Thanks so much for these tips. I've tried doing this before, but marking the saddle is a cool tip. Thanks. I'm building my first cigar box ukulele. Now with these tips, I can get the string height the way it should be for myself.
Very informative video Matthew, I have lowered the saddle on several ukes and also filed the grooves in the nut as well but the round files I purchased from Amazon were very poor, yours are much better. Your credit card tip is great I never seen that before, well done. Cheers 👍👍🍷Mike
A very exciting topic and well explained. I'll take a critical look at my ukuleles and guitars and see if I should change anything... ... when I read the topic I thought it was about replacing a LowG string with HighG ;-) Now I'm trying to get a "string gauge" (?) from the guitar shop... ... I'm just afraid of the smell if I have a Bone saddle or Bridge inlay made of real bone and have to sand it... ... But that's what they're there for “good” old FFP2 masks ;-) Have a nice weekend
Thanks, i should have done this before hurting my fingers for 100 hours. 12th fret is at 5 mm. stupid Alston ukulele. now my finger is painful from filing for 30 minutes
It's more dull and clunky. I'll try that Matthew, it is too low anyway. Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. Appreciated. It's disappointing that new instruments should need any adjustment.
Hello Matt, great rundown! I love how you dropped a card under the strings to roughly check the action at the nut end. I have successfully used superglue/bone dust in the past to avoid fashioning a new nut, but will try the superglue/baking soda solution in the future. Btw, would a wood shim also work OK if the uke has an under saddle pickup? Thanks!
Good question. I think with an under saddle pickup it might me better to get a new saddle if the action isn too low as you want it to make good contact with the pickup ribbon.
Matthew, what could cause a fretted note to sound clunky and dull? On my new Ohana, the E string when fretted 2nd and 3rd fret, sounds awful. All the other strings on the same fret are fine. I have noticed that my action is too low. Would that cause it? Many thanks.
. I found out that there is something called a 'wolf note' which is actually caused by the frequency of the instrument. Far too complicated to explain here but try and find out as much as you can re wolf notes an resonance in ukuleles. It's quite common in a lot of wooden stringed instruments.
Thanks so much for these tips. I've tried doing this before, but marking the saddle is a cool tip. Thanks. I'm building my first cigar box ukulele. Now with these tips, I can get the string height the way it should be for myself.
Thank you, Matt - great video, and easy to follow
@@ukenyak8737 thanks!
What a fantastic video, Matt! I'm eagerly anticipating the next one. You've opened my eyes to details I wasn't aware of. Thank you so much.❤️🎶🌷
Thanks An! ❤
Very informative video Matthew, I have lowered the saddle on several ukes and also filed the grooves in the nut as well but the round files I purchased from Amazon were very poor, yours are much better. Your credit card tip is great I never seen that before, well done. Cheers 👍👍🍷Mike
Thanks John. I found the same thing with those Amazon files. The ones from StewMac are the best I’ve found.
@@mattsteadukulele Thanks for the info I’ll have a look at StewMac👍👍i owe you a 🍷cheers Mike
Thanks for sharing this information with us Matt. Excellent video 👍
Thanks!
A very exciting topic and well explained.
I'll take a critical look at my ukuleles and guitars and see if I should change anything...
... when I read the topic I thought it was about replacing a LowG string with HighG ;-)
Now I'm trying to get a "string gauge" (?) from the guitar shop...
... I'm just afraid of the smell if I have a Bone saddle or Bridge inlay made of real bone and have to sand it...
... But that's what they're there for “good” old FFP2 masks ;-)
Have a nice weekend
Thanks Andre. I should have mentioned to wear a mask! I generally do (but occasionally I’m naughty and forget!)
@@mattsteadukulele 👌🙏👍
Thanks, i should have done this before hurting my fingers for 100 hours. 12th fret is at 5 mm. stupid Alston ukulele. now my finger is painful from filing for 30 minutes
It's more dull and clunky. I'll try that Matthew, it is too low anyway. Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. Appreciated. It's disappointing that new instruments should need any adjustment.
What was the first ukulele you had in the video? I like it
Thanks! I built that one myself. :)
Hello Matt, great rundown! I love how you dropped a card under the strings to roughly check the action at the nut end. I have successfully used superglue/bone dust in the past to avoid fashioning a new nut, but will try the superglue/baking soda solution in the future. Btw, would a wood shim also work OK if the uke has an under saddle pickup? Thanks!
Good question. I think with an under saddle pickup it might me better to get a new saddle if the action isn too low as you want it to make good contact with the pickup ribbon.
Matthew, what could cause a fretted note to sound clunky and dull? On my new Ohana, the E string when fretted 2nd and 3rd fret, sounds awful. All the other strings on the same fret are fine. I have noticed that my action is too low. Would that cause it? Many thanks.
Is it like a buzzing sound or just completely dead? It sounds like you may need to put a shim under the saddle to raise the action a little.
I have the same problem, the dull sound on the E string 2nd fret. Any answers please?
. I found out that there is something called a 'wolf note' which is actually caused by the frequency of the instrument. Far too complicated to explain here but try and find out as much as you can re wolf notes an resonance in ukuleles. It's quite common in a lot of wooden stringed instruments.