Mahalo end block

I've been asked to fit an under-saddle pickup to a bandmates Mahalo baritone, so I thought I had better have a look inside first. Somethings had a good nibble in the end block!

Waste not want not ...

wormwood :rofl:

Do you think this happened after construction, or was the block like that already when the uke was built?

It was most likely in that state when the uke was put together...they didn't envisage that someone would one day peek at the deep inside of the instrument.

Interesting. I note some indifferent butting of the linings to the heal block but what ever. Geez would it have that hard to butt your linings? Laziness or indifference... What we call those are "powder post beetles" holes here in my neck of the woods. Nasty horrible things. You can definitely put an end to their capers by using a substance called an "insecticide". Spray into the sound hole and plug it up with paper towels. Wait a couple days. Repeat. I hate powder post beetles. Eventually they will eat your ukulele.

sequoia said:

I note some indifferent butting of the linings to the heal block

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What is "butting"?

Timbuck said:

It was most likely in that state when the uke was put together...they didn't envisage that someone would one day peek at the deep inside of the instrument.

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That was my conclusion Ken. More concerning ref. fitting a pickup is that the end block is well off centre, as indicated by the strap button screw hole. The strap button is on the centreline .... Should still be enough room for the jack socket, he said hopefully.

mainger said:

What is "butting"?

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"Butting" is not used in the sense of something that the Greeks used to do, but a term for attaching two pieces of wood together in a joint that lies flat to each other thus the "butt joint". Weak by definition, but it works fine for a lot of situations where great strength is not called for. Actually butting the linings up to the neck and tail blocks doesn't add that much strength, but it does add some little extra strength and is just good joinary practice if only from a neatness point of view and yes the person that did that never thought anyone would see it so they thought... what the hell. I doubt that the linings not being butt joined to the blocks will make any difference to the integrity of the instrument, but it is an indication that the work was a little sloppy and where else did they come up short or cut corners? Nothing like looking under the hood to see where the bodies are buried. That the end block is off center is much more of a reason for concern I would think. This could cause eventual racking which could cause.... all sorts of nasty things you don't even want to think about.

sequoia said:

"Butting" is not used in the sense of something that the Greeks used to do, but a term for attaching two pieces of wood together in a joint that lies flat to each other thus the "butt joint".

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I LOLed!

Thanks. Yet another one of those words I know in my native French but not in English!

EN
butt joint
FR
joint plat (flat-joined)

Looking up Butting in the dictionary returned a very odd explanation about tobacco leaves.

Cheers!
Germain