Fixing Up East-Start Archtop

bigphil said:
I'm not sure there would be an easy way to get the flat base of that bridge to fit the arched top of the ukes...
Click to expand...

You could fashion a block of ebony and shape it like in the StewMac video. But the big thing would be drilling holes all the way through to the back where the strings would be attached with a steel grommet. Some kind of support might be needed to keep the top and back from collapsing together, if there isn't something there already.

Looking at those bridges again. The string spacing is a narrow 10.3mm. I think we need more like 15mm.
 
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My entire bridge is not centered, look how much closer it is to the right f-hole. With the ground wire, I'm going to have to be very careful how I go about centering and/or replacing the bridge.

Bridge off center close.jpg
 
Did you post a pic of your non centered bridge Mike?

Nevermind, I see it now, it didn't show up when I initially made this post...
 
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Skinny Money McGee said:
You could fashion a block of ebony and shape it like in the StewMac video. But the big thing would be drilling holes all the way through to the back where the strings would be attached with a steel grommet. Some kind of support might be needed to keep the top and back from collapsing together, if there isn't something there already.

Looking at those bridges again. The string spacing is a narrow 10.3mm. I think we need more like 15mm.
Click to expand...

Before buying any one-piece bridge, assuming it would fit an arch top, I would get some advice in regards to mounting it. Personally, I would never mount it without some type of support for it underneath, inside the body. I wouldn't trust just the thin top to the tension of steel strings. That said, I am no kind of luthier and like most times, have no clue what I'm talking about.

Also, a through-body style bridge will not work, period. Those are designed strictly for solid bodies, AFAIK. ( I realize cigar boxes are not solid. Still, I don't think it's a viable option on THIS uke)


kohanmike said:
My entire bridge is not centered, look how much closer it is to the right f-hole. With the ground wire, I'm going to have to be very careful how I go about centering and/or replacing the bridge.

Bridge off center close.jpg
Click to expand...

Mike, being centered between the f-holes is not important. The f-holes may not be symmetrical. Where the strings set in relationship to the fretboard is what should determine your bridge placement.
 
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I would love to know from Simon (though I doubt if we'd get an honest answer) if the reason they stopped making the versions without a tailpiece was that they'd had problems with the bridge that many of us wanted. Perhaps they were getting returns based on bridges warping the arched top of the instrument or ripping off it. I'd love to know that, because I have been considering getting a local luthier to give me an estimate for how much it would cost to get rid of the current set up. If there have been problems with that bridge setup I'd only be throwing good money after bad.

I'm still giving some thought to selling mine.
 
kohanmike said:
My entire bridge is not centered, look how much closer it is to the right f-hole.
Click to expand...

Mike-

Maybe it's not supposed to be? Because it is a multi instrument bridge, it mounts differently for each application?

When I look at your strings, they seem equidistant from the F holes and they cross the pick up about the same place as well.

Just a thought.
 
Skinny Money McGee said:
Looking at those bridges again. The string spacing is a narrow 10.3mm. I think we need more like 15mm.
Click to expand...

I still haven't got mine yet and I'm still waiting for someone to remove the pickup and tell us ALL if it's a pole piece pickup or a blade pickup. If its a pole piece pickup then you most definitely DO want 10.3-10.5mm spacing unless your prepared to fit a new and more expensive blade pickup.

Anthony
 
kohanmike said:
My entire bridge is not centered, look how much closer it is to the right f-hole. With the ground wire, I'm going to have to be very careful how I go about centering and/or replacing the bridge.

Bridge off center close.jpg
Click to expand...

Ouch, that's kind of sloppy. Wait, erase kind of. The strings aren't centered on the pickup, either...not too big a deal if it uses a bar magnet under that cover.

More importantly, though, how do the strings line up on the neck. There should be fairly close to the same amount of space between each outside string and its respective edge of the fret board. I remember seeing one picture of one of these ukes where it looked like the A string was barely over the fret board by the time the strings got to the body. I don't recall if it was yours, though.

If it's any consolation I once worked on a Fender Am Std Strat where the neck had been mounted at an angle and to try to make things line up they had moved the pickguard (which holds the pickups) as far as they could while the pickups would still go in the cavities routed in the body, mounted the bridge off center, and the E string was still almost off the edge of the fret board at the body and so far off the pickup pole magnets that it was almost dead.

The thing that really hacked me off about that guitar was that they had to know at the factory that the neck was not mounted right...but instead of fixing or rejecting it for that they just tried to move everything else to the limits to make it work.

It was a $900 piece of junk.
 
I'm not at all adverse to having a set of Seymour Duncans installed if my luthier thinks it will be worth the expense. I didn't buy it for resale. New pots are a given if he can figure a way to replace them. (in addition to the bridge/saddle/tailpiece problems, etc.)
 
All the electronics in these HAD to go in through the pickup holes, we saw pictures of the bare finished bodies, so that is the only option. You'll have to remove them and reassemble new pots and pickups on the bench, then reinstall as a unit.
 
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Wagster said:
Mike, being centered between the f-holes is not important. The f-holes may not be symmetrical. Where the strings set in relationship to the fretboard is what should determine your bridge placement.
Click to expand...

The strings are certainly not centered on the pickup, and they're not spaced evenly either.

Barbablanca said:
I would love to know from Simon (though I doubt if we'd get an honest answer) if the reason they stopped making the versions without a tailpiece was that they'd had problems with the bridge that many of us wanted.
Click to expand...

Replied earlier (or on the other thread) that Simon specifically told me when I complained to him about the improper tailpiece, that their supplier did not have the proper ones, so they just put the full tailpiece on all of them without saying anything.

focsle said:
When I look at your strings, they seem equidistant from the F holes and they cross the pick up about the same place as well. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

The strings are not centered on the pickups. And the A is too close to the edge of the fret board.

I'm planning to take it to my luthier on Monday and discuss all the possibilities. He's a master and has repaired the most damaged
guitars you've ever seen. He's done great setups on a few of my ukes. I'm also going to have him move the volume and tone controls to be front and back position rather than above and below.

1 ES Mine.jpg
 
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kohanmike said:
My entire bridge is not centered, look how much closer it is to the right f-hole. With the ground wire, I'm going to have to be very careful how I go about centering and/or replacing the bridge.

Bridge off center close.jpg
Click to expand...

I find it odd that your bridge is so far forward, relative to the F holes. It probably doesn't matter much for a semi-hollow, but it just looks strange to me.
 
Please excuse crappy phone photography.........

Mike, here's how I have my strings set up. Aside from the vectoring between the tail and bridge (cough) you can see the strings are running parallel and centered, mostly, along the fretboard.

Jostle your strings around and see if this set up works a little better for you.

wagster-albums-alida-uke-picture66127-20140427-000055.jpg

wagster-albums-alida-uke-picture66126-20140427-000235.jpg


For those curious about the pickups, here's a few shots for you....

wagster-albums-alida-uke-picture66131-20140426-224255-2.jpg

wagster-albums-alida-uke-picture66129-20140426-224228.jpg

The covers do not pop off. In the second photo you can see the four melt-points that are retaining it. I could not determine if they have pole or blade magnets, but I'd venture to guess they are more likely to be the blade type (or possibly some other conglomeration hitherto unknown to anyone outside the secret East-Start Pick-up Engineering Labratories).
 
Wagster said:
Mike, here's how I have my strings set up. Aside from the vectoring between the tail and bridge (cough) you can see the strings are running parallel and centered, mostly, along the fretboard.

View attachment 66248
Click to expand...

My bridge is too close to the lower f-hole to get the strings to line up properly. Your bridge is actually closer to the other f-hole, which looks like it makes it easier to get the bridge grooves to line up better.

I'm figuring my luthier has the expertise to fill the improperly placed holes and drill new ones where they're supposed to be. It's obvious to me now that the bridge has to be steel to make the ground work. I'm also thinking it might be necessary to have a custom metal upper (saddle?) piece made.
 
Wagster said:
The covers do not pop off. In the second photo you can see the four melt-points that are retaining it. I could not determine if they have pole or blade magnets, but I'd venture to guess they are more likely to be the blade type (or possibly some other conglomeration hitherto unknown to anyone outside the secret East-Start Pick-up Engineering Labratories).
Click to expand...

Thanks for trying. I was going to ask if you could unscrew the cover but they're melted on. Good grief.

Anthony
 
1300cc said:
so which strings do i buy?
Click to expand...

My recommendation based on my experience with my current steel string ukulele is to start with a set of electric 10-46's (standard) and use the lightest 4 strings. I'm not 100% sure that this will be the best but its the best place to start. Someone was going to try a lighter set out (starting at 9) but he hasn't reported back yet.

Anthony
 
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