Risa ST misaligned?

Hi everyone,
I'm new to electric instruments and after splurging big time on a Risa ST style ukulele from Thomann shipped to Canada (only way I could get it) I'm having some issues that have me worried.


The first is that there seems to be a grounding issue - there is some buzzing that goes away when I touch the strings or other metal parts. I've tried plugging my Yamaha THR5 in other outlets, same result. I don't know if it's an issue with the guitar or the whole apartment grounding? Can't try it elsewhere because confinement :/

Most important though, the strings don't line up at all with the screws on the humbucker bridge pickup. What am I supposed to do with that??

Other thing I'm not happy about is that the tone knob maxes out around 1/4 of the way, if that.

Urgh.
Apologies for photo orientations, keeps defaulting to it. Also uploaded them to imgur https://imgur.com/a/im3Jir2

Congratulations on your new instrument.
Firstly, grounding/humming/buzzing problems with electric instruments are VERY common and the instrument isn't usually the source of the problem. The problem is usually the electric wiring in the room/building. Maybe its the instrument cable so try a new one if you can.
There are various other issues to try and diagnose but this is nothing out of the usual.

As to pickup alignment, its not always that sensitive, but lets say that it is, the problem would be that the non aligned strings are quieter than the aligned strings.
So,
Do the treble strings sound too quiet to you? Is the string balance wrong? Given that ukuleles often sound too trebly, maybe it was done deliberately.

As to the tone knob, is it just a short motion pot, or is the treble to bass response limited somehow?

Sporky said:

The first is that there seems to be a grounding issue - there is some buzzing that goes away when I touch the strings or other metal parts.

Click to expand...

That's normal for single coil pickups especially, which the neck pickup appears to be. YOU become the ground with the way electric instruments are wired. That's why it gets quieter when you touch the strings. That's why a ground wire is run to the bridge of electric instruments usually, so when you touch the noise goes down some. You may notice that if you're in just the neck pickup position the buzz is louder. Perhaps when you engage both pickups it quietens a bit, or just the bridge pickup.

I wouldn't worry about the alignment unless the strings seem out of balance volume wise.

You can move the individual saddles to line up the strings. Gaps between them are quite obvious in the pictures. Try loosening the strings a bit, then move them into alignment. #4 looks right, so just move #3 adjacent to 2, 2 adjacent to #3, etc...

See if that helps, and report back.

-Wiggy

Thanks for your replies!
- The 'hum' of the single coil is as expected, lower in the middle position and absent in bridge position.
- I haven't had a chance to try a different instrument cable yet, but I've been using batteries in my amp and the grounding buzz is absent that way. Frankly the amp is a lot more fun to use with batteries overall.
- I've realigned the saddles a bit per Wiggy's suggestion and string alignment is a little bit nicer.
- It's hard for me to tell if the treble is quieter because of the impact of the knobs, but it seems fine (if it's hard to tell it must be fine!)
- As for the tone knob, the whole range is there but max is reached very quickly. I guess that's just something to live with?

I did contact Risa to ask about the pickup and the answer is two-fold which I will summarize: the magnet spacing is less than string spacing so that the G string can be directly above it and the rest progressively more offset, for the reason anthonyg suggested; and I got one at the limit of what variation from ideal they allow during assembly.
I also had messaged Thomann and they were great. They proposed to take it back for a return or exchange and to refund the postage up to 70EUR. Since all of the shipping options from FedEx, UPS, Canada Post were in the 300-900$ range they offered to arrange their own DHL Express pickup or to partially refund 70EUR on the Risa. I went with the refund and I'm definitely happy.
I've been trying out different strings to tune it in DGBE with easy bending for my musical preferences and beginner fingers, using Risa's string tension calculator.
The stock 26w, 17, 14, 11 were just too loose in DGBE. I now have DGBE 28w, 20w, 15, 11 and it's great for me. Later I'll change them to 30w, 22w, 16 and 12. Might try 19 or 20 unwound instead of 22w and see how that feels.
Alright, happy playing!
Sporky

I have the THRA5 also. Rather than using batteries, I use this computer battery. It lasts well over 6 or more hours; the longest I've played with it and still had three lights on. Sure beats using reg. batteries or plugging in to an outlet. I believe the cord and adapter plugs come with it; it's been so long I forget if I had to buy the cord or not.

Patrick Madsen said:

I have the THRA5 also. Rather than using batteries, I use this computer battery. It lasts well over 6 or more hours; the longest I've played with it and still had three lights on. Sure beats using reg. batteries or plugging in to an outlet. I believe the cord and adapter plugs come with it; it's been so long I forget if I had to buy the cord or not.

Click to expand...

Interesting, wonder if I could use a usb-C to barrel adapter to do that with my PD power bank

Not sure Sporky.I imagine if it powers a comp. should power the amp. I've used this one for four or more years and still lasts along time. zlove that I can just slide the battery in my gig bag pocket on top.

Hey Patrick, it took me a lot of searching and some trial & error but I got it to work! So I would like to say thanks for putting me on that path and also thought I might share what I learned in case someone lands here from Google for the Yamaha THR5 amp, or from Ukulele Underground about any amp.
If using a PD (power delivery) USB power bank, the USB-to-DC barrel cable needs to have a built-in chip that simulates a device asking for the full PD current. Regular cables will mostly just be 5V USB to 5V DC. In my case I'm using a RavPower 20000mAh 60W (45W + 15W) PD power bank. The 45W port goes up to 15V, 3A, which happens to be the same as the THR5's adapter. The DC tip for the THR5 is uncommon, turns out to be called "EIAJ-05 (also called JSBP 5): For 13.5–18 V. 6.5 mm OD, 4.4 mm ID", and is common for Sony laptops. I got a 5.5x2.1 (the most common DC tip size)-to-6.5x4.4 adapter and a USB PD-to-5.5x2.1 cable from Amazon. Works perfectly! I guess you could do it with most/all small amps with the right tip. And it still leaves the 15W USB-A port for whatever else (in my case a 9V synthesizer, using a 5V USB to 9V DC cable). I'm pretty thrilled!