Stringing My Bushman Jenny.. It's kind of different.

So I've had my ukulele for awhile, and I think it is time for new strings, only I have no idea how I'd string this ukulele.

The bridge is kind of set up different, it's not like you can just put the strings through the holes, or tie it with a knot.





The strings go through the back (the side facing the frets) and they are somehow twisted around and looped from the front to the back. Then, after that, theres some random string connecting all 4 together.. WTF how do you even do that?

Any help would be nice.. I want to get new strings but not until I'm sure I can change it succesfully.

It's far, far simpler than you think. That's not one random string running down the butt of the bridge - each section is the tail end of the string on top of it. That's the end of the 4th string between the 4th and 3rd, etc.

All you do is make sure you have a couple of inches of string sticking out from behind the bridge. Grab it, loop it around the string just behind the saddle, then loop it around itself 3 times or so. That holds it in place instead of a knot. Give it a shot, you'll see what I mean.

Also check out Aldrine's Uke Minutes on the subject.

so ran into a problem..

tried restringing, and the part of the top of the ukulele that has the slits that the strings sit on, fell right off as soon as i unstrung my ukulele..

i restrung it anyway.. and now i have a huge buzz on my g and e strings.. like it sounds like a damn bee is in place of my string

CoLmes said:

so ran into a problem..

tried restringing, and the part of the top of the ukulele that has the slits that the strings sit on, fell right off as soon as i unstrung my ukulele..

i restrung it anyway.. and now i have a huge buzz on my g and e strings.. like it sounds like a damn bee is in place of my string

Click to expand...

Did you put the nut back on? maybe in the wrong direction???

My advice for your next restringing - do it step by step, or better string by string... that way you will avoid anything that is held in place by the strings to come off...

CoLmes said:

so ran into a problem..

tried restringing, and the part of the top of the ukulele that has the slits that the strings sit on, fell right off as soon as i unstrung my ukulele..

i restrung it anyway.. and now i have a huge buzz on my g and e strings.. like it sounds like a damn bee is in place of my string

Click to expand...

Do you mean the bridge saddle (the piece that rests inside the bridge) or the nut (at the headstock end of the neck)?

If you mean the nut, it should be glued into position if it is not. But first try loosening the strings and turning it around just in case you put it on backwards. That's always a possibility. Look inside the slits and see if there's any dirt specks or schmutz in there. Sometimes a small foreign article can cause a buzz. If you get it into the right position, consider gluing it down.

If you mean the bridge saddle, it should never be glued into place - but again, it might be in backwards or something may have fallen between the bottom of the saddle and the wood it rests on.

Keep reporting back - we'll be happy to help you out.

Thanks a lot guys, I believe it's the bridge saddle. (the piece under the friction pegs) it's starting to sound alright.. im not sure if i put it in backwards or not (i went with the dirter side to face the friction pegs because I figured my hand has been touching that side the most) I plan on getting D'addario's for it, the martin's I bought are just too thin and I don't really like the sound.. I'l let you know how it goes.

Nope, that would be the nut. The saddle is at the end where the strings are tied.

Your whole setup is common in the classical guitar world. You can get away with neither end being glued as the string pressure holds it all together. At most, just the tiniest dab of glue can be used at the nut (the one with the slots) to keep it from moving sideways from string tension. The nut is usually radiused on one side. This is the side that faces the tuners and allows the strings to slope gently into the tuners without kinking. If you put the "dirty" side toward the tuners, you may have it backwards. This is a guitar pic, but it should look something like this:



You don't have to do that thing with the strings running under their neighbors either. But it is pretty. Most of the time I just do the 3 twist thing and cut the tail off after it's done stretching.

I had the same thing happen the first time I removed the strings from my Jenny. The nut popped right off. I called the folks at Bushman and was told that was normal. They leave them that way so folks can take them off and adjust their actions easily.

Rigk from Risa has a video on the Risa website about changing strings on three different types of bridges. He also mentions that if you aren't careful rewinding the tuners,you can create a string angle between the nut and tuner that may result in a buzz.http://www.ukulele.de

Hope this helps

I turned the nut around and it seems to be better. But I just don't like the strings, too thin and toyish. I ordered the D'addario's from the UU store so hupefully they'll be more to my liking.