Official Luthiers Forum!

I don't know what is it about ukeleles, but no uke build I do ever goes well. Guitar often goes fine albeit with some minor problems, but for whatever reason every single uke I try to build has a problem one way or another. Well today I have a major problem. I was gluing the neck in, but for whatever reason there's that gap on ONE SIDE that refuses to go away so I thought I apply more clamping pressure on the heel to close it. Well next thing you know I hear a loud crack and the tail block has separated from the back!!!

Last uke had the wrong neck length, and the one before that sounded terrible. What is it with ukes?? It's hard to build and on top of that, nobody wants to pay more than $100 for one because everyone sells it so cheap. Even an all koa Kamaka sells for $800 and given how much work it takes to make one, I wouldn't build it for $800.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

You wanna talk frustration?
Let's talk banjos.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Where were you clamped?
Neck heel to tail block?

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

With all do respect, applying more pressure in an attempt to get rid of a gap in a poor fit is rarely a good idea. The approach should be to correct the fit.

Pat

_________________
There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

I clamp heel to tail in order to make sure the neck seats correctly, because sometimes the heel does not always sit flush with the body, as it seems the force of actually clamping the neck to the body wants to push the neck the other way... it makes for a seamless joint and normally very small amount of force is required... but for whatever reason there's always that gap on one side of the heel that will close when I dry fit them, but remains open when glue is applied.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Hi Tai,
Ukuleles are supposed to be a fun build. If you are not having fun then you are doing something wrong. The shapes and sizes can be just about anything.
The last Uke I built used a neck from a homemade mandolin banjo someone gave me. Part of the fun was figuring out what to do with the extra holes in the peghead. It was a soprano scale mounted on a concert sized body -I joined it at the 10th fret. I used some small pieces of rosewood for the back and sides. Is it a world class Ukulele like Bob Gleason builds? Definitely not. But it plays reasonably in tune and someone will have fun with it.

Tai, I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but everything happens for a reason and the words you are using suggest that you don't understand why you are getting the gaps. I would encourage you to spend the time to figure this out and learn how to correct them. If you do, that will make your next builds easier and better.

Pat

_________________
There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

So where do I start with this? One hard thing is gaps seems to appear out of nowhere, with absolutely no indication as to why they are there. Is there a good primer I can read on dovetail heel fitting? So I am guessing using a clamp on the heel to the tail block is not the right way?

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I'm no expert on dovetail neck joints - for ukuleles I use a single hanger bolt which seems more than enough to me. John Hall has an excellent series of videos on setting dovetail neck joint on a guitar starting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3YJh9OT4mw

Pat

_________________
There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

What did you do with the extra tuner holes in the end? Was that the one you were thinking of giving options at the bridge for 4 and 6 strings?

That statement makes me suspect hydraulic pressure from excess glue that can't squeeze out. Personally, I don't build ukes and don't use dovetail neck joints on guitars, but I've certainly had experience with trapping glue in other woodworking joints that won't close.

Hi Nick,
The one I wanted extra holes in the bridge for stringing options is a baritone guitar not the uke.
If you look at the design of the top of the peghead and the place where the ribbon ties for hanging it up you can see how I "fixed" the extra holes. I thought about plugging and refacing the front and back of the peghead, but decided that was more work than I wanted to do for this little uke. It was a fun project and I kept it that way.
And to keep things simple the rosette channel was made at the same time as the soundhole, using the holesaw within a holesaw method.

Hi Tai,
some uke builders use a glued on butt joint for their ukes. It works.

Cool, it looks like a fun project!
Nice nod to the neck's former life as a mandolin banjo, too!

And, Tai, I used a bolt on butt joint as per Mottola's instructions on a baritone uke sized guitar. Worked very well.

I tried bolt on before, and the problem is the body is so small that it was hard to actually get a bolt in there... or get a tool in there to manipulate the bolt. I thought I do a dovetail because of the challenge and I thought it was a secure joint. I heard of a glued on butt joint but I didn't think it was strong enough.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

If you have big hands like I do, for a bolt on neck fit an end pin and use that hole to access the bolt with a fabricated extension/allen key.

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Colin,
That's a great idea. I think I'll do that with my next tenor. I've been worrying a little about how I am going to screw in a neck bolt, not easy with my hammy hands. Plan B was to go dovetail.

It can't be plan C for Colin - Not my idea.
Stole it from someone else on the forum, Dave Stewart I think?

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.