hi /k, recently i bought a kalimba through taobao, plastic "base". when i play it there is a lot of "dead notes" along the high notes, unable to get a good sounding resonance

any sifu can chip in on this? much appreciated

Not an expert but it's quite a common issue with kalimba with high notes sounding like a dead slap than a nice clean ting. Is yours the solid type or the box type? I had the box type and the top recommended fix for my dead notes is to buy a solid body kalimba (stupid reply since my kalimba is brand new haha)

I've been researching how to fix but yield no satisfying results.
Most of the common recommended tips is always the same answer saying to tune the kalimba one semitone lower or 2. Kinda doesn't make sense since the engraved note now plays a transposed tone. But it makes your kalimba more usable. Mine was tuned 1 semitone down and all my tines worked like charm. But I tune it back to proper tuning because it sounds like I'm always playing it wrong when I follow youtube.

But if you are adventurous you can always disassemble your kalimba by removing the z bracket and give it a deep clean + proper reseat. (I wouldn't recommend unless you are confident with assembly/disassembly and tuning)

Usually people will get a new set of tines and replace their stock ones. How efficient I don't know. It was believed that the stock ones were pre bent and worn out during storage and new tines comes flat and should put more pressure on your kalimba making it possible to ring.

The most solid fix would be finding non-standard narrower than original tines to replace your stock ones. The last time I check the pricing alone can buy me 4 more kalimbas so I didn't do that and stayed with my shopee kalimba

hi thanks for the input, but i think it is too technical for me haha
wonder is there any retail shop that specializes on kalimba in MY?