more DIY mods to my ukulele
- Thread starter NukeDOC
- Start date
OP
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NukeDOC
Retired Mod
update on the upgrades. seems that the adhesive backing on these tiles isnt that strong. i have my ukes hanging by hooks on my wall. and while i was at work, my brother informed me that one of them fell off.
so...
when i get home, im going to try some wood glue. and if that doesnt work, then i will have to come up with something else.
... but i WILL have my pickguards hahaha.
so...
when i get home, im going to try some wood glue. and if that doesnt work, then i will have to come up with something else.
... but i WILL have my pickguards hahaha.
Fred Miu
Retired Moderator
nice job nuke. it makes your uke look very unique
i want to do a cool water design if i do one of these.
i want to do a cool water design if i do one of these.
tripl3thr33
Well-known member
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too bad it cant be like an interchangeable pick guard that you can just take off and put on.... like if you're in the mood for a yellow pick guard put that on.... or a red one..... or some other design. lol.
Misguided Musician
Well-known member
Great job! I will definitely try this with the linoleum tiles now.I just need to come up with a design that suits me.
davoomac
Retired Moderator
ha tiles! crazy man. I'm taking notes 
dafamcallsmebj
Well-known member
awww..... man!!!!
u mean if i waited just a couple more weeks it would have been even better!!!
deng....
hey arvin...
how did the sound change on ur uke when put the stupps on??
UKESTAR
Well-known member
Haha...yeh.....I would have had to charge an extra 5 bucks though..hah. Who knows...you may have thought ....dude what the heck is that??? haaha.
I am really happy you like that uke.. Can't wait to hear you jam on it some day..
dafamcallsmebj
Well-known member
Haha...yeh.....I would have had to charge an extra 5 bucks though..hah. Who knows...you may have thought ....dude what the heck is that??? haaha.
naw man i dont like it...
i love...
i cant put it down...
except right now... arvin is mod-ing it right now...
AdamTheHobo
Well-known member
that looks beautiful and that its made of linoleum that made me laugh
Howlie Boy
Well-known member
Dont use wood glue!!!!!!!!
the wood glue wont stick to well to the tile stuff. You have a choice you can use liquid nails, or you will have to use contact cement. if you go with contact cement then it will have to be an oil based one.
Trust me on this i work with this stuff. i do construction for a living. Wood glue doesnt like to stick to the rubbery material, also the glue on the bottom of that stuff is an oil based glue and the wood glue is water based. they dont mix....
Hope you get this before you do it. You can try but not sure how well it will work but 3m 90 spray glue. comes in a can. make sure its 90 and not the others....
OP
OP
NukeDOC
Retired Mod
Dont use wood glue!!!!!!!!
the wood glue wont stick to well to the tile stuff. You have a choice you can use liquid nails, or you will have to use contact cement. if you go with contact cement then it will have to be an oil based one.
Trust me on this i work with this stuff. i do construction for a living. Wood glue doesnt like to stick to the rubbery material, also the glue on the bottom of that stuff is an oil based glue and the wood glue is water based. they dont mix....
Hope you get this before you do it. You can try but not sure how well it will work but 3m 90 spray glue. comes in a can. make sure its 90 and not the others....
yeah i thought about the possible polar / nonpolar thing with the wood glue not jiving with the adhesive on the bottom of the tiles. so instead i actually went with superglue. it seems to be holding just fine so far. we'll find out on sunday night if they fall off in the middle of the performance hahaha. that would suck suck suck.
my last resort will be to drill small pilot holes and use real small screws (flat topped).
Howlie Boy
Well-known member
Just A Thought
Just wondering, Did you sand down the area were you put the puck guards? If not nothing will stick, glue needs something to bite to , most glues used on woods also use the exposed wood to soak into to help the bond.
Just wondering, Did you sand down the area were you put the puck guards? If not nothing will stick, glue needs something to bite to , most glues used on woods also use the exposed wood to soak into to help the bond.
UKESTAR
Well-known member
Nuker....
Idea: Use those cool pick guards you made as templates. Trace them on to some real wood from a woodworking shop in SD (Koa vineer...spelling?? or something really nice). Sand it with really fine sand paper...laquer it up/glue it down and have real wood permanent pick guards.
UKESTAR
Idea: Use those cool pick guards you made as templates. Trace them on to some real wood from a woodworking shop in SD (Koa vineer...spelling?? or something really nice). Sand it with really fine sand paper...laquer it up/glue it down and have real wood permanent pick guards.
UKESTAR
UKESTAR
Well-known member
OP
OP
NukeDOC
Retired Mod
didnt sand it. theres no finish on the uke so i figured it was porous enough to let the glue soak in. they seem to be holding on well so far.
OP
OP
NukeDOC
Retired Mod
thats the long term plan. know of any places here in san diego that would have some of that stuff?
the uke is already koa (laminate) so to give it some contrast, i was thinking either ebony, or rosewood to match the fretboard and bridge.
Howlie Boy
Well-known member
Dont really know the sandiego area but any lumber place, not home depote, it has to be like a gnahl lumber or something of that sort. you can usually get it there if they dont have it then you can order it. Usually takes about a week, and koa is pretty expensive. you might be able to get a cherry or something of that sorts and stain it a diff. color.
Here are some places:
Frost Hardwood Lumber CO
Categories: Lumber Dealers, Lumber Wholesale & Manufacturers, Hardwood, Plywood & Veneers, Moldings, more…
6565 Miramar Road, San Diego, CA 92121
J & W Lumber CO
Categories: Building Materials & Supplies Dealers, Lumber Dealers, Building Materials & Supplies Commercial & Industrial, Patio Porch Deck & Gazebo Builders
11135 Sorrento Valley Road, San Diego, CA 92121
http://www.jwlumber.com
Rockler Woodworking and Hardware
Categories: Lumber Dealers, Woodworking Machinery Equipment & Supplies, Hardwood, Hardware Dealers
8199 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92111
http://www.rockler.com
The Hardwood & Hardware CO
Categories: Lumber Dealers, Hardwood, Plywood & Veneers, Moldings, Hardware Dealers, more…
9040 Activity Road, San Diego, CA 92126
http://www.th-h.com
Hope these help....
OP
OP
NukeDOC
Retired Mod
in a sense, without knowing any better, thats what i was going for. when i had my vision of what i wanted an ukulele to look like for me, it was like a
hybrid of jake's kamaka and james hill's g string, with just a little bit of flare.
i only have one more thing i wanna do to this to make it basically a prototype of what my future custom ukulele will look like.
on a side note:
for those that are thinking about trying this, keep in mind that you are putting a somewhat soft, malleable, and heavy laminate on top of your soundboard. a lot of what gives your instrument its volume is how well the sound board vibrates. by adding these, there is a very good chance that your uke will lose volume acoustically.
on this uke, it is not a solid top. so adding the pickguards actually cut my acoustic volume in half! but this particular uke's primary purpose is for plugged in performances anyway. so im not worried about it at all.
on my spruce top, since spruce is such a good material for transmitting sound, the pickguards didnt do much. in fact, it kinda mellowed out the typical bright tone of spruce. i like it a lot.
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