Hi All,
I am posting this issue i have here in the Luthier's section to get some pro's advice on how to correct my issue with my ukuklele's soundboards possibly being damaged by high humidity.
I live in Taiwan, a sub-tropical island just east of Mainland China. Weather here is quite humid year round, 55% ~ 95%. I have 2 of my prized ukes sitting in a humidity controlled box, usually. I went away for almost a year and come back to find that somehow someone unplugged the unit and the ukes basically were at the mercy of the humid air. I now find that the section of the soundboard below the bridge is bowed outwards slightly on both of my ukes. One is Koa and the other is Spruce. I'd like to know if there is a way to fix this? I thought of taking two 2" wide strips of wood on the front and back of the uke, covering over the bowed section, and use 3-4 C clamps spaced evenly across the width of the lower bout, clamping down with light pressure while I put the ukes back into the humidity controlled box and see if the soundboard can be straightened while it shrinks as humidity is lowered. I usually leave the setting at 50% RH before.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
I am posting this issue i have here in the Luthier's section to get some pro's advice on how to correct my issue with my ukuklele's soundboards possibly being damaged by high humidity.
I live in Taiwan, a sub-tropical island just east of Mainland China. Weather here is quite humid year round, 55% ~ 95%. I have 2 of my prized ukes sitting in a humidity controlled box, usually. I went away for almost a year and come back to find that somehow someone unplugged the unit and the ukes basically were at the mercy of the humid air. I now find that the section of the soundboard below the bridge is bowed outwards slightly on both of my ukes. One is Koa and the other is Spruce. I'd like to know if there is a way to fix this? I thought of taking two 2" wide strips of wood on the front and back of the uke, covering over the bowed section, and use 3-4 C clamps spaced evenly across the width of the lower bout, clamping down with light pressure while I put the ukes back into the humidity controlled box and see if the soundboard can be straightened while it shrinks as humidity is lowered. I usually leave the setting at 50% RH before.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
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