Regluing Bridge

Hi,
I'm still relatively new to ukulele's and certainly luthier work, but I have my first ukulele right here, a big Lauren Baritone. Now, I only paid $45 for this little piece of work, and due to my own incompetents, the bridge is lifting. Now, I know you get a bridge reglued professionally for about $45, but for that price, I'd rather just buy a new uke...... Now, I can barely play the baritone, so I'm not too worried how this looks/comes out. It's just me trying to salvage a cheap instrument. Is there an easy way I can fix this? I can visibly see the gap, but do I have to remove the bridge and reglue it, or can I just sneak some superglue down in there? Any tips, guides, etc?


Also, what's the word on putting regular strings/tuning (GCEA) on a baritone?

It is relatively easy to reglue a bridge.

The hardest and most tricky part will be removing the bridge so you can re-glue it, as it will need to be off completely for you to do a good job at re-gluing it.

If it's close to being off on its own, you can gently work it back and forth to 'snap' it off, but be careful not to damage the wood in doing so. If it's still on well, you might be abe to use some sort of solvent, but that will most likely damage the wood and any finish on the uke, so I wouldn't recommend that.

Once you get the bridge off, all you need is some form of wood glue (not super glue, as it'll snap when you put tension on it). I have used elmer's wood glue (not elmer's school glue) on a cheap uke's bridge successfully.

Anyhow, you need to put a good amount of glue on the spot where the bridge will be glued (more than just a couple of dots: possibly coat the whole surface, just don't get to carried away), and then place the bridge exactly in the spot that it was before, as the intonation will be permanently goofed up if you place it in the incorrect spot.

After putting the bridge back on, you need to somehow gently clamp it to the uke. Whether you use an actual clam (with some sort of protection between the clamp and the uke, as you don't want to damage the uke) or a book or something stacked on top of it, it doesn't matter as long as there is a bit of pressure on the bridge (just make sure that the pressure doesn't shift the bridge while it's gluing, therefore goofing up the intonation).

After at least 24 hours (or as directed on the glue's instructions) it should be safe to re-string your uke and start playing. If the bridge begins detaching again, either try repeating the above (with a stronger wood glue, possibly), or contact me or a more skilled member at doing this sort of stuff.



Hope that helped!

Another alternative:



The strings are tied inside the body - bridge shouldn't ever pop off again.

dave g said:

Another alternative:

The strings are tied inside the body - bridge shouldn't ever pop off again.

Click to expand...

That's nifty... never would have occurred to me.

SO I guess all you'd need is a small drill bit and a steady enough hand.... if my bridge on my cheap uke ever comes off again, I might use this method.