Quick student uke fix

I generally take what little time I have on weekends to work on instruments, because I know I won't have time during the week. But tonight I had a task - a student brought me the inexpensive uke that his dad bought for him at a flea market. It needed a nut, and the fretboard extension was not glued down at all. This child is in my class, and I figured I better get it done tonight, otherwise I will be enduring a barrage of questions tomorrow."Did you fix the uke?" "Where's the uke?"

I had to work really fast, since I also had the boys to bathe and get to bed.

The uke in question. Cheap.

I was thinking to use a bit of old cutting board, but I found a tiny piece of bone that would make a perfect nut. I didn't care about the voids and stuff - that side would face down, and this was a REALLY quick job.

I did some really rough shaping (it's embarrassing) and made some marks for the outside strings.

I notched the spaces for the strings with an exacto saw.

At this point, I went to sand the nut down a bit more. I ended up dropping it on the ground and breaking it in half. There was NO WAY I was coming back to this, so I glued the two pieces together with cyanoacrylate glue (super glue) and hit it with a bit of accelerator to dry the glue instantly. I sanded off the squeezed-out glue, and went merrily on my way. 

I cut the slots with some nut files, and was done.

The fretboard tongue was completely loose. I showed some wax paper underneath, and took the insert from a bill and used it as a glue carrier.

More CA glue - this is Gorilla Super Glue.

I slid the paper under the fretboard, and wiggled it around.

I slid it back out, then slid out the wax paper.

I just clamped it down quickly, and called it done. Within an hour the whole thing was set and finished.

This was not even worth blogging about, except that I promised myself that I would blog EVERYTHING. This quick and dirty job was not worth the time and effort, but I know this student will be thrilled, and that's reason enough.