Best way to string this "problem" Ukulele (Physics)

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Joralin

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Hello Guys,

i have a little problem with the bridge of one of my ukuleles.

They drilled the holes on 2 strings very close to the top.

Because of this, 2 holes are torn a bit now.

I stabilized everything a bit with glue, but now im asking myself, how i can prevent furter damage.


I tought about 2 different ways to put the strings on the Ukulele.


1. Standard Way., like a guitar is strung (The ukulele was string way when the damage happend):



2. A knot at the End:





What do you think? Which version would put less stress/damage on my ukulele bridge?
 
Last edited:
With that damage, I'd recommend bridge beads

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Strings By Mail Ukulele Diamond Bridge Beads, Black - Ukulele Diamond Bridge Beads, Black CAD Designed for consistent product quality and performance Super lightweight - Less that 2 grams for full set (5 each) Special internal string cavity allows for Solid contact with Bridge Stops wear and
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There are the workarounds with strings but they are not pretty. Knots are for slotted style bridges, and beads are for kids toy instruments, but many adults use them on their ukes. If you are handy and have some tools you can fix this. Easiest way might be to extend the bridge with a strip of hardwood or plastic where the drilled holes match up at the bridge end but are at proper height, so need to drill at slight angle. If you have machine shop then route out about half of the bridge and put a matching strip of hardwood on top after adjusting the string channel.
 
merlin666 said:
....... beads are for kids toy instruments,........ but many adults use them on their ukes. If you are handy and have some tools you can fix this. Easiest way might be to extend the bridge with a strip of hardwood or plastic where the drilled holes match up at the bridge end but are at proper height, so need to drill at slight angle. If you have machine shop then route out about half of the bridge and put a matching strip of hardwood on top after adjusting the string channel.
Click to expand...
Beads will solve the problem and is NOT for toys and iS the easiest way, not a lot of tools and drilling and routing!!
 
Last edited:
merlin666 said:
There are the workarounds with strings but they are not pretty. Knots are for slotted style bridges, and beads are for kids toy instruments, but many adults use them on their ukes. If you are handy and have some tools you can fix this. Easiest way might be to extend the bridge with a strip of hardwood or plastic where the drilled holes match up at the bridge end but are at proper height, so need to drill at slight angle. If you have machine shop then route out about half of the bridge and put a matching strip of hardwood on top after adjusting the string channel
Click to expand...
Use the beads. Avoid buying a machine shop and a luthier's training with one simple solution! Also, beads are not for children. They pose a choking hazard and lead to wildly over-engineered solutions to simple stuff.
 
My knee-jerk thought was to make a little metal plate that you could tie around as normal (held in place by the knots), but would hold the corner away from the holes that are tearing out.
 
Beads are the answer. Anything glued or placed on top of he bridge will pull the strings up and lessen the angle over the saddle.

I used them to squeeze some extra years of life out of an old guitar, where the saddle was so low, that the angle was zero when binding the strings but it became functional with the beads.
 
I’d be inclined to try beads first - small washers can work too - and you might have enough angle on the strings to get away with attaching a reinforcement plate/veneer onto the top part of the bridge so that’s a second option. A ‘string through’ modification hasn’t been mentioned yet (they can work well but mark-out and drill with great care) and neither has just fitting a new bridge, IMHO the later is the slightly better and best route but it is also the most costly and difficult one.
 
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I would suggest having someone drill holes for a string through bridge. Clean look and would take care of the problem
 
Joralin, I have an older Ohana soprano with a similar bridge style, and it was showing evidence of a slight amount of bridge lift, so I very carefully drilled "string-thru" holes in the appropriate locations, and I now run the strings through those holes, inside the body of the uke, and secure them with little plastic beads (invisible from the outside). Somewhat to my surprise, it worked GREAT, and it is now one of my favorite ukes.
 
Joralin said:
Hello Guys,

i have a little problem with the bridge of one of my ukuleles.

They drilled the holes on 2 strings very close to the top.

Because of this, 2 holes are torn a bit now.

I stabilized everything a bit with glue, but now im asking myself, how i can prevent furter damage.


I tought about 2 different ways to put the strings on the Ukulele.


1. Standard Way., like a guitar is strung (The ukulele was string way when the damage happend):



2. A knot at the End:





What do you think? Which version would put less stress/damage on my ukulele bridge?
Click to expand...
Neil_O said:
I have these, and like them a lot. But why so expensive!???!!
Click to expand...
What Bill Sheehan suggested will work and can be done easily by yourself. PM me your address and I’ll be happy to send you some onyx beads that will work, but you can find something at your local bead or even dollar store, too. Or you may have something around your house. Paying $15 for big plastic “diamond” beads—well they don’t, in fact, look better than a small, unobtrusive black bead, and they don’t work better either.
 
Thanks for your tips guys, thats a lot of possibillities i have now :)
 
Ziret said:
What Bill Sheehan suggested will work and can be done easily by yourself. PM me your address and I’ll be happy to send you some onyx beads that will work, but you can find something at your local bead or even dollar store, too. Or you may have something around your house. Paying $15 for big plastic “diamond” beads—well they don’t, in fact, look better than a small, unobtrusive black bead, and they don’t work better either.
Click to expand...
I've only used the one set, and only installed them one time, so I don't know the other options. These ones have a couple of extra holes (so you don't have to tie a knot) that I don't think of when I hear the word Bead. I will have to try a regular bead!
 
The bridge beads are not pearls with a hole. As Neill says, they have several holes and a special way to tie them, so you don't need any knots. An elegant and viable solution. They're worth the money. Compensates for the worn bridge and give you a better angle for the string leaving the saddle. And you don't have to glue, file or fabricate anything.
Go for it.
 
Last edited:
EDW said:
I would suggest having someone drill holes for a string through bridge. Clean look and would take care of the problem
Click to expand...
This was my first thought for a reliable solution, obviously you would have to use string beads or tie bulky knots so stop the string pulling through the holes in the body/bridge, string changes will be more time consuming with having to negotiate through the sound hole (working blind) to get the string back though the body/bridge, pros and cons as in all solutions.
 
Ziret said:
What Bill Sheehan suggested will work and can be done easily by yourself. PM me your address and I’ll be happy to send you some onyx beads that will work, but you can find something at your local bead or even dollar store, too. Or you may have something around your house. Paying $15 for big plastic “diamond” beads—well they don’t, in fact, look better than a small, unobtrusive black bead, and they don’t work better either.
Click to expand...
I use some square metal beads from the hobby shop.
Plastic or glass ones can shatter under the pressure.

(Not saying they WILL shatter, but I have had it happen before I went to the metal ones.)
 
I would like to think that he has solved the problem by now (it's been 6 months...)20210723_162036.jpg
 
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