Bent neck

[rfclef]

I teach a 7th grade general music class... I bought a buncha ukuleles last semester, and used them to great success... After sitting for a month, they were broken out again this week... On one of them the 4th string would not play when fretted at the 2nd fret: it was touching the next few frets farther up the neck. Upon examining the instrument I could see that the neck had bowed (a little more pronounced on the 4th string side than the 1st string side.

These are inexpensive ukes. of course, no truss rods or anything like that. Is there anything I can do to remedy the bowing of the neck or am I doomed to pop $30 for another? I ask this with the knowledge yesterday that they said "Oh, we had to take you budget for other things..."

Thanks

[rfclef]

Bumpage.

[Rodent]

you might have better odds of getting an answer founded upon experience over at the Musical Instrument Makers Forum

http://mimf.com/cgi-bin/WebX

there is a load of acoustic instrument building/repair expertese available there

all the best,

R

[rfclef]

Originally Posted by Rodent

you might have better odds of getting an answer founded upon experience over at the Musical Instrument Makers Forum

http://mimf.com/cgi-bin/WebX

there is a load of acoustic instrument building/repair expertese available there

all the best,

R

Thanks, Rodent!
(wow... that is the first time I have said that to someone whose name actually was Rodent...}

[Dirk Diggler]

Well you could also try using a stronger neck wood or stringers to help stiffen. Also you could create the neck fretboard with a bit of backbow to compensate for the string pull. That said a truss rod would be much easier.
Good Luck,
Dirk

[rfclef]

Originally Posted by Dirk Diggler

Well you could also try using a stronger neck wood or stringers to help stiffen. Also you could create the neck fretboard with a bit of backbow to compensate for the string pull. That said a truss rod would be much easier.
Good Luck,
Dirk

Actually, it is bowed back AWAY from the strings... and it is a Rogue uke, not one I am building... bout as ambitious as I get is swapping out the tuning pegs in some old Harmony bari ukes for some cheap tuniung machines...

[Nelson Guitars]

Since they are inexpensive instruments you can afford to do a little experimenting eh?

There is a chance that the neck will return to a usable shape on it's own when the relative humidity returns to what it was before. If you want to try something though I suggest first making sure that it is not a fret that has risen up out of its kerf. In that case a little CA and a clamp may do the trick. If then neck is warped I would suggest heating it with a normal household iron on the fret side and then quickly clamping it down to a table with perhaps a 1/8" or less shim under the "high" spot.

A quick fix may be just to shim up the saddle and call it a day. It will make for high action, but I doubt you are having the children play very far up the neck at this point.

Good luck.

Greg N

[rfclef]

Originally Posted by Nelson Guitars

Since they are inexpensive instruments you can afford to do a little experimenting eh?

There is a chance that the neck will return to a usable shape on it's own when the relative humidity returns to what it was before. If you want to try something though I suggest first making sure that it is not a fret that has risen up out of its kerf. In that case a little CA and a clamp may do the trick. If then neck is warped I would suggest heating it with a normal household iron on the fret side and then quickly clamping it down to a table with perhaps a 1/8" or less shim under the "high" spot.

A quick fix may be just to shim up the saddle and call it a day. It will make for high action, but I doubt you are having the children play very far up the neck at this point.

Good luck.

Greg N

Hey... thanks Greg... may try those... You are right... at $25-30 bucks a piece, if I screw it up, it is not THAT big a deal. These really are decent little instruments for 30 bucks. I bought a set at the last school I was at and was pleased. The kids dig playing em. They are cheaper and take up less space than guitars, a little easier for the kids to deal with 4 than 6 strings, and the bari ukes have a pretty "guitarish" sound, as opposed to the soprano ukes. We do everything from folk to rock on em... I have a Hilo that is a little better than the rogues, but cost me a little more.