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Original Post By:
jeff mercer
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Date: 5/5/2008 9:06:08 PM |
| Hey, all ,apologies if this is a bit obscure, but I could'nt think of where else to ask ! I recently took possession of a pretty severely trashed Kumalae uke. The neck, bridge & tuners are fine, but the top & back heve pretty much had it (someone has- badly- tried to enlarge the soundhole, & the back has several gaping cracks). I'm thinking of having the neck removed and mounted on a new custom-built body( maybe some outrageously flamed Australian blackwood or something similar, just for fun !). My dilemma is this; it has a great old paper label inside (Made by/ JONAH KUMALAE/ Honolulu),& i'm wondering if anyone has any tips on how to remove it in one piece without damaging it ? I believe violin makers- sometimes for unscrupulous reasons!- have been "steaming" labels out of violins for centuries, but try as I might, I can't find any info as to how it's done, & obviously this is considerably larger than a standard violin label. Any tips or techniques from you luthier/repairmen out there would be hugely appreciated! Many Thanks, Jeff. |
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Posted By:
duane
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Date: 5/5/2008 9:34:18 PM |
| Hold the uke bottom with the label over a steaming tea kettle. Go easy and the paper label should easily let go. Try not to burn yourself in the process.
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Posted By:
jeff mercer
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Date: 5/5/2008 10:36:08 PM |
| Thanks , Duane, I'll give that a try..the kettle is on as we speak ! I had also meant to ask if removing the neck is going to be particularly challenging job, not that i'm going to attempt it, but for an experienced luthier ? thanks again.
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Posted By:
duane
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Date: 5/5/2008 11:06:55 PM |
The neck on most Kumalae ukes that I have worked on are done in the Spanish style of construction. The sides are cut into the neck block. The neck block and neck are one piece of wood. You can remove the neck but it isn't a job for the beginner. The top and back must be removed first. The sides can then be removed from the neck block using a small amount of steam or heat to soften the glue. The glue used in the ukes I have worked on was always hide glue. The sides are also very thin and easily cracked or damaged if not removed slowly and very carefully.
With this type of neck block construction, you should make sure the luthier does this kind of building if you wish to use the same kind of side to body joint. Most modern builders do not, but some do. Good luck.
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Posted By:
jeff mercer
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Date: 5/5/2008 11:49:14 PM |
| Thanks , Duane, if I lived in the US I'd be sending it to you without hesitation, but i'm lucky enough to have a fella here in Sydney , Australia (name of Piers Crocker) who is au fait with vintage ukes, and builds authentic early Hawaiian-style ukes w/ traditional construction when the urge hits him, amongst Maccaferri replicas, 30's era J-35 copies etc. The tricky bit is finding a hole in his schedule to do these kind of projects (my uke, that is), as ,in Australia, anyway , it can be difficult to find a repairman who can be "bothered" with something like an old uke ! Thanks for your help, mate, I'd better go check on the steaming process!!
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Posted By:
duane
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Date: 5/6/2008 12:57:16 AM |
| Jeff, sounds like you'll be in good hands!
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Posted By:
jeff mercer
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Date: 5/6/2008 6:10:25 AM |
| Just an update on the steaming..the label remains firmly attached ,as do the sides, neck,back strut & back itself, however the soundboard itself detatched with alarming ease !! The more I look, the more I suspect that this is (A)not the original top, or (B) the top has been off before, and badly repaired (did I mention that the the top was also awfully re-finished..don't think I did). Anyway , got a bridge, set of what appear to be original "Champion" Brand geared pegs, & the the possibility of a custom New/Vintage hybrid uke!! Thanks heaps for your replies, Duane, will let you know how I go with Piers !
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Posted By:
DougD
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Date: 5/6/2008 8:34:14 AM |
There's some info about removing labels here: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Ukulele/UkeCrack/ukecrack.html
He uses a wet paper towel.
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Posted By:
Teletodd
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Date: 5/6/2008 3:58:44 PM |
| Theres a great article on repairing a crack in an old hawaiian uke in the enigmatic, aptly named Ukulele Occasional Vol 2. The article goes into detail, with photos of how to remove the label inside the uke. i saw a copy of U.O. 2 in the market page recently, however, for the price they command, you probably could buy a new custom made 5k uke for less.
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Posted By:
jeff mercer
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Date: 5/6/2008 8:41:39 PM |
| Thanks , guys. I saw that article in Uke Occasional-it's the one DougD has kindly posted above-but was initially hesitant to intentionally wet a 70/80 year old peice of paper (you know what happens to old books if they get wet !).However, i'll give it a go & let you know what happens..thanks again.
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Posted By:
jeff mercer
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Date: 5/6/2008 10:41:11 PM |
| Yep, got it out ! Took about 2 hours before I was able to gently peel it off (in two peices- like the uke above, a back crack had torn the label in half ). The job was alot easier now the top is off, and the cracks are now easily accessible, and actually look as though they may well be repairable..so maybe all i'll need is a new top built ! Thanks for all your help, people.Jeff.
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Posted By:
RyanMFT
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Date: 5/7/2008 2:05:47 AM |
It would be great to see some pictures of your project. Any chance you can post some on the web somewhere? I for one am glad you are saving this old uke.
Ryan
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Posted By:
jeff mercer
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Date: 5/7/2008 4:28:22 AM |
Hi,Ryan, my computer skills are about as good as my Luthierie skills..i.e non-existant ! The good news is after my attempt to steam the old paper label out resulted in the soundboard detatching itself & the "wet paper towel" method did eventually work, I boxed the bits up & took them to the luthier I mentioned above. Given that I'd (inadvertantly ! ) done part of the work already, Piers is happy to take it on as a project..which he says will really only involve (some technique of repairing the back cracks that will allow the old label to be re-glued
) and the fabrication of a new top. Flamey Aussie Blackwood was agreed on, and I should see the result in about 2 weeks ! Will post a photo if I ever figure out how to do it on this site! thanks, mate.
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Posted By:
Teletodd
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Date: 5/7/2008 10:10:06 AM |
| Those old uke reapirs arent all that theyre "cracked" up to be.
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Posted By:
jeff mercer
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Date: 5/8/2008 9:54:45 AM |
| Teletodd, your reply "cracks" me up..honestly though, it's quite exciting that what was going to spend the rest of it's life as a wallhanger now has a second life as a playable (not to mention unique) instrument! Duane, if you happen to read this post, sincere thanks for getting the ball rolling..in the couple of weeks before I get it back, I'll look into how to post photos of the result, more than happy to share ! See ya.Jeff
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Posted By:
Poullange
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Date: 5/8/2008 3:10:02 PM |
I've been trying to take old labels off a couple of times, and I find it a real good idea to photograph the label with a hi-res camera before you try anything. (This of course is much easyer if you have already removed the top).
Then, in case you really screw up, you can print out a new label on an antique piece of paper and you'll have a real good replica.
If the label was already torn, you can even do some retouching in PhotoShop if you know how. With the new inkjet printers you can get amazingly good results and some are even supposed to be "archival", meaning the prints won't fade with time.
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Posted By:
Teletodd
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Date: 5/8/2008 4:06:53 PM |
| In the summertime, sometimes the budweiser bottles will sweat in the humidity and I remove the labels. Maybe I should save them for future ukes.
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Posted By:
feedajane
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Date: 5/8/2008 4:47:05 PM
(Updated: 5/8/2008 4:47:31 PM)
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Teletodd, that would be kind of fun/funny to look inside a uke and see a beer lable! I like it...
Or maybe a tequila lable?
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Posted By:
jeff mercer
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Date: 5/8/2008 7:42:36 PM |
Here in Australia, though, it would have to be the label off a "stubbie"-a 375ml bottle-of "VB", or Victoria Bitter. It's sort of our
"working man's" beer, and is consumed in large quantities..(burp!-excuse ME!!):^)
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Posted By:
feedajane
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Date: 5/8/2008 8:12:07 PM |
| Mmmm, VB sounds like my kind of beer!
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Posted By:
DougD
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Date: 5/8/2008 9:29:37 PM |
| Quite a musical brew too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNmjzJh_Yvg
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Posted By:
jeff mercer
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Date: 5/9/2008 1:02:20 AM |
| Hey ,DougD, that's the ad currently showing on Aussie TV ! Love the conductors' "what the HELL am I doing here ?" laugh at the end ! Funny where threads sometimes end up, is'nt it? I raise an ice-cold VB to you all ! Jeff
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Posted By:
jeanadriane
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Date: 5/9/2008 3:43:51 AM |
Well, since the conductor also is the composer, he'll sure have reasons to laugh.
If only 'cause it must have been great fun to do it. Thanks for the link, Doug!
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