ukulele bridge fixing:- ideas needed

[mickeyj4j]

Hi all I have a nice old Bruko soprano ukulele. Made in Germany in the 90s, has a nice sweet tone I love it.

It has has a problem with the bridge comming away from the top. Just wanting to know the best way to fix it.



Much appricate for any help you can offer.

[johnparchem]

Not sure of your skill level, but I would heat it up and remove it. I would then clean the glue from the bridge and the top and glue it back down. For me the biggest pain is getting a clamp in the sound hole. I use a vacuum clamp and avoid it. If the bridge was glued down with hot hide glue it would be possible to add more hot hide glue and clamp it down. All of the operations I described are not anything you would want to do without experience.

[mickeyj4j]

Yes as I thought all I have are some f clamps. Think I will take it to the violin and guitar shop fomally Hewitt's Fiddle Shop here in Auckland New Zealand. This is the place where Kapono ukuleles are also made. Alwaus serviced my guitars and get resonance prices there.

[kiwigeo]

As John says whether not you can fix this yourself depends on your skill level. If you love this instrument then pass the job onto a repair person.

The bridge looks like it's almost off so removing it shouldn't be too difficult. The first thing you need to do is drill a couple of small holes through base of the saddle slot into the top and insert a couple of location pins...I use a 1.5mm bit and I make up 1.5mm diameter pins by knicking matchsticks through a 1.5mm diameter hole drilled in a cabinet scraper. To lift off a bridge I use an artists palette knife heated on a painters heat gun and slip it carefully under the bridge to work same off. There are numerous Youtube videos on the technique. I mask off surrounding top with thick cardboard. Once off, clean up the top, being careful not to sand outside the bridge area.

From the photo it looks like your bridge is a bit deformed.....I'd either dress up the bottom of the bridge or make a new one. If the uke has a flat top then use a flat sanding board. If there's any doming in the top then you need to shape the bottom of the bridge to match same. You can do this by sticking sandpaper to the top over the bridge area (I use high quality double sided tape) and then sanding the bridge bottom over same.

Ideally for a good glue joint you'll need to make up a gluing clamp to fit under the top. I usually make these up before the top goes on during a build. In your case you can put an LED light inside the uke in a dark room and trace out brace location onto a piece of paper lying over the top. Use this pattern to make up a clamping caul. I use MDF with a layer of 4mm cork sheet glued on it for my cauls...the cork surface clamps against the underside of the top.

When it comes to gluing the bridge back on make sure you do a dry run before applying glue.....making sure clamps can be placed quickly and checking there's no gap under the bridge.

[mickeyj4j]

I think this does confirm I need to take it to the professionals. I brought this nice ukulele 2nd hand online unseen, no indication of this damage, $100nzd I could have gotten a pretty decent ukulele new for this price or just a bit more without any issues. Oh well that's the breaks. Not going to cause problems contacting the previous owner about it though. It's a nice sounding uke.

[kiwigeo]

I think this does confirm I need to take it to the professionals. I brought this nice ukulele 2nd hand online unseen, no indication of this damage, $100nzd I could have gotten a pretty decent ukulele new for this price or just a bit more without any issues. Oh well that's the breaks. Not going to cause problems contacting the previous owner about it though. It's a nice sounding uke.

I'd at least let the previous owner know of the bridge issues....and then suggest he go to Spec savers

[lauburu]

You could also try Trevor Binford http://www.binfordluthiery.com/ who normally deals with guitars but has made a few ukes and does a fine job with repairs.
Miguel