Official Luthiers Forum!

Owned and operated by Lance Kragenbrink
It is currently Mon Nov 25, 2024 5:01 am


All times are UTC - 5 hours


Forum rules


Same rules apply to all forums at the Luthiers Forum.




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 7:02 pm 
Offline
Walnut
Walnut

Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2019 2:50 pm
Posts: 1
Attachment:
uke_neck01.JPG
I built a tenor uke about 6-years ago. Over that time, I’ve played it without any complaints. Suddenly, the neck has done something strange and I cannot play it anymore because of all the buzzing. The neck is flat from the first to the tenth fret, then takes a dive and at the 17th fret, it is about 3/32 lower. I raised the nut with a piece of a credit card, but no joy. I have attached a picture...hope it is helpful. How do I fix this?
Thanks
Ron


You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 7:52 pm 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member
User avatar

Joined: Sun Mar 06, 2011 12:04 am
Posts: 5821
First name: Chris
Last Name: Pile
City: Wichita
State: Kansas
Country: Good old US of A
Focus: Repair
Status: Professional
Raising the nut will not help once you've fretted it. In fact, it will throw off the intonation. Raise the saddle.

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


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 3:43 am 
Offline
Cocobolo
Cocobolo

Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2012 4:10 pm
Posts: 279
First name: Chris
Last Name: Reed
City: Stowmarket
State: Suffolk
Zip/Postal Code: IP14 2EX
Country: UK
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Something has been changing shape or moving around, so I'd start by working out what that is!

Has the uke recently moved to a much drier environment? If so, it would be worth working out how to humidify it and keep it at a good humidity level, and when that has settled down, fix the problem (which will have changed somewhat).

Or the body might be changing shape - has the top sunk? Is there a loose brace?

If all those are fine, then the answer depends on where the buzzing happens, which you don't tell us - presumably all above the 10th fret if it's flat up to there?

If so, your fretboard has changed shape enough that some of frets 11-17 are lower than the others, thus the buzzing. You can confirm this with a fret rocker. It could gradually have been shrinking until, suddenly, it starts to buzz.

The quick and dirty fix is to level frets 11-17 and re-crown. This will remove the buzzing. But you will have higher action at the 12th than when it was first built, in order not to get buzzing on frets 1-10.

The better fix is to pull all the frets, plane the fretboard flat (making sure the plane of the new fretboard surface hits the bridge at the right height), and then re-fret.

Of course, it might continue to shrink - in that case in a few years time you might need to do all this again! But you built it, so you can fix it :P


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2019 4:39 pm 
Offline
Koa
Koa

Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:34 pm
Posts: 552
City: winnipeg
State: manitoba
Country: canada
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Has the angle that the neck joins the body changed. Rock the tests looking for a high eleventh feet to figure out what the problem is. Is the tail end of the fretboard glued to the body?
Figure out what the problem is before you try to fix it.

Not much help.
Bob


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 32 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
phpBB customization services by 2by2host.com