Coming to uke as a Multi-instrumentalist

I'm new to ukulele and this forum. I've played many stringed instruments for many years - violin, viola, mandolin, mandola, octave mandolin, mandocello, guitar, resonators, banjo hybrids, etc.

Never did much with classical guitar, so this is really my first nylon stringed instrument (Martin tenor T1K). One thing that surprised me so far is the action. Evidently 3 mm at the 12th fret is normal for a tenor uke. I set the action much lower on my steel string mandolins and guitars, even though I use medium to heavy strings. Another surprise is how much I have to keep tuning up. My other instruments settle in pretty quick with new strings, but the Martin strings on this uke (open gear tuners) are still stretching a lot.

So for those of you experienced uke players who also came from steel stringed instruments - what are other surprising or unexpected differences you've run across?

3mm action is common, but not the final answer. I prefer 2.5mm or a tad lower and any decent setup should be able to achieve that easily. I once asked for 2mm from a custom builder and he did it but it buzzed for me until I raised it up a little.

I'm not sure what strings are on the Martin, but if they're truly nylon, yes, those can take weeks to settle. Flourocarbon strings settle in much less time

Mike $ said:

what's 3mm?

Click to expand...

Almost 1/8". What's 1/8"? About the diameter of a mini stereo cable plug, the kind that you used to have with your phone or aux port on your car's sound system, before Bluetooth took over.