Luna neck break and subsequent repair

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I haven't blogged in a long time. Yes, I know - you don't want to hear my excuses. Fine! I'm not going to give any this time. However, today I have a post that might (or might not) make up for my long absence.

My good friend, Tom acquired a Luna Concert Uke a couple years ago and he has been enjoying the heck out of it. But recently, tragedy struck. Tom dropped it (allegedly) and it broke! Personally, I don't buy his story. Here's what I like to think happened instead...

Tom was enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee on a Saturday morning while strumming some chords. The front door suddenly burst open and two men with guns rushed in and pointed them at Tom. "Where's the money!", exclaimed one of the men. You see, Tom has recently gotten himself involved with some mafia types and some drug deals have gone south. Tom is now indebted to them for large sums of money. Tom, of course, didn't have the money on that particular Saturday morning, so like any good mafia dude who is worth his weight, Mafia man A (we'll call him) sent Tom a message. He picked up Tom's Luna uke by the neck and bashed it into the wall, thus turning the ukulele into the pile of wood that you see below...

But no worries, Tom! I know (sort of) how to repair such breaks. As for repairing your relationship with the mafia...I'm sorry, but I can't help you there.

First things first, here's what we need - wood glue, clamps, paper towels, and hope.

Thankfully, the break on the neck was fairly clean so it didn't require expert skill...just me. Disclaimer: I did tell Tom that I might further damage it trying to fix it.

After setting the clamps, I cleaned up the excess glue with power towels (and love). As for how long you should leave the clamps on, different people have different opinions. I'd say 6 hours AT LEAST. This one set clamped for over 24 hours...mostly because the time of day I did it (about 5pm). After I got home the next day from work, I took the clamps off.

As you can see, there is still some residual damage. And yep, my glue job was a little bit sloppy.

Next step was to test it's strength by stringin' it up. I chose Martin M600's because the tension is a bit lighter and I was a bit hesitant to put on something with higher tension. After stringing it up and testing, I do think the bond is strong enough to hold some Aquila's.

Voila! The Luna is once again playable and ready to be shredded upon...or lightly plucked, if that's what Tom prefers. Boy, I hate to see what the mafia will do to this ukulele next time if Tom doesn't pay up...

Banjo Ukulele: Changing the head (skin)

This week, we've been blogging about banjo ukes!  We're gonna keep that going for the rest of the week and designate this the "unofficial banjo ukulele week".

Today, we're passing on a couple links about changing out your banjo ukulele's skin head...Something that I need to do soon on my 1920's Slingerland.





First things first, where to buy one?  You can buy goat skin and calf skin heads at Elderly Instruments.  I bought one through them recently and was very pleased both with the quality and service, so I'd recommend 'em.

Here is a great "how to" article from Ukuleleguide.com.  It's a very thorough explanation of the process of replacing a banjo uke head complete with links and plenty of pictures (the picture above was taken from their article).

If you'd rather watch somebody do it, below is a great video demonstrating the process.  Our friend and banjo uke enthusiast John Bianchi tells me that replacing a torn or worn out skin is absolutely essential to finding out exactly what your banjo uke sounds like.  So order away and give it a shot!  The process might seem a little intimidating, but once you get going, you'll find that it's something that even the most inept person (like myself) is able to do.  Good luck!

Ukulele repair: top separating from sides

Here is my 1950's Favilla soprano ukulele.  As you can see, the top has started to separate from the sides.  In my last post, I showed you how to make your own spool clamps for this kind of repair.  If you missed that, check it out here.

Now that our spool clamps are ready to go, we can put 'em to the test and get down to fixing this little guy up.

Ukulele repair tools: diy spool clamps

The day that I walked into a local antique store/flea market and spotted a beautiful Favilla soprano ukulele is one that I will always be grateful for.  At the time, I didn't know anything about the Favilla company.  I looked at the price tag ($95) and went home and immediately jumped on the Ukulele Underground forum.  If you are ever wondering about any type of vintage uke, chances are that one of the nice folks on that forum will be able to provide information.  Of course, a few people pointed me towards some info about Favilla's and encouraged me to go grab it.  As it turns out, these little guys are worth at least twice that amount and are rising in price as more people realize how awesome they are.  As one UU member put it, "Go get it!  Run, don't walk".  I immediately hopped back in the car and raced to pick it up.  It was worth every penny.  This little guy has some battle scars (general wear and tear), but he still plays like a champion.  It's become my "go to" ukulele.

Well, one day horror struck!  I picked up my Favilla (aka - Flava Fav...yep, I give my ukes ridiculous names) and noticed that the top had begun separating from the sides!

Ukulele repair: fixing a crack

I stumbled upon this video a few months ago while thinking about making a repair to one of my beater ukes.  Well, I got busy (or I'm too lazy) and haven't actually fixed the small crack yet, but when I start to feel ambitious again, I will be following this guide.

For those of you who process better through reading, here's the basic idea in a step by step on ehow.

Happy Uke'n!

Vintage Harmony ukulele: replacing a broken bridge

This is sort of a good news/bad news post.  The  good news is that the original tuning machines on this Harmony uke didn't need to be replaced as I originally thought.  They just needed a little tightening up.  The bad news is that when I went to string this sucker up, I heard a brief cracking sound and then a very loud SNAP!  The front part of the bridge must have had a crack that I couldn't see and it gave way under the tension of the strings pressing down and ever so slightly forward on the saddle.  But I guess it's not all that bad...at least now I get to show you

Vintage Harmony Ukulele: replacing the saddle

with the old saddle removed

Sliding in the new saddle

Just a little bit more....

Hurray

 The first thing that I tackled on this project was replacing the saddle.  The original saddle (not pictured) was a black piece of plastic and was pretty worn.  Not the most desirable saddle choice.  


 I'm happy to have found this uke in a local antique store for $20...but I also don't want to sink a ton

Vintage Harmony ukulele repair project

 I went with my wife and daughter to the antique store yesterday and stumbled upon this vintage Harmony soprano ukulele.  A little info about the harmony company taken from easyukulele.com

The Harmony Ukulele Company went out of business in 1975. Their name, however, is a familiar site to anyone who plays the ukulele. For the greater part of the 20th Century, this name was synonymous with ukuleles for most people. They made both traditional