I wouldn’t give up on mahogany yet. (I have over 25 high-end instruments, so I’ve heard the best of many, many tonewoods: koa, spruce, cedar, redwood, acacia, mahogany, eucalyptus, cocobolo). One of my first instruments, likely similar to yours, was the Kala “Exotic Mahogany” concert - and it was a “thick” sounding, not-very resonant, flop. But as to mahogany, if you want to hear just how sweet that can get, play an aNueNue AMM3 African Mahogany - it sounds beautiful, warm but ringing tone (and it is just a really pretty instrument). All top tonewoods have their charm, and I love koa too (my current favorite is redwood, kind of the best of cedar and spruce - I am a finger-style player, so clear “articulation” of individual notes is my key factor).
Yeah, I think it was the instrument and not necessarily the tone wood. I'd definitely try other mahoganys in the future, and avoid buying blind without trying them.
I bought a Martin T1K last year but I just haven’t warmed up to it. I can’t seem to pinpoint why though. I haven’t checked the action yet but I have tried several different sets of strings on it and changed to a low g as well.
I’m using the Aquila Red Series on my t1k, with the low G. They make a version with regular Hawaiian tuning, and two different low G options, wound and unwound. I prefer the look of the unwound, but I tolerate the look of the wound G because I prefer the tone of the wound version. They also sell single low G red series strings, both wound and unwound. I’ve tried basically all of their strings, except for their new brown fluorocarbon, but I look forward to trying those out soon too! The red series are my personal favorite, but, maybe that will change when I try the brown ones? The set comes with a low and high G both. I saw them on Kala’s website, but I haven’t seen them in shops or anything. I think they are pretty new.
I will receive a Martin T1K tomorrow. Your measurement of the action gave me a little scare. 2,5mm is my preference as well. But sanding the thing down sounds scary. Have you ever tried Living Water strings.
No, I haven't. I've good things about Living Water. To be honest, regarding the sanding. I was a bit hesitant to do it myself as well. But after watch quite a few UA-cam tutorials, I thought I'd give it a try first. If I messed it up, I could always go to a ukulele specialist to fix it as a last resort. But think the key is do it a a little at time and try it out each time. It's easier to fix if you haven't reduced the saddle height enough compared to if reduced it by too much. You could still fixed an overly-lowered saddle by putting a filler cardboard/plastic under it. But I'd like to avoid that. If you don't feel comfortable doing it, I'd recommend finding a ukulele specialist store to do a full set up on your uke.
the worth clear will last longer than the Martin clear. If you want your Martin to sound really good use Kamaka strings I put the Kamakas on and it sounded really good.
I wouldn’t give up on mahogany yet. (I have over 25 high-end instruments, so I’ve heard the best of many, many tonewoods: koa, spruce, cedar, redwood, acacia, mahogany, eucalyptus, cocobolo). One of my first instruments, likely similar to yours, was the Kala “Exotic Mahogany” concert - and it was a “thick” sounding, not-very resonant, flop. But as to mahogany, if you want to hear just how sweet that can get, play an aNueNue AMM3 African Mahogany - it sounds beautiful, warm but ringing tone (and it is just a really pretty instrument). All top tonewoods have their charm, and I love koa too (my current favorite is redwood, kind of the best of cedar and spruce - I am a finger-style player, so clear “articulation” of individual notes is my key factor).
Yeah, I think it was the instrument and not necessarily the tone wood. I'd definitely try other mahoganys in the future, and avoid buying blind without trying them.
I’m absolutely in love with my T1K! I have a ton of ukuleles, but I really only play the Martin.
Yeah, the Martin T1K is a solid ukulele! I just wish the action was lower out of the factory.
I bought a Martin T1K last year but I just haven’t warmed up to it. I can’t seem to pinpoint why though. I haven’t checked the action yet but I have tried several different sets of strings on it and changed to a low g as well.
I’m using the Aquila Red Series on my t1k, with the low G. They make a version with regular Hawaiian tuning, and two different low G options, wound and unwound. I prefer the look of the unwound, but I tolerate the look of the wound G because I prefer the tone of the wound version. They also sell single low G red series strings, both wound and unwound. I’ve tried basically all of their strings, except for their new brown fluorocarbon, but I look forward to trying those out soon too! The red series are my personal favorite, but, maybe that will change when I try the brown ones? The set comes with a low and high G both. I saw them on Kala’s website, but I haven’t seen them in shops or anything. I think they are pretty new.
I like the Martin a lot. But it was superceded by my KoAlohha, which I purchased later. The KoAloha sound just resonated with me.
I will receive a Martin T1K tomorrow. Your measurement of the action gave me a little scare. 2,5mm is my preference as well. But sanding the thing down sounds scary. Have you ever tried Living Water strings.
No, I haven't. I've good things about Living Water. To be honest, regarding the sanding. I was a bit hesitant to do it myself as well. But after watch quite a few UA-cam tutorials, I thought I'd give it a try first. If I messed it up, I could always go to a ukulele specialist to fix it as a last resort. But think the key is do it a a little at time and try it out each time. It's easier to fix if you haven't reduced the saddle height enough compared to if reduced it by too much. You could still fixed an overly-lowered saddle by putting a filler cardboard/plastic under it. But I'd like to avoid that. If you don't feel comfortable doing it, I'd recommend finding a ukulele specialist store to do a full set up on your uke.
the worth clear will last longer than the Martin clear. If you want your Martin to sound really good use Kamaka strings I put the Kamakas on and it sounded really good.
Thanks for the tip. I'll try that next.
@@KoldoBearUkulele You are welcome. I forgot to mention, it will sound good with high g low c.
I've been using Worth strings for years. They are the best.
I really like these.
I’d like to try the new version of brown fluorocarbon strings from Aquila! I saw them for the first time only a couple days ago, on the Kala website.