Sometimes the voices in your head must be obeyed...

As the thread-title says...

You're nuts...well actually you're a nut shy!

lakesideglenn said:

You're nuts...well actually you're a nut shy!

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That's just the beginning of what the voices are telling me to do...

I have a feeling there will be more than four strings on this when it's done...

Do all the frets look the same as the one in the photo?

zac987 said:

I have a feeling there will be more than four strings on this when it's done...

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heh, heh, heh...you're on the right track...but it's not the full story...

SteveZ said:

Do all the frets look the same as the one in the photo?

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You talking about those greenish spots? Interesting, isn't it? It only shows up in that super close photo under the bright light - never noticed it before that. It's not really wear, might be very light corrosion or residue from strings, I'm going to investigate under high power magnifiers as I work on this.

John

Had to poke a few holes in the bridge...



Here's the view from the bottom, shot through the hole for the endpin jack. I was really impressed that my little Canon PowerShot SD1300IS P&S got this shot. I got out my tripod and the DSLR thinking I'd need to set up a manual shot to get a picture focused on the goodies and not the body. Turned out that all of my batteries for the DSLR were low and the little P&S got it right first click.

BTW, I wasn't looking under here for the sake of idle curiosity...



That big screw is one of three that run through the bridge and bridge plate - now you know why KoAloha's have that little "decorative" strip on the bridge...

Also...for the sake of scale note that the vertical drill bit is a tiny #60 or something like that, and the angled drill bit is a 5/64" bit. Also keep in mind that the space between the screw and the vertical bit is kind of critical for what I have in mind...

John

Here's a handy hint when you need to rip a piece of stock narrower than your rip fence will close to. My rip fence will only close to 1/2" so I cut a 1/2" strip and used that to set a fence for the 1/4" strips I needed.



A saw table also makes a dandy sanding surface when you need to get it absolutely straight...



And a great flat mirror for ensuring that an edge is, indeed, straight...



John

Measuring the bridge for about the 50th time...remember that tight clearance I mentioned?...



What the heck is this ugly thing...sure hope this danged fool ain't planning on gluing that monstrosity in that nice KoAloha!



Oh, crud, that must be exactly what he's planning; he's broken out the poor-man's glue pot!



John

Hmmmm, what have we here? Looks like something that would go into an R/C model airplane...



In case you haven't guessed, the above is a couple of braces tacked to a positioning block with a bit of rubber cement...since I have to work almost blind through the sound hole that was what I came up with as a way to position the braces and clamp them until the hide glue sets.



And it's clamped. I'm glad I bought two clamps at WoodCrafters today. I picked up a small box clamp that I thought would fit and it would have let me horse the thing down really tight. Unfortunately, it was about 1/8" too large to sit squarely on the positioning block inside the uke. After I got it clamped with this spring clamp I realized I could have cut the aluminum end of the box clamp and made it fit. Oh well.

Well, remember the tight clearances I talked about? Now it's just a matter of waiting 24 hours to see if this worked or if have a real mess in there. I dry-fit the piece about a dozen times to get used to the feel of it and, after I got the clamp on, I did slip drill bits down those holes to make sure that the braces clear the holes. The 1/8" thick brace had to fit in a space about 5/32" on the G side...

Also, I have stored the uke face down on a couple of boxes - I was sparing with the hide glue but I really don't want any to run down and glue the braces to the positioning block.

Well...tomorrow evening I'll be able to remove the clamp and (hopefully) tap the positioning block loose and discover whether those braces are where I intended...

John

@Captain Simian - hilarious!

I was proud of myself for installing my own strap pin on a $200 laminate. You, sir, have nerves of steel doing this to a big K! :worship:

Jim Hanks said:

I was proud of myself for installing my own strap pin on a $200 laminate. You, sir, have nerves of steel doing this to a big K! :worship:

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Well...nerves of steel or brain of bird...I guess we'll find out tomorrow evening! LOL

John

I'm a bit braver just by reading the posts. Wowzers.

So what are your plans for your new one of a kind 5 string KoAloha? Will we get a sound sample? Can I send you my Kanile'a for your next conversion?

OldePhart said:

As the thread-title says...

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You've decided to go stringless and full percussive! Cool!

Ukejenny said:

I'm a bit braver just by reading the posts. Wowzers.

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Part of me wants to bask in the glow of admiration from those admiring my bravery...but, honestly, there is a back story that diminishes the bravery required by a fair amount.

The short story is this long neck soprano that I bought used (only a couple of months after it's manufacture date, though) always had some intonation issues (up the neck). I went so far as to glue up an extra thick bridge saddle with a "bump" for the C and E strings so I could get intonation. Like most KoAloha ukes it didn't like the really high tension strings that I use on many of my ukes. I found, however, that it sounded great and, after carving my new saddle, had great intonation with Ko'Olau Alohi tenor strings. Then two months later the intonation was horrible again even with a fresh set of strings.

That's when I looked closely and realized that the bridge was curling forward. The top had only dimpled a little more than usual between the bridge and the soundhole but it was enough to throw the top of the saddle forward and mess up the intonation up the neck. It had apparently been curling even with the stock strings and the Alohi tenor strings hastened the process.

I took the strings off about three months ago and started hydrating the bejabbers out of it. The top returned to it's normal profile but I had the feeling that it would start curling forward again as soon as I put strings on it, even the mediums it comes with. So, I was kind of in a quandry.

I couldn't in good conscious ask KoAloha to fix it because they have such great service they would probably insist on replacing it under warranty even though the damage was really my fault for using the tenor strings.

I also couldn't in good conscious string it up with light strings and sell it to someone knowing that it might curl again.

So, I decided I was going to have to put braces in but doing so would destroy the resale value completely and that's when I hit on the idea of converting it to 5-string, too since I was going to be "stuck" with it and I find that I'm really enamored of 5-strings.

I expect that the braces are going to reduce some of the "openness" and volume characteristic of KoAloha ukes, but it will still be gorgeous and probably a very good player...just not fully up to what one expects from KoAloha.

I also decided that I would pull the under-soundboard pickup out and put in a MiSi as an under saddle pickup should do a better job of picking up the low G notes on the small body than a soundboard transducer.

So...not so much bravery as "nothing left to lose. "

John

Teek said:

So what are your plans for your new one of a kind 5 string KoAloha? Will we get a sound sample? Can I send you my Kanile'a for your next conversion?

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Heh, heh. I don't work on other folks instruments...too much stress involved!

Dane said:

You've decided to go stringless and full percussive! Cool!

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LOL - well, if the five string doesn't work out...that's a possibility!

John

Well...this is a good sign. The positioning block came out easily and didn't bring the braces with it...I guess tomorrow or Tuesday...I'll get brave and look to see if the braces lined up...

You know better than that! Ready on the left...



Ready on the right...



We are ready on the firing line! You can see I carved the notches for the bridge plate too long and too deep. I was working almost blind. I really wish I'd thought to take pictures like these when I was carving the braces and fitting them. These pictures are so much clearer than my crummy near vision. It's okay, though. First, the braces do make contact with the top again just out of view in these photos and run almost to the kerfing so the top is well braced. Second, now that the braces are in place I am going to fill the gaps with epoxy. I'd planned on touching up the glue with a bit of epoxy anyway because I'd been so sparing with the hide glue so I could remove the assembly easily if it ended up in the wrong place or something else wonky.

I know some people might think epoxy is sacrilege in a musical instrument but I do NOT want these braces loosening up and buzzing a year from now!

BTW, that bridge plate is THIN - I don't think it's over 1/16". I carved the slots as near 3/32" as I could manage and you can see there is quite a gap. For purposes of scale...the new braces are precisely 1/4" top to bottom along the unscalloped section over the bridge plate...Edit: let me clarify...the new braces were cut 1/4" high from the basswood stock (you saw that in the earlier photos), then carved down from there.

John