Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Habanera Hal on September 16, 2011 at 9:05am

That's what I was thinking, Oily.  Saves time and money. My concern is the quality of the parts, i.e.: are these necks prone to warping, do the tuners hold tension, etc.  I do care about the quality of my builds and what goes out of my shop with my name on it.  Actually, I don't think you could source all the parts for $10-15.  I bought some uke tuners on Ebay recently for $4.70, bridges for $4.00, and nuts for $1.85, just to mess around with.  That's over $10, and you still need to source or make the neck/headstock and fretboard.  So this may very well be a "new" source for parts!  You'd probably also want to get some quality strings from what some of the comments were.

 

And don't forget, you'd have a uke body left over to make a birdhouse or a lamp!

 

Looks like a trip to TRU is coming up.

 

 Oily "Strat-O'-Nine-Tales" Fool said:

Hal,

I suppose you could piece it out, lessee:

For $20, you get a neck, fretboard, angled headstock, 4 tuning machines, a bridge, saddle, and nut. Only thing you have to do is separate this from the body. No sanding, finishing, scale length calculation, scarfing, gluing, hole drilling, string guide cutting, fretting, sanding, finishing, or sanding.

If you calculate the cost of these parts from, say, a well-known local supplier, or eBay, I'd bet you'd easily spend $10-15 on parts plus shipping, and you'd still have to do all of the above. So the real question might be, what is your time worth?

TRU might get a tad suspicious if you walk out with 25 or 30 of these "for the grandkids."

Then again, how many people pick up neck wood, bolts, fasteners, etc., at Lowe's or HD, and why? Easily available, and saves time. Not many of us builders live in a sharecropper's shack.

So if it saves you time, and works just good enough, then why not?

Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on September 17, 2011 at 2:35am

Usually the ukulele necks are just glued on, though on fancier instruments the builder may have employed some sort of tenon-joint (I forget what the real term is). Gluing is usually enough as the nylon strings don't put that much strain on the instrument as compared to steel strings. When mounting the ukulele neck and head assembly to the cigar box, be sure to add a bit more internal bracing, like a second piece of 1/4" plywood  board to back up that side side of the cigar box. Then drill 3 holes thru the side of the box and into the base (heel) of the neck, and use 3 pretty big and long wood screws to bold that neck on. If you want, a bit of glue will make sure that joint will never fail. This bolt-on approach to attaching the neck will allow you to put a single nice big sound hole in the middle of the sound board, ukulele style. The Aquila Nylgut strings will also make you instrument sound better.

However, before doing this, make sure the neck has a slight (few degrees) downward tilt so you can achieve a nice low string action. This may mean you will have to file down the face of the neck/heel where it touches the side of the cigar box to achieve the right angle. You may also be able to recycle the old ukulele's nut and the bridge/tail piece. If you are careful about detaching the neck from the ukulele's sound box, then you can recycle the uke sound box in some future hybrid guitar project. A nice paint job might also help make the neck and head assembly look better, maybe black spray paint with a few coats of polyurethane to toughen up the finish, and of course a black cigar box.

 

-Rand.

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on September 17, 2011 at 7:55am

Hal,

I hear you. I just used $10-15 as a rough ballpark, and figured the actual cost would be somewhat higher. Also understand the quality concern. It's just that, when putting our obsession in historical context, the first two generations of CBG builders for sure only used what they could get, and those instruments could in no way be considered particularly special. But 100-150 years later, they are collectible. I guess what I'm trying to say is,

yes, feel a quiet pride in your work, sure, if you sell one to someone, you have a moral obligation to make sure the customer is happy - but there's nothing wrong with decreasing one's fixed cost, if the that doesn't result in a quality decrease.

I guess you'll have to build a couple of test cases to see how stable they are. I mean, TRU is charging $20 for something that likely only costs half that to produce.

If TRU asks, tell 'em what you're gonna do with 'em. They'll at least be curious to see one. I bet you make a customer or two!

Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on September 18, 2011 at 9:14am

Ai-yah!  What I meant by "bold that neck on" should be "bolt that neck on". My postings should come with a "Typos Inevitable" warning for readers. Maybe that should be my nick name.

-Rand.

 

Rand Moore said:

Usually the ukulele necks are just glued on, though on fancier instruments the builder may have employed some sort of tenon-joint (I forget what the real term is). Gluing is usually enough as the nylon strings don't put that much strain on the instrument as compared to steel strings. When mounting the ukulele neck and head assembly to the cigar box, be sure to add a bit more internal bracing, like a second piece of 1/4" plywood  board to back up that side side of the cigar box. Then drill 3 holes thru the side of the box and into the base (heel) of the neck, and use 3 pretty big and long wood screws to bold that neck on. If you want, a bit of glue will make sure that joint will never fail. This bolt-on approach to attaching the neck will allow you to put a single nice big sound hole in the middle of the sound board, ukulele style. The Aquila Nylgut strings will also make you instrument sound better.

However, before doing this, make sure the neck has a slight (few degrees) downward tilt so you can achieve a nice low string action. This may mean you will have to file down the face of the neck/heel where it touches the side of the cigar box to achieve the right angle. You may also be able to recycle the old ukulele's nut and the bridge/tail piece. If you are careful about detaching the neck from the ukulele's sound box, then you can recycle the uke sound box in some future hybrid guitar project. A nice paint job might also help make the neck and head assembly look better, maybe black spray paint with a few coats of polyurethane to toughen up the finish, and of course a black cigar box.

 

-Rand.

Permalink Reply by Mike Whisenhunt on September 23, 2011 at 3:21pm

Well, my buddy at church has no desire to have this beast back in his house. Seems it was a blessing that it broke on him (rather, it broke on his 4 yr old). I have the neck bolted on to the box, with additional bracing at each corner and right behind the neck. I think the tuners that came on it would suffice for use with light strings or the nylon uke strings. Also, the neck doesn't appear to show any signs of warping. I did use the bridge/saddle assembly off the original and it seems to play just fine. One of my better looking boxes, since I painted the neck a retro cream to contrast with the bold red of the brickhouse box.

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