NUD: Wei One Soprano

Top back and sides are solid air-dried Brazilian Walnut with a Mahogany neck. The nut is reported as being made from Buffalo bone and the bridge also appears to have a real bone insert. 15 frets on the rosewood fret board, reported scale length of 13", overall length of 20" or 510mm its a small soprano. Comparable more to the 20's-30's harmony I own than the 50's-60's model in size its smaller than a Kala SEM.

Build quality it looks very nice and the quality of the build looks nicer than my tenor. The finish is better applied there are no really thick spots, the inlay also looks well done. There are a few flaws a small hole in the wood at the back of the headstock and a light area on the top engraving but overall its a great looking solid wood uke for $99 before shipping. Bruce does put a label in the instrument with a model number and build date. It looks cheaper because of it in my opinion.

I let it sit in the box for two hours before opening it then gave it another three hours before tune up. I'm honest and it sounds quite unimpressive right now even for a 99 dollar ukulele but I have no fear it will open up as my tenor did. The string height at the nut is quite low and seems fine at the bridge so playability is good. I'm unhappy with two of the friction tuners the bases turn with the tuner. Gonna email the seller and see what he says. I'll have the Aquila reds on it before the night is over.

Stock eBay photos for now I'll take a couple with a good camera tomorrow maybe outside in the snow.

~peace~

Nice looking uke AL, congratulations!

Nicee uke!

Nice choice, I peruse eBay all the time and see Bruce Wei's tenor ukes with that style. I'm waiting for my Bruce Wei custom gypsy jazz solid curly maple top, solid Indian Rosewood body to open up, but my custom mandolele gloss black all solid acacia koa sounded really good right out of the box, need to tweak the A string a bit, but otherwise I'm very happy with it.

So I stopped dead in my tracks last night looking at a bridge with 8 holes drilled in it with some really odd looking minimalist knots in them holding the strings on.

This started the research phase and I find its a bridge design used on Flamingo guitars. This video shows how to alter tension with such a bridge on said guitar.



Pretty sure I could just tie a knot in the end and string it through like that.

OK I haven't yet wrote BW with questions but here is my input so far. I had taken the two tuners apart and filed any sharp snags on the springs, they are quite minimalist but better than many friction tuners. They seem to have worked themselves out and now turn correctly. I restrung it with Aquila reds and noticed the high G made a tinny buzzing sound. After a bunch of experimentation with paper under the string I switched back to the white Aquila that came on it. With this string the buzz isn't as pronounced but it is still there and on all the strings if hit hard enough. I'm convinced its one of two things either the saddle is too squared or the string tension with this style bridge is too high. I do not think its a loose brace inside if anything its over braced for the added tension maybe?

Hitting the strings hard! Ive mentioned its a small ukulele well I found its voice but its not very loud in fact you have to almost abuse it to get it to sing. It has little sustain and is very punchy when played this way. I only say abuse it because if I play my SEM this way it almost distorts the sound, the little guy seems built for it. It is different to play not bad just very different to me. Still in judgement phase more to come.

Thanks for reading.

Update: After some more experimentation it seems to have this buzz on the open C and every fretted G leading me to believe it is quite possibly a loose brace.

SOB heh... time to write that email.

Inksplosive AL said:

Update: After some more experimentation it seems to have this buzz on the open C and every fretted G leading me to believe it is quite possibly a loose brace.

SOB heh... time to write that email.

Click to expand...

or bad fret work or the slots in the nut too low

The sound comes from the bridge area the frets are fine and the nut while cut low is perfect for me. No its nothing so simple I've already raised the action on the string before replacing the white Aquila, the reds having what has been described as a more metallic sound tends to tweak the frequency that causes this buzz even more.

I wrote Bruce a letter as follows.

Hello sir,

I recently bought a soprano ukulele from you #UG13-2039 and have an issue that I do not think is easily corrected. I brought the ukulele into my home and have been humidifying it properly since it arrived. I tuned it up with the installed strings after letting it acclimatize to my home I wasn't floored with the sound but Im willing to let it open up and gain a voice. I'm not a fan of white Aquila strings so I switched it over to a set of Aquila reds. I instantly notice a buzz on the open g and start trying to trace it down.

After placing a small piece of paper under the g at the nut at the saddle and then both nothing seems to stop this buzz. I reinstalled the white g string it came with and while this buzz is not as noticeable with the white Aquila's it is still present. While looking tonight to see if the new bridge design putting more tension on the saddle was at fault or if the saddle was too flat I then notice the open C (red) as well as fretted g's create the buzz.

I now believe there is a loose brace inside under the bridge and I'm quite sad. I can only think to remove all the strings and play a g note at it to see if it resonates and buzzes with no strings. What are your thoughts I know its a gamble because of the shipping cost making it not productive to return for repair or replacement. I also had an issue with two of the tuners turning the base against the wood instead of properly turning but compared to the buzz thats not a big issue.

Thanks Al

So far my reply is:

We apologize for this automatic reply to your email. Due to Chinese New Year, our company will be on holidays from February 14th to February 25th 2015. We just delay in shipping and replying e-mails but selling is as usual. We will check and reply your e-mails as soon as we are back to work. Sorry about all the inconveniences, and thank you again for looking ! HAPPY NEW YEAR !!! Bruce Wei

So Happy New Year woot! Year of the Ram woo hoo! So I wait another week patently happy, I played the lottery it is what it is. Another person might not even notice this buzz I hear.

All my Bruce ukuleles I bought shrinks like sponge. Your case sounds familiar. I just simply changed all bone saddles to make string heights back to normal. Humidity level in my appartmen changes between 35-45 % in winter time and thats definetely too low for Bruce's ukes.

Its not humidity I'm prepared for a jungle built ukulele this time and its not string height or a bad string. I started asking questions in the tech forums and hope to get a few ideas from there.

Thank you for reading.

~AL~

Inksplosive AL said:

The sound comes from the bridge area the frets are fine and the nut while cut low is perfect for me. No its nothing so simple I've already raised the action on the string before replacing the white Aquila, the reds having what has been described as a more metallic sound tends to tweak the frequency that causes this buzz even more.

Click to expand...

I think most buzz sounds are heard by saddle or nut. I would tap the body and see if you hear a diff't sound. Also, since the buzz is by the G, C strings, place your arm on the body by that side and see if it still buzzes as you pluck the notes?

Do you have a fret rocker? How did you check if the frets are level? Put several pieces of thick paper under the nut until you hear no buzzing on the open string to eliminate that the nut is not the problem.

Good luck.

Thanks everyone for trying to help.

I get nothing with tapping or holding/pressing various parts of the ukulele while making it buzz. I have put paper of varying thickness under the nut and while it did deaden the sound much as the Aquila white has it never went away. I can tell its not a fret as all the notes ring out clearly open and fretted up the neck. I'm familiar with a high fret causing a string buzz my smiley needed some fret leveling to make playable. I have not yet put a straight edge on the frets because there are no symptoms of a high fret.

Like I already said I hear this buzz on every string when plucked forcefully, just noticed it seems to resonate with the C and g notes more not just open strings but even the fretted g on the other strings. It just seems this little guys likes it rough but then is giving me the finger with this buzz. I might be totally insane and finding issues because I can but as stated before I can get a decent full sounding volume out of this little guy. Its just that I have to use force in playing it to do so. The same force on my Kala SEM distorts the sound.

I took the gamble playing the Vietnam lottery I'm sure it will work itself out through a DIY fix or it just becomes art as I stick it on my shop wall and write it off. I'm just searching for ideas now to pinpoint the brace. Maybe I'll just leave one string on and get my sausage fingers in there and start prodding. Maybe I just need to wait the week or find a luthier nearby.

Of course I could just play it.

~Al~

Update

Inksplosive AL said:

Its not humidity I'm prepared for a jungle built ukulele this time... blah blah blah blah

~AL~

Click to expand...

My IQ went stupid again. After changing to a set of d'addario titaniums I had on my smiley for a day of two I noticed the frets starting to poke out one side of the fretboard. A quick evaluation and I fixed the issue with my humidity box. After a week now the wood is rehumidifying the buzz has all but gone and the tone is opening up.

I hate these strings so I will likely go back to the Aquila reds. Time will tell. Its still a very quiet ukulele.

Oh the reply from the seller was to have the uke looked at by a local luthier find the issue and move from there. I should write back now.

Oh the reply from the seller was to have the uke looked at by a local luthier find the issue and move from there. I should write back now.[/QUOTE]

I didn't have time to read the entire thread ... who was the seller? Bruce Wei or another? Would like to avoid them. Thanks.

sam13 said:

I didn't have time to read the entire thread ... who was the seller? Bruce Wei or another? Would like to avoid them. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Sad really.

I bought Wei One ($159) from Nunya a great builder from the wilds of the Serengeti. $60 was shipping so its a $99 ukulele made of solid walnut.

You did see the part where I admit my humidity control box for the winter months malfunctioned eh? Maybe you missed the part about this discovery fixing my issues. The tuner stopped slipping on its own, likely the wood was dry.

I have a 1920 Harmony that needs a trip to the humidity box now and then. My recent acquisition of a 1920's banjolele started showing fret ends in a week and the wooden friction tuners started slipping soon after. Trip to the humidity box.

My tenor from the same builder started out flat sounding but now sings with a tone equaling a KoAloha all for $78 including the $60 shipping. I still hope the walnut opens up but I've heard its a dark sounding wood so I might try an Acacia soprano like the tenor.

If it never sings very loudly then it is what it is. Mic it up or install a pickup eh?

Al, just wanna say your attitude as a customer is very refreshing and something we could do with more of in this world. Suppose you work in an industry where you get some right annoying sods and decided you didn't wanna be that guy?

Hope it goes well for you, that's a cool looking uke and you seem to have a handle on it now. If I had a bit more disposable income I'd be very tempted to take a punt myself.

Funny calling tattooing an industry used to be a way to tell someone in the know from the mob. I'm the first person to bitch about poor service and honestly you might be surprised how many free meals a bit of complaining may bring. I will admit I'm very short with stupidity and ignorance. So I might not bring as refreshing an attitude as you think. The seller responded in the proper manner I could have returned it for a hit on shipping which makes it not financially viable. I do believe eBay has been taking a percentage of the shipping fees for at least a couple years now so I do not consider the charges as inflating the price just cost of shipping.

I was prepared to take it to the guitar shop next to my shop to have the owner take a look at it but once I saw the fret ends sticking out I knew something was wrong with my humidity box.

The sister uke is now back on the Bay reduced $10 in price. It has a nicer inlay on the fretboard with different cuts of wood but otherwise a match. I would expect it to need to be humidified and much quieter than a KA-SEM. A solid (air dried) wood ukulele made from walnut with inlay and an odd treatment to the top for $89 before shipping. I caught myself looking for a soprano in Acacia wood but keep looking at the old style looking thin waisted concert he makes. I finally asked myself why the hell am I still looking? No more new ukuleles unless something spectacular floats by... and that's why I'm still looking. Hello my name is Al and I'm a ukeaholic.

I don't believe any income is truly disposable. The more you make the higher your bills.

~peace~