ukulele intonation question

famous beagle

famous beagle

Well-known member
I just got bought a baritone uke (for those who don't know, it's tuned to the exact same as a guitar's top 4 strings: D G B E). It came missing the fourth string (this was in the auction, and I figured I'd just restring it anyway). But the intonation on this thing is way off. The E string is a little flat at the 12th fret, and the G string is pretty good, but the B string is severely flat at the 12th fret. I don't have a strobe tuner or anything, but it's very noticeable even when you don't play an interval or anything. My "Cleartune" app on my phone is showing it to be about 24 cents flat!

My question is could this be caused by the fourth string not being on? It's not a terribly cheap uke or anything; it's this one:

Oscar Schmidt OU53S Baritone Ukulele | Musician's Friend

I just figured I wouldn't bother restringing it if the intonation was so bad, but then I thought maybe that was the cause, because .... I just can't imagine this thing being released this way.
 
There is no adjustable bridge as as far as individual string intonation. It is just a standard compensated bridge.

More than likely the problem stems from bad strings.

Its improbable that the bridge would be the issue.

Slap some new steel on there. Should be good to go with minor adjustment of the overall bridge position.

Edit; now that I looked at the pic on a laptop instead of a little phone screen, I see the bridge is fixed like a standard acoustic guitar. You're never going to get it perfectly intonated, but I still think the problem is strings.

Put some new strings on and if it wont intonate, or at least come close, offload it.
 
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Hopefully it's the strings. I know they're very old --- at least 3 years if not more. The guy said it had been sitting in its case for years unplayed. I'll put some new strings on it tomorrow and see if that does the trick. Thanks
 
That's old!
Dirt in the windings, corrosion, oxidization......all these things contribute to a sting not vibrating properly.

Its a production model with probably thousands made and sold. I doubt they put the bridge on in the wrong place. It gotta be at least pretty close.
 
RFR said:
That's old!
Dirt in the windings, corrosion, oxidization......all these things contribute to a sting not vibrating properly.

Its a production model with probably thousands made and sold. I doubt they put the bridge on in the wrong place. It gotta be at least pretty close.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking.
 
The Uke is probably not going to be right in a number of ways with one string missing. I don't think you'll "slapping some new steel on there" or the uke will likely fold up. Nylon strings are required, if already steel strung it's certainly going to have issues. A set of Aquila strings with a little enthusiastic playing and re tuning will most likely sort it.
 
Phrasemaker said:
The Uke is probably not going to be right in a number of ways with one string missing. I don't think you'll "slapping some new steel on there" or the uke will likely fold up. Nylon strings are required, if already steel strung it's certainly going to have issues. A set of Aquila strings with a little enthusiastic playing and re tuning will most likely sort it.
Click to expand...

This. A guitar missing a string does weird things. That neck is missing some of it's expected tension, and it's probably twisting as a result.
 
Thanks god someone brought up the nylon string issue!

My uke (Luna Tatoo model) started buzzing the other day. I think its coming from one of the tuners - but it makes the body vibrate, too when it happens. When I squeeze the tuner between thumb and finger (gear to top of the pin) it stops for a while. I unstrung it (it's the C string) but couldn't find that its loose at all, restrung, no change.
 
Yes thanks y'all. It definitely has nylon strings on it, and that's what I bought for the replacement set. I figured RFR had just made a simple mistake and forgot we were talking about uke for a second, so I figured I didn't need to address it.

Anyway, I feel better now. Hopefully I'll get some new (nylon) strings on there tonight and things should be much better.
 
See what happens with the intonation when you get the new strings on it. It might be fine.

On my Tenor Uke, the action was ridiculously high and the intonation was bad when I got it. It was OK for noodling around with chords around the first 3-5 frets but beyond that it sounded and felt horrible. (Higher action obviously stretching the strings out of tune.)

I removed and lowered the Nut and Saddle to lower the action and it helped loads with the intonation and playability obviously.
 
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