Files and pliers and sandpaper...

OldePhart

OldePhart

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...these are a few of my favorite things!

Compensating the bridge on the pocket uke was so successful that this evening I attacked my KoAloha concert. You may recall I've mentioned a couple of times that the action at the bridge end was a little higher than I'd like - now it's a little lower and the saddle top is compensated. (I'll probably have another go at it later to bring it even lower because it's not quite "dangerously low" yet.)

compensated.jpg

I did such a smooth job :rolleyes: that it's hard to see in the picture but if you look closely at where the strings break over the saddle you can see that the outside strings break over the front edge of the saddle while the inner two strings break over the back edge. This was enough to bring the outer two strings, which were a little flat, right on the nose. The inner two strings, which were sharp, are still a little sharp but less so. Some time when I've got lots of time on my hands I may have a go at making another saddle with an extra strip of material glued across the back so I can get the inner two strings spot on - at least for these types of strings.

John
 
Cool! I've been wanting to get up the nerve to try this on my Gstring longneck & I think that is just what I need to do w/it. So, how do you go about it? Loosen up the strings enough to slide the saddle out & then file some & put it back on & tighten down & check w/an electronic tuner?
 
Nicely done!:worship:
 
Why not buy a couple new TusQ saddle blanks and start from scratch rather than gluing material across the back? That way you end up with a clean single piece saddle. You already have an initial guide to work with.
 
Gmoney said:
Cool! I've been wanting to get up the nerve to try this on my Gstring longneck & I think that is just what I need to do w/it. So, how do you go about it? Loosen up the strings enough to slide the saddle out & then file some & put it back on & tighten down & check w/an electronic tuner?
Click to expand...

Exactly. I marked the saddle with a notch midway between the first and second and the third and fourth strings so I'd know where to change directions. Then I just carefully filed the top into three slanted sections - the outside ones slanting up to the front and the middle slanting up to the back. Since most uke bridges seem to be crowned in the middle (this has always puzzled me) you need to make sure you have enough height that you can lose a little without the action becoming to low because the high points of the newly shaped will be the bottom edges of that old crown. That was certainly not an issue in this case.

I just carefully worked the saddle against the file with strokes in one direction, then touched up the top with fine grit to knock off any sharp edges that would cut the strings.

John
 
spots said:
Why not buy a couple new TusQ saddle blanks and start from scratch rather than gluing material across the back? That way you end up with a clean single piece saddle. You already have an initial guide to work with.
Click to expand...

Because the saddle (and the slot for it) is not thick enough to move the edge rearward far enough to bring the strings into perfect intonation. By gluing a strip of material to the back, only at the top, the bottom of the bridge will still fit in the slot but I can file in a slope so the strings will break further back.

John
 
BTW, forgot to mention that the saddle was thick enough that it fit very tightly in the slot. I had to pry it out with a jeweler's screwdriver the first time. I sanded it down a bit on the sides so it fit with no slop but without sticking either. I.e. the saddle now sits on the bottom of the bridge slot instead of being wedged in between the sides of the slot as I suspect it was before. I say as I suspect it was before because the uke is noticeably louder now and I didn't even change strings, just loosened them.

Not that this thing was quiet before - in fact I'd never have guessed it could get any louder - but, man, it's almost crazy loud now.

The saddle is injection molded plastic - I could see the holes in the bottom - I think I'm going to get some Corian or maybe bone and make a complete replacement as my next project. But, that's probably not going to happen tomorrow. LOL

John
 
OldePhart said:
Because the saddle (and the slot for it) is not thick enough to move the edge rearward far enough to bring the strings into perfect intonation. By gluing a strip of material to the back, only at the top, the bottom of the bridge will still fit in the slot but I can file in a slope so the strings will break further back.

John
Click to expand...

Gotcha .
 
Ukuleleblues said:
Great Job. Isn't it fun to be able to tweak your ukes.
Click to expand...

Honestly? No, not really. The results are fun but I don't really enjoy the tweaking itself - largely because my near vision is so bad that even with glasses I have to wear big magnifying goggles and it's just a pain in the behind. That's the same reason I gave up building custom tube guitar amps - it had gotten to the point that I'd have to take close up pictures of my work and then look at them in hi-res on the computer monitor to make sure my solder joints were sound and such.

That's why I'm perfectly happy to let guys like MGM do setups for me - I have the tools and skills but to me it's just tedious.

Love the results, though!

John
 
OldePhart said:
Honestly? No, not really. The results are fun but I don't really enjoy the tweaking itself - largely because my near vision is so bad that even with glasses I have to wear big magnifying goggles and it's just a pain in the behind. That's the same reason I gave up building custom tube guitar amps - it had gotten to the point that I'd have to take close up pictures of my work and then look at them in hi-res on the computer monitor to make sure my solder joints were sound and such.

That's why I'm perfectly happy to let guys like MGM do setups for me - I have the tools and skills but to me it's just tedious.

Love the results, though!

John
Click to expand...

Haha. I still enjoy doing my own setups. And it's good that you still went for it and got a nice result. If it makes you feel better, MGM is probably getting not-so-young himself. He has a few nice young people helping him out. I wouldn't be suprised if they were doing a bulk of the setups. :)
 
Aloha John,
Thanks for sharing....glad to hear things worked out well for you the first time....I found little is always best...because can always take away but not put back...if you get a buzz...Happy Happy Strummings, MM Stan
 
John,

Not that you would want to spend the time, especially with eyesight difficulties, but you can get a 1/4" wide by 1/2" high by 4 inch long Tusq saddle slab and make a "T" looking saddle.

Basically the top surface is 1/4" and the leg of the T is the same width as the ukulele slot. This lets you compesate in both directions more that the width of a normal saddle.

The tendious trick, which you will probably want to farm out to someone, is to cut material off both sides of the saddle to make a "T" shape with the bottom leg ending up at the same width as the ukulele slot.

I have a ukulele that I have to shorten the scale to compensate and I make what I call an "L" saddle. I am using ebony... here is an example:

IMG_2530.JPG


John
 
70sSanO said:
John,

Not that you would want to spend the time, especially with eyesight difficulties, but you can get a 1/4" wide by 1/2" high by 4 inch long Tusq saddle slab and make a "T" looking saddle.

Basically the top surface is 1/4" and the leg of the T is the same width as the ukulele slot. This lets you compesate in both directions more that the width of a normal saddle.

The tendious trick, which you will probably want to farm out to someone, is to cut material off both sides of the saddle to make a "T" shape with the bottom leg ending up at the same width as the ukulele slot.

John
Click to expand...
Excellent idea!
 
OldePhart said:
I'd have to at least get the pick of the litter!
Click to expand...
Actually not much "litter" left. Just sold the National so that brings me down to 5 playable ukuleles. And really, the Glyph needs a bit of TLC before I play it out anywhere, so that's just 4.

Now I've got about 4 or so more in the downstairs closet, but believe me, they really are litter.
 
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