This is Bad news, Oh My Mainland

ok heres the story I am in a ukulele band we mainly do gigs for charity and to help the local community, we needed someone to play a tenor low G uke to give the band some depth, so I volunteered my Mainland to the cause, and it was brilliant acoustically, then some of the band stated that if we amped up the tenor it would add to our sound, one of the band claimed to have performed putting a pick up into some of his ukes and he offered to do my Mainland,

He called over on Monday evening to start the work at about 7 30pm, we were still at it at way past eleven, then he took it with him home to finish it off, when i got ot back for band practice on tuesday it was buzzing alarmingly and generally unplayable, I am gutted that I listened to the guy and should have in hindsight left the uke acoustic,

time to start saving for a new Mainland, this year has been an instantly forgettable year nothing has gone right, we have had ukes stolen ukes broken, amps stolen, its costing us a fortune what with everything and this is just the final kick in the balls for 2012, but we want to promote our instrument and our music to the masses and this is the price we must pay unfortunately

here's to a better New Year for us all

kaizer

Ouch!!! Needed one of Santa's luthier elves!

Have a Merry Christmas anyway.

N

Is that buzz one that will go away once you yank out the pickup and plug the hole? Sorry about the trouble.

Oh No.. so sorry..

Could it be that you are just hearing the wires of the pickup rattling against the inside of the ukulele? If so, a couple of small pieces of masking tape or duct tape will fix that. Or if it is string buzz, it could just be that you need to have a setup done on it. But if you insist on replacing it, send it my way and I'll be glad to take it off your hands!

So sorry to hear that, 2012 has indeed not been very kind to you :-(
I wonder what is causing the buzzing and if it's reversible?

DON'T PANIC. Its probably just loose wires. Other than that maybe he lowered the saddle to compensate for fitting a peizo pickup under the saddle and went to far. Its fixable. Don't panic. Don't start a fight within your band.

Reading your post again maybe he DIDN'T lower the saddle to compensate for the peizo pickup and the high action seems unplayable to you. Maybe it needs to have the saddle lowered. Either way. Stop panicking.

Anthony

Yes, this. It isn't ruined. It's fixable by someone who knows what they're doing. Please don't throw it away or stick it in the closet when it's totally fixable. Just take it to a luthier. They don't have to be uke-specific, just someone who knows a thing or ten.

But after that, send the bill to the know-it-all that tried to "help" knowing full well he couldn't. It shouldn't have taken hours, that was the first clue right there.

anthonyg said:

DON'T PANIC. Its probably just loose wires. Other than that maybe he lowered the saddle to compensate for fitting a peizo pickup under the saddle and went to far. Its fixable. Don't panic. Don't start a fight within your band.

Reading your post again maybe he DIDN'T lower the saddle to compensate for the peizo pickup and the high action seems unplayable to you. Maybe it needs to have the saddle lowered. Either way. Stop panicking.

Anthony

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Totally fixable - assuming he didnt drop the saddle too low to compensate for the pickup (in which case just add a new saddle or shim it), then I'd wager it's almost certainly the wires.

I added one to my Fluke uke and it buzzed. reached in and taped the loose wire to the inside of uke - never buzzed again.

Lots of good comments....also..........maybe the piezo pickup is poorly seated in the bridge? I had a problem wth wires touching the soundboard on my Pono concert when I first got it.

I feel much better after reading the replies, and I hope you do, too.

Best of luck, Merry Christmas, and Happy 2013.

Yeah...unless he managed to break a brace inside or something it's fixable - and probably pretty easily fixed. Come to that, even if he broke a brace it's fixable it's just going to be harder.

I've only installed a couple of under saddle pickups and only on guitars - I don't think I'd attempt it on a uke because there is just so little room to work through that tiny sound hole. Also, USTs are very unforgiving; even if you don't mess up the acoustic performance of the uke as has happened in your case, if the installation isn't perfect you're not going to get good amped performance. It's well worth it to send it to someone who has a few dozen installations under their belt.

I've installed quite a few internal soundboard pickups in ukes though and they're pretty easy and very forgiving. I can do one in about ten minutes, now, a little longer if I'm using an endpin jack instead of a side jack. You still have to make sure the leads aren't resting against a brace (that seems to be the most common cause of a buzz in my installations - easy to fix with a dab of hot glue to stick the lead where you want it to stay).

John

hey guys thanx for all the replies, i will use your replies to try and get rid of the buzzing, really relieved to know that it can be fixed, if all else fails, have a great christmas

kaizersoza said:

hey guys thanx for all the replies, i will use your replies to try and get rid of the buzzing, really relieved to know that it can be fixed, if all else fails, have a great christmas

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Good luck! Hope you get it resolved.

Good luck getting the buzz out of your Mainland! An object lesson to the rest of us: don't let someone who isn't a professional luthier or who doesn't have at least a good amount of experience working with stringed instruments mess with your ukulele.

Shame to hear all your woes of 2012, Kaizer - hope you can get the buzz fixed ..... a lesson learned, I think - use a luthier next time! The bridge came off my Vintage Kamaka Soprano - I could have had a go fixing it myself ..... but it goes to the luthier tomorrow!!

Very saddened to hear of your run of losses thru theft & breakages! Were the thefts from when you were performing!? Very disappointing, if they were. So sorry to hear that.

HOpe to visit Swansea next March ...... will have to meet up for a jam!

cheers & Merry Xmas

Roberta

arpie said:

Shame to hear all your woes of 2012, Kaizer - hope you can get the buzz fixed ..... a lesson learned, I think - use a luthier next time! The bridge came off my Vintage Kamaka Soprano - I could have had a go fixing it myself ..... but it goes to the luthier tomorrow!!

Very saddened to hear of your run of losses thru theft & breakages! Were the thefts from when you were performing!? Very disappointing, if they were. So sorry to hear that.

HOpe to visit Swansea next March ...... will have to meet up for a jam!

cheers & Merry Xmas

Roberta

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Yep you are certainly right about lessons learned, at first we thought the ukes had got pinched out of the van we use when we are gigging, but the guy who owns the van realised the thief had popped the locks outside the theatre where he works, great to hear you may be coming to Swansea, we will definitely have to meet up for a jam, it would be really lovely to meet you in person and play a few songs together, let me know when you are in town, hope you and your family have a great christmas and a fantastic new year

richard