Seven Heirlooms - And the CuF's been!

[DaveL]

Well done on saving that one, new bridge design and remaking 6 more and your sorted.
Many years ago when I played bass in a band, Kev who played a number of acoustic guitars used to stick a contact mic on with double sided tape. How technology has moved on.

 

[AndyP]

I'm not sure I understood all of that, but it sounded like a good save to me

I am sure the finished uke will sound good too. Nobody will ever know.

 

[Woodbloke]

I'm not sure I understood all of that, but it sounded like a good save to me

You're not the only one Al, waaaaay over my head! @Malc2098 is being overly generous calling her the CuF; I get frequent visitations from the FuF - Rob

 

[duke]

Yes, the CuF has been, but I think I caught the little blighter just in time for 6 of them, and added a modification to the seventh.

It's like this. I have made all them to be fitted with undersaddle piezo pickups. The hole in the back of the body is big enough to receive the 1/4" jack plug. Modern ukulele ensembles frequently play with tiny amplifiers, so it made sense to future proof these instruments.

I designed all the bridges in my CAD/CAM software and milled them on the CNC machine. The Ebony (or it could have be African Blackwood that I got from a piano restorer) came out lovely. The design of the bridge came from the plans that I have always used.

What I didn't do was
a) measure the gaps between the four raised parts of the pickup to see if they were the same gaps as the string post holes in the bridge. 'Course they weren't!
And b) measure the depth of the the pickup to see if there was enough room in the saddle slot for it to accommodate the pickup and the saddle. 'Course it doesn't!

View attachment 58297

And, I'd already glued the first bridge to the first body!!!

The solution? Firstly, redesign the bridge in CAD/CAM to accommodate the pickup's both width and depth for the six bodies yet to have their bridges fitted.

Secondly, design an extension for the first bridge to accommodate the depth, even though the raised section of the pickup with not be precisely aligned with the strings. It's not pretty, but it does that job.

View attachment 58299

The extension is glued on to the original bridge, the pickup is in the slot and the saddle awaits.

View attachment 58300

The saddle fits. It's quite proud now, but at setup time, I will file/sand away the underside of the saddle till the height is correct for the strings.

You spotted the tiny little jack plug. Where does that go, I hear you say. Well, it goes into the other end of a 1/4" jack socket.

View attachment 58307

You spotted the little sponge cube, that's to stop the cable rattling around inside the body while it's being played.

View attachment 58308


You might have also spotted I fed a 1/4" jack through the back passage (oo er, Missus) to fit into the jack socket.

View attachment 58303

So I can withdraw it along with the socket through that aforementioned passage.

View attachment 58304

So now I can fit the washer and locknut along with the strap button.

View attachment 58305

The toothpick it put in a hole in the thread to stop the socket rotating while tightening the locknut.

View attachment 58306

And there's the strap button fitted. Job done, and breeeaathe.



View attachment 58311

Time to set up the CNC machine and mill 6 redesigned bridges.

The detail of the wood binding at the sides and top look fantastic Malc.

 

[Malc2098]

The detail of the wood binding at the sides and top look fantastic Malc.

Thank you, Scott. I do recall it took a bit of doing.

But the timbers themselves are really good to look at, and I see it as my job the try and enhance them as much as I can.