Saddle Buzz on Pre-1980 Bruko No. 6

CPG

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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!

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It might be that when you lowered the saddle you went too far and decreased the brake angle to the point that there isn’t enough down force on the saddle. Break angle is angle of the string over the saddle and down to point of contact of the bridge.

Might look for more info from that prospective.

If that’s the problem you could try changing the attachment at the bridge to a “strings through the top” set up. There are threads about that type of change.

Let us know what you do.

Edited for typo.
 
Thanks folks. Those are both helpful thoughts. You know I was just looking at it wondering if it could be a break angle issue. I'm now thinking that may have been the issue from the beginning. My understanding was that these were made with high action but even before I did any work to it the action was under 3mm and I wonder if it had been previously lowered. I have never heard of the through body conversion. I need to read about that. I guess the other option would be to plane it down and remake the saddle. Though that would probably mean making the action pretty high. I dont need it to be as low as it is but I dont want to make it crazy high either.

Hmmmmmm. Will need to think about this. Dang, I was really really hoping when I pulled the trigger on this that it wouldn't turn into a project. Oh well. that's the risk of buying on Ebay.
 
Well, I decided to rebuild the bridge / saddle in an effort to increase the break angle enough to get rid of the buzz. I have toddler at home so, I don't get down to the woodshop very often but I had about 30 minutes today to take the uke down there. I managed to get the old saddle area planed down. I used to shoulder plane so that I wouldn't just have a surface on the bottom but also a shoulder behind the new saddle I install (see attached pic). I have an ebony pen turning blank that I'm going to cut the new saddle from. I may glue the new saddle in or I may keep it as a free piece and just let string tension hold it down. I haven't decided that yet. I'm just kind of figuring this out as I go. I'm not sure when I'll get around to making a new saddle but hopefully I can find a little time this week. I'll post an update when it's done.

Hopefully a little increased height will increase the break angle enough to get rid of the buzz.

20181007_143804.jpg
 
When someone describes a sound as a rattle, as you do, it usually means something loose. But, you say it's only this string and it rattles whether it's picked fretted or open. (Even when fretted up high on the neck?) This doesn't make it seem like a loose brace or bridge plate.
Is the bridge itself loose, or cracked?
I recommend leaving the new saddle height far to high when you first string you Bruko. This way you can be sure weather the buzz is or is not a result of the action being too low for this instrument. My guess is that's your problem. Some ukuleles just don't work with the action as low as you might like.
 
I recommend leaving the new saddle height far to high when you first string you Bruko. This way you can be sure weather the buzz is or is not a result of the action being too low for this instrument. My guess is that's your problem. Some ukuleles just don't work with the action as low as you might like.

I'm right there with you on starting with the high saddle. I got one roughed out this morning. I didn't finish shaping it but just smooth the edges off and just put it in place to string up the uke. The starting point put the string height at about 5 millimeters above the 12th fret. I think I'm going to aim for 4 millimeters above the 12th fret once the saddle totally finished. Right around 3 millimeters would be ideal for me but I think that might be getting too low again. Though I might even make a couple of them at different heights and see what I like the best. I think that'll make the difference I need. I don't really mind it the action is a little high. Even with the incomplete saddle in place it really seems like this is going to make the difference. I think it's going to really improve the tone and increase the volume in addition to getting rid of the buzz. I'm very hopeful. I'll post back when it's done.
 
The saddle replacement was a success. I made a compensated saddle out of ebony. I considered gluing a piece of wood to the front of the bridge to create a slot so the saddle would be removable but in the end decided to keep things simple and just glued the new saddle into the rabbet/rebate where I had planed out the old saddle. By following the angle on what was left on the old saddle area I was able to tell about what the height would have been orginally. It's a little over 3mm at the 12th, so it's not low but it's not crazy high either and it has enough break angle now that it doesn't buzz. It's a good bit louder and better sounding now too. The intonation isnt perfect even with the compensation but on an old soprano with a scale of only 13" I guess that's to be expected. All and I'm quite pleased.

I'll post some pics and maybe a video later when I get a little more time. Thanks for the suggestions folks. This had me pretty stumped.
 
And I found a few minutes to get a couple sound/video samples. Any buzzing you hear is the result of my crap uke skills, not the uke. Thanks again for the help all. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.



 
Nice Chris - I am so glad to be the new owner of this one.
Best - Ian
 
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