Official Luthiers Forum!

I have an Australian factory built concert ukulele which I bought 2 years ago, and have hardly ever had it out of it's case. It's a lovely instrument, but I tend to prefer the soprano size.

Recently I took it out to polish it, and while doing so, I noticed it was almost covered in fine lines in the lacquer. I found Frank Ford's page Amalgamating Lacquer related to "checking" and it looks to me like what has happened to my uke.

Here's a picture of the back



As you can see, it doesn't quite follow the grain. The body is indian rosewood, and the neck is australian blackwood (acacia melanoxylon). The lines are even more abundant on the neck heel and all sides of the headstock.

I emailed this picture to the manufacturer, but he has remained silent.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Cheers Hip.

Looks like a rather thick finish from the photo, which makes it more prone to crazing than a thinner one. In any case, that's what lacquer does. Leave it and keep playing.

_________________
Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

some people actually pay good money for a finish like that.

Was it environmentally protected (heat and cold swings)? That is a pathway to this effect.

Did you pay a LOT for it?

The nice thing about NC is it is repairable.

Mike

Looks like lots of pore shrinkage, too.

If you want it all nicey and newey looking, the lacquer could first be treated with an amalgamator like Cellusolve or Behlen's Qualarenu. Then it could be sanded and completely oversprayed. It's a job for a pro, and the checking could reappear.

I'm wondering if the uke got humid and then dried out...

But as per above advice, this is what lacquer does...sooner or later. In your case sooner...

Yup. Just keeping an instrument in a case is not enough. I keep my instruments in one room with a controllable humidifier.

If the uke did not cost much, (say uner $200) then you might want to try a repair (if you are looking to get into the trade). Again, NC is very repairable. Since this involves the back, and since it is NC, you could wipe off the finish with acetone, sand, pore fill, and reapply NC. You must protect the unharmed areas with paper and tape! This is where it gets tricky (applying the new NC). Also, make sure you have a good low rpm buffer. Then again, if all you want is a repair, then have someone with the tools & experience do it. Its just that if it is a low priced uke, it may not be worth it $$ wise.

Good luck,

Mike

Thanks gents.

I'll let it go for a while. It still plays OK.

It's a fairly costly uke. The specs are here.

The picture appears to show milkiness in the lacquer, but it looks fine except in a reflection.

It spent the winter in it's loose fitting case in a spare room with no heating, and there were a few nights about 0ºC. That's what I've put it down to.

I'm only dirty because I thought I'd sell it, and pulled it out to polish it up and photograph it. I expected it to look brand new.

Perhaps I'll drill it and put a passive undersaddle pickup in it. That's the alternative to an aggressive pickup I suppose.

One day when I feel confident enough I'll fine sand and polish it up.

Cheers Hip.

Yep I see a lot of pore shrinkage as well. looks like the pore fill was inadequate or mabe mot filled at all.

That's right. they haven't filled the pores. Perhaps that's to emphasize the "thin" coating. Perhaps it's to preserve sound quality?

It may very well have pore filler, but it could have shrunk under the lacquer, pulling the lacquer down into the pores. That's common with oil based fillers. This instrument is not atypical for lacquer that has been subject to extreme conditions. I've seen plenty of big name guitars that looked like this.

Now why is it that so many people think lacquer is a superior finish?