always by the strings for the scale.

I agree with what Choirguy said, especially the length of the string, which is determined by the scale, not the body. For all intents and purposes, it's a tenor scale uke with a reduced or concert size body.

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Choirguy said:

I do have to say this: it is a possibility that it is an issue of user error, and that you're not fretting cleanly or in the right location as you move up the neck (e.g. touching the fret, not pressing down all the way and muting the string). I don't mean to insult you with this one, but I know there are some ukuleles and tensions that I struggle with, too.

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To add to this, stock KoAloha strings are quite low tension, so if the issue is playing technique I would definitely recommend trying some new, normal tension strings. Worth CT/BT or Living Waters are a good suggestion. And yes, the strings should be selected according to the scale, in general at least.

Thanks guys for your inputs. I bought the uke new direct from the factory. As for action, on the 12th fret it is just under 3mm. It buzzes till the 5th fret on the C string if played hard. So I don’t think the action is high. First thing I did was check the neck. It cant be any more straight. the string is not ‘dead’. It is just drowned out by the other strings once you play up the fretboard. I don’t think it’s my fingers as the other strings are ok and I haven’t had this issue before on my other ukes. Still I will pay more attention to my finger placement. I will put on a set of Living waters and see how it goes. Hopefully it will come alive.

The uke is really head heavy. The headstock is so big the whole uke is actually a little longer than my Pono Tenor!

Choirguy said:

I do have to say this: it is a possibility that it is an issue of user error, and that you're not fretting cleanly or in the right location as you move up the neck (e.g. touching the fret, not pressing down all the way and muting the string). I don't mean to insult you with this one, but I know there are some ukuleles and tensions that I struggle with, too.

As for strings, I always by the strings for the scale.

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Not insulted at all. I rather people speak honestly to me and I learn something out of it. Truly Appreciate everyone’s help and suggestions here.

Contrails said:

Thanks guys for your inputs. I bought the uke new direct from the factory...

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Play it for another 2 weeks and see if the problem goes away.
It's strange, but I've found that many issues with new ukuleles just disappear after they've had time to settle. I've never encountered this with guitars; maybe it's the nylon strings or the environment affects their small bodies more. I have no idea; BUT, based on experience, many issues go away on their own after the first 2 weeks.

To your comment about an in between size, I recall a thread recently about a Kamoa grand concert. It’s not actually a full tenor scale, but a 16 inch scale.

Contrails said:

Thanks guys for your inputs. I bought the uke new direct from the factory. As for action, on the 12th fret it is just under 3mm. It buzzes till the 5th fret on the C string if played hard. So I don’t think the action is high. First thing I did was check the neck. It cant be any more straight. the string is not ‘dead’. It is just drowned out by the other strings once you play up the fretboard. I don’t think it’s my fingers as the other strings are ok and I haven’t had this issue before on my other ukes. Still I will pay more attention to my finger placement. I will put on a set of Living waters and see how it goes. Hopefully it will come alive.

The uke is really head heavy. The headstock is so big the whole uke is actually a little longer than my Pono Tenor!

Click to expand...

Let me give you another advice regarding KoAlohas specifically. When you restring the instrument with the Living Water strings (or whichever strings down the line), be sure to wrap the strings around the tuning posts as low as you can. The break angle at the nut on KoAlohas is really shallow so you need to get as much of an angle as you possibly can for the strings. Otherwise you may experience buzzing, especially with strings that are lower tension, and if you're lucky your muted A string can occur because of that too. I had a buzzing issue with my KoAloha soprano and I fixed it completely with normal tension strings and winding them as low as I can around the tuning posts. I'm thinking that this might be less of an issue with a tenor scale uke but it's worth a try.

This sounds odd and you should definitely call the factory and let them know about it. They tend to be very good with customer service and don't want to have any instruments out there that are less than perfect. In the meantime loosen the string a bit and lift it off the saddle maybe it does not have good contact so wiggle it around a bit and then tune up again.

Contrails said:

Thanks guys for your inputs. I bought the uke new direct from the factory. As for action, on the 12th fret it is just under 3mm. It buzzes till the 5th fret on the C string if played hard. So I don’t think the action is high. First thing I did was check the neck. It cant be any more straight. the string is not ‘dead’. It is just drowned out by the other strings once you play up the fretboard. I don’t think it’s my fingers as the other strings are ok and I haven’t had this issue before on my other ukes. Still I will pay more attention to my finger placement. I will put on a set of Living waters and see how it goes. Hopefully it will come alive.

The uke is really head heavy. The headstock is so big the whole uke is actually a little longer than my Pono Tenor!

Click to expand...

I find that the new tenor necks and tuners are quite hefty and am not surprised that it feels unbalanced with small concert body. Koaloha really shines with their concert necks either with soprano or concert body. Maybe they let you trade to different size when they hear about the A string issue.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with strings, seriously. I have a custom LFDM tenor I have owned for almost 5 years, Worth and South Coast both sounded dull on the E string, Oasis, Koolau and Living Water were excellent.

You can also use concert gauge, they are thinner which will give longer sustain and a brighter tone. Tension is lower so you might loose a bit of volume.......or not. Koaloha make a great instrument, I’ve owned a few but they are all individualistic and sometimes need coaxing.

There's a lot of good advice here, and let me throw something else into the mix. Perhaps you have a sensitive ear and there is nothing wrong with your Opio.

I was about to buy an Opio tenor from my favorite music store (HMS) when I asked about the difference between the Opio line and the Pono line at about the same price. Andrew pointed out that the Opio is a great ukulele and it favors the mid mids over the high mids. In uke-talk (which seems to be a subset of audio engineer talk), this tends to mean the middle strings over the A string. There is nothing wrong with that; It's just the way the Opio tenors are made. Since I was looking for something a little more "chimey" -and wanted a very low setup which is problematic on the Opio without working on the bridge - I decided on the Pono.

Perhaps this is what you hear, but if not, good luck in working this out.

clear said:

Play it for another 2 weeks and see if the problem goes away.
It's strange, but I've found that many issues with new ukuleles just disappear after they've had time to settle. I've never encountered this with guitars; maybe it's the nylon strings or the environment affects their small bodies more. I have no idea; BUT, based on experience, many issues go away on their own after the first 2 weeks.

Click to expand...

Yes I certainly will do that and take it from there. Maybe I just need to get used to changing my playing a little to suit the uke.

Dohle said:

Let me give you another advice regarding KoAlohas specifically. When you restring the instrument with the Living Water strings (or whichever strings down the line), be sure to wrap the strings around the tuning posts as low as you can. The break angle at the nut on KoAlohas is really shallow so you need to get as much of an angle as you possibly can for the strings. Otherwise you may experience buzzing, especially with strings that are lower tension, and if you're lucky your muted A string can occur because of that too. I had a buzzing issue with my KoAloha soprano and I fixed it completely with normal tension strings and winding them as low as I can around the tuning posts. I'm thinking that this might be less of an issue with a tenor scale uke but it's worth a try.

Click to expand...

Ok I will look out for that when I restring it. Thank you

merlin666 said:

This sounds odd and you should definitely call the factory and let them know about it. They tend to be very good with customer service and don't want to have any instruments out there that are less than perfect. In the meantime loosen the string a bit and lift it off the saddle maybe it does not have good contact so wiggle it around a bit and then tune up again.

Click to expand...

I tried that. I even shifted the saddle a little left and right and it didn’t help

Ed1 said:

There's a lot of good advice here, and let me throw something else into the mix. Perhaps you have a sensitive ear and there is nothing wrong with your Opio.

I was about to buy an Opio tenor from my favorite music store (HMS) when I asked about the difference between the Opio line and the Pono line at about the same price. Andrew pointed out that the Opio is a great ukulele and it favors the mid mids over the high mids. In uke-talk (which seems to be a subset of audio engineer talk), this tends to mean the middle strings over the A string. There is nothing wrong with that; It's just the way the Opio tenors are made. Since I was looking for something a little more "chimey" -and wanted a very low setup which is problematic on the Opio without working on the bridge - I decided on the Pono.

Perhaps this is what you hear, but if not, good luck in working this out.

Click to expand...

That’s interesting. I will restring it and let it settle down after a few days of playing and take it from there.

Just an update, after a week’s playing it is still the same. I changed the strings to Ken’s Living water strings. The sustain improved on the A string but it is still noticeably more muted. However after a few days I swapped the C and E strings back to factory as I prefer the sound more. The 2 middle C and E on the factory strings(supposedly Worth’s) really brings out the sound. It’s almost like plugging it to an amp. Living waters string have a more bell like chime to them. I have a feeling Ed1 could be right, that the design of the uke brings out more of the mid mids than high mids. I contacted the factory and they have asked me for some sound samples. Will see how it goes from there. I really appreciate all the sharing and advise from everyone here

Here is an update after a few months down the road. About 2 months ago I tuned it down a little because I was learning a song on youtube and the guitarist had his instrument tuned to something lower than 440Hz. The tuning was somewhere between 2 notes. Last night I forgot that I had had this tuned this way and retuned it back up to Standard GCEA. Right away I noticed that the A string was more mute again. So I decided to bring it down to FA#DG and noticed that the sustain on the higher frets were much better. I tried going even lower to E but the strings were too floppy for my liking. Sustain was better. I don't care much for volume as I play by myself mostly and sometimes have to play softly at night when everyone else is asleep. So the sacrifice in volume for sustain is a worthwhile trade. Even with FA#DG the strings tension is just a bit low for my liking but the sustain and volume has improved quite a bit. I think this concert body uke does not like high tension on it with the tenor fretboard. At least on mine it doesnt. I am going to try someone's suggestion of using concert strings. I am also wondering if using a half/ 3 quarter scale guitar strings will work on this. If anyone has tried doing so I would love to hear your experience. Right now I am happy to find out that all the dead sounding notes up the fret board is 'waking' up a little. Otherwise most of my playing was confined to the first 5 frets and the occasional venture to the 7/8 fret.

Thanks for the update.

Did the factory say anything ?