Cockoaches Made a Home in my Uke... EWW!

experimentjon

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Anyway, here is my Uke Story of the Day. So, I took apart my Applause tenor today to see if I could remove the unusually-designed bridge from the inside, as I figured that I might as well lower the action as was putting on new Aquilas, an upgrade from Hilos, anyway (the wound third was digging into the plastic bridge and was making a bit of a notch there.)

So I'm looking around on the inside with a flashlight, and discovered that there is no way to access the bridge from the inside. BUT what I do discover is a medium sized roach sitting nonchalantly on the piece of wood where the neck attaches to the body. I was not as calm. Again, I cannot stress enough that I hate roaches and they freak me the hell out. I nearly dropped my uke. But I let it down slowly instead. But decided that I'd rather not have the roach on my carpet in my room, so ran outside and shook it out. It was nearly dead. And good, because there's no food in my uke.

So I went back inside to keep poking around the inside of my uke. And I fixed the clip that held the wires to a side; it had become unglued, so I just glued it back onto the box on the side with the preamp controls. Then to my shock and chagrin, right there, in the exact same spot as the first roach was another slightly smaller roach twitching its antennae. I screamed/swore. (I tend to do that in horror movies too.) So I took the uke outside again, and tried to shake it out. It didn't come out and seemed to hide somewhere inside. So I grabbed my air duster and sprayed away. (didn't quite want to fumigate the inside of my uke). Holding the uke upside down so I could see into the back, I realized that he was probably hiding in this tiny space between the pickup box and the soundboard. So I took the air duster, turned it upside down, and sprayed in the crack. OOPS. I heard a bit of cracking...not sure from what. But it was because the air duster was quick-freezing everything there...probably not too healthy for the wood (don't use those air dusters upside down). And ta-da! I turned the uke right-side-up and tada! A freeze dried roach dropped out. Score: 2-0, Jon.

So yeah, I really hope that 1) they weren't roaches of different sexes using my uke as a love motel, and 2) that none of you guys have roaches living secretly in your uke. I suggest you check....you never know. And from now on, this applause is always going back into its zippered case.

I guess, the good news however, is that they were roaches, and not termites...
 
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Man, you were cooler about the roach than I would have been. I would seriously have dropped my uke and then I'd be like... uh.. crap crap crap, what to do....
 
I dont know if I love ukes more than I hate roaches.I think I might have just stripped naked, and walked out, leaving everything behind.....
 
Hey Jon,
Thanks for saving me. I hate roaches too! hahahaha. I have to say, better you than me, but still, you beat me to the deal! Arrrrrggggg. I'm never gonna forget this one. More so since I had met you in person! Dino
 
Man, that is a scary story. I had one in my camera bag last summer, hmmm... now where is that lens cap... EEEEKKKK!!!!
Not to mention the one on the cutting board in our kitchen, on the wall, walking through the living room, in the curtains... I wish they would just tell you when and where they will be. I am booking a hotel for next summer.
 
in aussie -
cockroaches in every corner

Yeah, they sure are! I hate them. I have palm trees in my backyard, and they love palm trees, so I often get the big flying ones come inside. I don't mind so much when I know they're there - it's the shock value when they just suddenly run out at you.

The giant Huntsman spiders are worse though. I've had them the size of my hand appearing on my bedroom wall (kind of scary when they're between me and the door!!) :)
 
that's a horror story right there haha. i would hate to find roaches in my uke... it woulda been worse if there were a whole bunch of em and when you looked around in the uke, they would all come crawling out :eek:
 
What a great movie that would be...."Cockroaches in a Ukulele". I wonder if Samuel L. Jackson is available.....
 
Hey Jon,
Thanks for saving me. I hate roaches too! hahahaha. I have to say, better you than me, but still, you beat me to the deal! Arrrrrggggg. I'm never gonna forget this one. More so since I had met you in person! Dino

LOL, I'm pretty sure they crawled in from near my computer desk and weren't in there when I bought them...since I don't think roaches can live for months without food or water (the guy hadn't played this one for months and kept it in the case.) They look like the kind that have been reproducing in my kitchen cabinets and come out at night to raid the unwashed dishes in the sink. And I have found a few of these near my computer desk where I often keep this applause out of the case...roaches probably mistook my uke for one of the desk drawers...nice try Dino. :)

And flying roaches. I HATE those. Like to the point where I stand as far away from them as possible when spraying them...and throw the slippers so that I dont have to get close to them when smacking them...collateral damage...
 
Man, I thought you were talking about the 747's in your uke. Small ones no problem. I hate the large flying ones! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
 
Man, I thought you were talking about the 747's in your uke. Small ones no problem. I hate the large flying ones! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Haha, yeah I should probably make friends with the multiple quote feature. :)
 
Luckily I don't have too many roaches where I live now BUT when I was visiting the Philippines, I got bitten by one while I was sleeping. I woke up and there was a tiny bite taken out of my forearm and it was pretty swollen. I was asking (out loud but mostly to myself) what the ef kinda mosquito bite this was when my cousin calmly replied "oh, that wasn't a mosquito, it was a cockroach. I saw it crawling on you while you were sleeping". WTF!!! She saw it and did nothing about it.
I know you pain in regards to roaches bro - especially the flying ones - the flying ones that bite.
And even though I don't have roaches, I do have earwigs and silverfish. Just as disgusting (albeit smaller).
 
i hate roaches ever sence 1 snuck into my footy pj's when i was little! as far as air duster goes i once caught my stove on fire and tried to use air duster to put it out and ended lighting the wallpaper on fire. the bacon survived to ^__^
And sence we are sharing our scary stories my mom found a opossum in her dresser a few weeks back. it was hillarious.
 
One thing I don't miss about home. Roaches don't seem to like it here. I've never seen one in my ten years of living here. And then I go home for a visit, staying at my parent's house, extremely clean and sterile... scratch something on the back of my neck while sitting in bed and it's a ...... EEEEEEK! UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!!

Ah man, wash your dishes dude, that might help with the roaches! But even in a clean unfriendly environment, they still show up! I don't know if I could ever pick up that uke again. Amazing that you didn't drop it. :)

Not a huge fan of insects. We had these huge huge horseflies, which I'm mildly allergic to... enough of an excuse for me! Whenever they'd buzz around, casting their own shadow, I'd be walking my horse, darting and running around to the end of the lead line, and she'd just wait for me to chill out, just looking at me with a face that said "whenever you're done then..." People always said I'd freak her out, but nah, it was an understanding. This looked more amusing because she was a young "hotheaded" Arabian... like she should be the one freaking out.

Makes me remember that nice new mare at the training stable. I asked if I could work with her. The trainer casually said that wasn't a good idea. I asked why. He told me to just watch. So it's a hot summer day and we're watching the action in the round pen, and she completely freaks out, looses it, bucks, twists, rears, goes down on her belly...

Yeah, she was freaked out by bugs too. Yeah, we would have been a pair.
 
This looked more amusing because she was a young "hotheaded" Arabian... like she should be the one freaking out.

is she a straight Arabian or Arabian Egyptian? i got 2 of the latter they r so dang purty!
 
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