Copyright 2015 © C. B. Gi
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er Supply 11
gives a very nice look. Several smaller holes in a
pattern can also work nicely.
Step 3—Re-attach the Neck
Now re-attach the neck using the three neck-
mounting screws, as shown in Part I above. Make
sure everything lines up correctly and make any
adjustments as necessary. Once the neck is at-
tached, you can hold the ukulele in playing posi-
tion and see if there are any sharp or rough parts
on the body or neck that need to be sanded and
smoothed.
Please note: If you chose to leave your fretboard
at full length, then it is at this stage, after re-
attaching the neck, that you should glue it on.
Note that once the fretboard is glued on, you won’t
be able to re-open the box, so make sure every-
thing is right and ready to go before you do this
step!
Step 4—String the Ukulele
Stringing your ukulele is a fairly straightforward
process. Basically, you will be tying the strings on-
to the bridge, then running them up the neck and
wrapping them around the tuner post, ending by
threading the string end through the hole on the
post.
Take a look at
Figures 28 - 31
for a visual guide
of how to get your ukulele strung up. The packag-
ing for the strings will help you to determine which
strings go where.
The 4th and 1st strings are the same gauge
(thickness). The 4th string is placed above the
thickest string, closest to the top of the box when
in the playing position. The 3rd string is the thick-
est of the four. The second string goes below the
3rd and above the 1st, with the 1st as the bottom
most string when in the playing position.
Insert the strings, one at a time, through the holes
in the end of the saddle and over the bridge.
Stretch the length of the string out and leave a
good few inches to wrap the end securely onto the
saddle. Knot them as shown in
Figure 30
. Once
knotted onto the saddle, wind the string around
the appropriate tuning shaft a few times. Insert it
through the hole in the top end of the shaft and
pull it tight. Wind the string up to apply a little ten-
sion and move on to installing the rest of the
strings.
If the string action height (the distance between
the string and the fretboard) seems too high, you
can try filing down the saddle a little bit, or filing
deeper string grooves into the nut. A small-
diameter round “rat tail” file can be good for this.
Figure 21
Figure 22
Figure 23
Figure 24
