Nickie
Well-known member
Well, it's in the shop. The luthier explained what happened to it. I was right to take it in to him, there wasn't a damn thing I could have done to improve it, short of buying a new ukulele.
His explanation: The C string buzzes, of course, when the other ones do not, because it is the fattest string, and makes the largest orbit when struck. We're talking about thousandths of an inch!
My ukulele neck has begun to arch "backward" away from the top, toward the back of the instrument, making the frets at the end lower, therefore making the middle frets higher, in effect. He said this happens because wood is organic and it changes. He said if guitar and ukulele necks were way thicker, maybe this wouldn't happen so much, but then they wouldn't be much fun to play.
That is why guitars and even some expensive ukes have rods going through the neck (like my GF'S bass) that can be adjusted. As long as I have ukuleles that are made of wood, this can happen. I don't know when mine was made, but I've only had it since December. It happened that fast! Maybe it's because of how humid it is in Florida, and I'm always taking it outside to work with me. Even though my car has AC, and so does my condo, it still might get pretty "moist" in my gigbag. I'm going to ask him if I should shop for a good case, even though it's a cheap uke, it;s the only one I have right now, and UAS hasn't hit me (thank the gods!)
So it will be in the shop for a day or too, having the neck/frets "filed" with a really flat file. Then it will be good as new until it happens again. If necks were made of carbon fiber, this wouldn't happen, but then luthiers might be unemployed, and ukes would double or triple in price. Plus, carbon fiber has no "soul" like wood does!
His explanation: The C string buzzes, of course, when the other ones do not, because it is the fattest string, and makes the largest orbit when struck. We're talking about thousandths of an inch!
My ukulele neck has begun to arch "backward" away from the top, toward the back of the instrument, making the frets at the end lower, therefore making the middle frets higher, in effect. He said this happens because wood is organic and it changes. He said if guitar and ukulele necks were way thicker, maybe this wouldn't happen so much, but then they wouldn't be much fun to play.
That is why guitars and even some expensive ukes have rods going through the neck (like my GF'S bass) that can be adjusted. As long as I have ukuleles that are made of wood, this can happen. I don't know when mine was made, but I've only had it since December. It happened that fast! Maybe it's because of how humid it is in Florida, and I'm always taking it outside to work with me. Even though my car has AC, and so does my condo, it still might get pretty "moist" in my gigbag. I'm going to ask him if I should shop for a good case, even though it's a cheap uke, it;s the only one I have right now, and UAS hasn't hit me (thank the gods!)
So it will be in the shop for a day or too, having the neck/frets "filed" with a really flat file. Then it will be good as new until it happens again. If necks were made of carbon fiber, this wouldn't happen, but then luthiers might be unemployed, and ukes would double or triple in price. Plus, carbon fiber has no "soul" like wood does!