CPG
Well-known member
Hi All,
I'm new to this forum. I'm mainly a clawhammer banjo player, but I've been having a lot of fun messing with uke the past couple years. I've been lurking here for a while, but you probably won't see me post a lot. I used to be very active on a woodworking forum (my other hobby), and while I learned a ton and made some good friends there, I'm more of a forum lurker than poster these days. With that said. I have decided to post here to see if I can get some help with some buzzing that has me stuck. This is a very long post so bear with me.
A few weeks ago, I found a lovely Bruko 6 on Ebay for a good price. I emailed Bruko a picture after I got it and was informed that it is pre-1980.
The bridge had been reglued at one point and a nut slot had been filled (supposedly both professionally), and all in all it functioned quite nicely. There was however a good bit of wear on the saddle (e.g. grooves worn in from the strings), that seemed to be causing some buzzing and intonation issues, especially when fingerpicked particularly on the C string.
Now, I'm no luthier, but given my other hobby is hand tool woodworking, having fixed buzzing banjo nuts and bridges in the past, and given that I only paid $106 for this shipped to my door, I wasn't at all afraid to go at the one-piece bridge/saddle with some fine files and sandpaper.
I assumed that simply getting rid of the wear would fix the buzzing and improve the intonation. Well, it didn't. The action was already low enough (probably about 2.75mm), but there was room to take it further down without getting fret buzz, so I decided I might as well more fully reshape the nut.
I began by beveling the front edge of the bridge to move the string contact points back adding extra compensation for the C-string in particular.
I was able to improve the intonation significantly. It’s not perfect all the way up the neck but the G, E, A strings seem pretty spot on at the 12th and the C string (though it still goes a little sharp) is much better. For an old inexpensive soprano, I'd say the intonation is pretty darn good.
Once I finished compensating the saddle, I lightly dressed the top where the string made contact, mostly to make sure the contact point wasn't too small sharp, but also to make sure it was angled/rounded back a little so that the string would seat properly.
Well, with all that done I still couldn't get rid of the buzz. I've gone back over the contact point a few times. I found that making the contact point a little wider helped some. I've messed with the angle of the contact point a couple times really really trying to make sure the strings are making full contact. I've definitely been able make it better but no matter what I do I can't totally get rid of the buzz.
To more clearly describe the "buzz". It not a long buzz and it's different than what fret buzz often sounds like. It’s more of a rattle or buzz with a very fast decay right on the note's attack. I don't hear it when strumming or with soft to medium fingerpicking. It is most apparent with even moderately harder fingerpicking. While the tension doesn't feel super low its almost seems like there is just not enough pressing down on the saddle.
I haven't decided whether to keep or sell this uke and it may end up in marketplace here or on craiglist, etc..., and even though it plays well for the most part as is, regardless of what I do with it, I obviously want to make sure it is functioning at its best. I have a little more wiggle room to address the saddle before the action gets too low but not much. Though worst case scenario I could plane it down and glue a new piece of wood on.
Also, to preemptively address some questions:
- Yes, I have changed the strings. It came with fresh D'addario carbons, I then put on some Martins, and finally thinking that extra string tension might help I put on some Worth Strongs last night (which didn't help).
- Yes, I'm sure its the saddle. I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure. Fretting/or holding the string at the nut does not take the buzz away. Fretting does reduce it some (more tension), but what really makes it go away is pressing down on the string at the saddle .
-Yes, I think the strings are contacting the saddle fully. You can see in the photo below where the strings are rubbing and it sure looks like they are contacting. This is most likely where I'm missing something though, because I have no idea what else could cause the buzz. Again, I'm no luthier but I'm not a total stranger to fixing buzz.
Any insights into how/if at all I can fix this would be much appreciated.
Thanks very much in advance!
View attachment 112501
View attachment 112502
I'm new to this forum. I'm mainly a clawhammer banjo player, but I've been having a lot of fun messing with uke the past couple years. I've been lurking here for a while, but you probably won't see me post a lot. I used to be very active on a woodworking forum (my other hobby), and while I learned a ton and made some good friends there, I'm more of a forum lurker than poster these days. With that said. I have decided to post here to see if I can get some help with some buzzing that has me stuck. This is a very long post so bear with me.
A few weeks ago, I found a lovely Bruko 6 on Ebay for a good price. I emailed Bruko a picture after I got it and was informed that it is pre-1980.
The bridge had been reglued at one point and a nut slot had been filled (supposedly both professionally), and all in all it functioned quite nicely. There was however a good bit of wear on the saddle (e.g. grooves worn in from the strings), that seemed to be causing some buzzing and intonation issues, especially when fingerpicked particularly on the C string.
Now, I'm no luthier, but given my other hobby is hand tool woodworking, having fixed buzzing banjo nuts and bridges in the past, and given that I only paid $106 for this shipped to my door, I wasn't at all afraid to go at the one-piece bridge/saddle with some fine files and sandpaper.
I assumed that simply getting rid of the wear would fix the buzzing and improve the intonation. Well, it didn't. The action was already low enough (probably about 2.75mm), but there was room to take it further down without getting fret buzz, so I decided I might as well more fully reshape the nut.
I began by beveling the front edge of the bridge to move the string contact points back adding extra compensation for the C-string in particular.
I was able to improve the intonation significantly. It’s not perfect all the way up the neck but the G, E, A strings seem pretty spot on at the 12th and the C string (though it still goes a little sharp) is much better. For an old inexpensive soprano, I'd say the intonation is pretty darn good.
Once I finished compensating the saddle, I lightly dressed the top where the string made contact, mostly to make sure the contact point wasn't too small sharp, but also to make sure it was angled/rounded back a little so that the string would seat properly.
Well, with all that done I still couldn't get rid of the buzz. I've gone back over the contact point a few times. I found that making the contact point a little wider helped some. I've messed with the angle of the contact point a couple times really really trying to make sure the strings are making full contact. I've definitely been able make it better but no matter what I do I can't totally get rid of the buzz.
To more clearly describe the "buzz". It not a long buzz and it's different than what fret buzz often sounds like. It’s more of a rattle or buzz with a very fast decay right on the note's attack. I don't hear it when strumming or with soft to medium fingerpicking. It is most apparent with even moderately harder fingerpicking. While the tension doesn't feel super low its almost seems like there is just not enough pressing down on the saddle.
I haven't decided whether to keep or sell this uke and it may end up in marketplace here or on craiglist, etc..., and even though it plays well for the most part as is, regardless of what I do with it, I obviously want to make sure it is functioning at its best. I have a little more wiggle room to address the saddle before the action gets too low but not much. Though worst case scenario I could plane it down and glue a new piece of wood on.
Also, to preemptively address some questions:
- Yes, I have changed the strings. It came with fresh D'addario carbons, I then put on some Martins, and finally thinking that extra string tension might help I put on some Worth Strongs last night (which didn't help).
- Yes, I'm sure its the saddle. I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure. Fretting/or holding the string at the nut does not take the buzz away. Fretting does reduce it some (more tension), but what really makes it go away is pressing down on the string at the saddle .
-Yes, I think the strings are contacting the saddle fully. You can see in the photo below where the strings are rubbing and it sure looks like they are contacting. This is most likely where I'm missing something though, because I have no idea what else could cause the buzz. Again, I'm no luthier but I'm not a total stranger to fixing buzz.
Any insights into how/if at all I can fix this would be much appreciated.
Thanks very much in advance!
View attachment 112501
View attachment 112502
Last edited: