Outdoor Ukulele question

Stagehand

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Several months ago I purchased an Outdoor ukulele used.
It is one of the older models without the white fret markers and the Grovers were an upgrade.
The first time I restrung it everything seemed fine.
This morning I stripped the strings to clean the uke and change the strings.
The joint between the neck and fretboard has separated on both sides of the neck and across the headstock. The break is clean and it looks like the adhesive failed.
Has anyone had this problem or similar issues?
Any glue suggestions?
Disclamer...
The uke has been in my car all winter with temps as low as -10°F.
I have not contacted Outdoor Ukulele yet to see if this is common or how to repair.
Thank you in advance...Sean
 
I'd say uneven shrinkage due to those outrageously low temps is the culprit. I'd sure get Outdoor Ukes' recommendations before I did anything to it.
 
I'd check with the company.
 
Sean you can leave a banjo in the car but don't leave a wooden instrument in the car Summer or winter if you can help it.

I have had the same type of problem when its cold on a couple of occasions. Bill Bailey has this problem right now. (He wasn't in the car either). I think it is the glue. Bill Bailey is under warranty he's going back to the MFR for repairs. Work through the outfit you bought the uke from to do this.

If Bill wasn't under warranty I would use hide glue to secure the bridge to the sound board. Check in at the Luthiers lounge on this. They probably will suggest a different kind of glue.

I need to get an outdoor uke too. wooden one are too fragile IMO. Peter Forrest has a review of a $100 uke that has plastic uni-body construction. He's from canada and buried it in the snow! The reiview is in UU under Petey's username - i forget just what it is. or on his yt channel. The Unibody construction is really good for avoiding the store in the car/temperature problem.
 
Thanks IamNoMan, that is good advise. I am very careful with my ukes.
This is the same model uke that PeteyHoudini buried in the snow. I bought it specifically to leave in the car. They are advertised to handle temperature extremes.

To Sukie and PhilUSAFret, I am planing to contact Outdoor Ukulele.
I just wanted to see what the consensus was here.
 
Good luck. I had terrible luck with that company and their products. Well I never actually got the product and I had to go through my credit card company to get a refund because over the course of a month of emails I never got a response. Finally they refunded everyone but I had already gone through all that trouble. I'm soooo glad the Outdoor Ukes from this company are in my past. This is not to say the instruments are not nice when they work. I hope you have some luck with customer service. They sure are a cool looking uke.
 
Thanks IamNoMan, that is good advise. I am very careful with my ukes.
This is the same model uke that PeteyHoudini buried in the snow. I bought it specifically to leave in the car. They are advertised to handle temperature extremes.

To Sukie and PhilUSAFret, I am planing to contact Outdoor Ukulele.
I just wanted to see what the consensus was here.
Stagehand thankyou for informing me. the Outdoor uke was the one I had referred to before. You indicated you bought this used. Do you know if it is the same construction as the one petey buried? IIRC he did say the neck was joined to the body. Forget what I said earlier about hide glue. You could check with Outdoor for there adhesive recommendations. Or try superglue.

If you are going to leave a uke unattended for any long period of time loosen the strings. Does your Uke have Aquila Nylgut strings? The Aquila nylgut strings have some copper in them. Ignoring the engineering behind this, that could be the problem. Most of the USA has a mean 30 degree temperature swing daily. If you had say a 40 deg drop in Temp over the course of an hour or two it could be causing your separation problems. Try martin or Worth monofilament Strings.
 
I would contact the manufacturer. It's an outdoor uke. Marketed to be taken outdoors and in cars and what not. I don't think I would accept something like this.
 
The Aquila nylgut strings have some copper in them. Ignoring the engineering behind this, that could be the problem.

From what I read Aquila "reds" are copper impregnated. Not likely an issue.

As a young lad I used to build plastic models. Many adhesives melt and fuse the plastic together in models. I'm interested in what the company recommends, there are so many new polymers today that make old plastics inferior in many ways. I would imagine the advance in adhesives is just as great but more varied now as well.

good luck
 
Do you know if it is the same construction as the one petey buried?
If you are going to leave a uke unattended for any long period of time loosen the strings. Does your Uke have Aquila Nylgut strings? The Aquila nylgut strings have some copper in them. .
The uke is the same as Peteys the only difference is his has white fret markers.
Again good advice for everybody about loosening strings for an extended storage period.
I play in my car before work regularly.
The strings were Oasis Bright High G (fluorocarbon) and I just changed to Worth BM.

The string tension holds the separation tightly closed. It may have been that way when I bought it. The first time I changed strings I did it one string at a time so the neck was always under tension. This time I took them all off at once so I could clean a little better.

From what I read Aquila "reds" are copper impregnated. Not likely an issue.
I believe you are correct only the "reds" have copper. Great strings by the way. I had them on a Gretsch tenor.

I have emailed Outdoor Ukulele and will wait and see what they advise.

If worse comes to worse I am thinking that a slow set ca glue might do the trick. Simple model glue might distort the plastic to much. I have 10" of seam to glue.

Many Thanks to everybody ...Sean
 
From what I read Aquila "reds" are copper impregnated. Not likely an issue.

As a young lad I used to build plastic models. Many adhesives melt and fuse the plastic together in models. I'm interested in what the company recommends, there are so many new polymers today that make old plastics inferior in many ways. I would imagine the advance in adhesives is just as great but more varied now as well.

good luck
Al the problem is the thermal expansion coefficient of copper is vastly different from plastic ~ 20x when the temp changes rapidly you can get point stress'es on select area's of the uke, like the string Knot at the bridge. This stress can put too much strain on a weak glue joint and pop the bridge right off. This is what I think happened to Bill Bailey and to CeeJays Uke about a week ago, (if you know about that).
 
The string tension holds the separation tightly closed. It may have been that way when I bought it. The first time I changed strings I did it one string at a time so the neck was always under tension. This time I took them all off at once so I could clean a little better.

If worse comes to worse I am thinking that a slow set ca glue might do the trick. Simple model glue might distort the plastic to much. I have 10" of seam to glue.

Many Thanks to everybody ...Sean

I would check with the luthiers first. They swear by CA; but they're using wood to wood.

The Outdoor Uke is made of Thermal-setting plastic resin, not Thermoplastic. The first is not flexible after it's been extruded. Inkspot could confirm this if he ever painted Airfix toy soldiers, they are thermal plastic and bend the paint never sticks.

It may well be that the previous owner had the same problem you have now but didn't rough up the surfaces before he glued them. I don't have to tell you how to glue I'm sure; but when you rough-up the two mating surfaces you create a larger surface area so the glue has more material to stick to.
 
All I can say is the Aquila reds on my KA-SEM are pretty damn stable and hardly ever need retuning. My Ukulele sees temp from the 60's to the 90's so nothing in the range we are talking at -10. But...

Al the problem is the thermal expansion coefficient of copper is vastly different from plastic ~ 20x when the temp changes rapidly you can get point stress'es on select area's of the uke, like the string Knot at the bridge. This stress can put too much strain on a weak glue joint and pop the bridge right off. This is what I think happened to Bill Bailey and to CeeJays Uke about a week ago, (if you know about that).

I figured out what you were getting at mentioning copper in the strings all I stated was the only string which are copper impregnated are Aquila reds. I dont think this theory on Aquila strings is very sound either but that is just my gut feeling nothing personal or very scientific. Copper wound string maybe but a copper impregnated Aquila string I think would break first. Well the low G would. :)

Ive read the bridge is designed to give first on most ukuleles to save the top, I remember reading something recently about a guitar cracking on the wall and heard nothing about CeeJays bridge popping. Did they both use Aquila reds or is this theory dead in the water by design before it began to float?

Also to clarify things I have not recommended any type of glue and I only stated my experience with models and older plastics. My recommendation was to see what the manufacturer says.

~peace~
 
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