Top Crack Repair on the Soprano Ukulele

Looks like this may be my last blog post of 2012.  My New Year's Eve is so exciting - I'm working on my old Gretsch ukulele!

So, now it's on to the worst of the cracks. Ironically, this one is probably the cleanest in terms of breaks.

There actually are three breaks - the first is the big on on the right.  But it is also part of a separation of the top from the sides.  This is a little strange, and I wonder if the ukulele was dropped and that's what caused the breaks.

I wonder about it being dropped because of the second crack.  This one is a split in the top, and it also has a dent - it's hard to see but it's where the top joins the side.   It's right near the knife in this picture.

At any rate, these repairs are like the others.  Open the seams, get glue into them, and then clamp them together.

The glue sort of looks like icing!

I wiped most of it off before I put the clamps on.

All clamped up.  The lexan caul is helping the top to lay flat.  I'm hoping that will straighten out the one dent somewhat and be less noticeable.  The wood is cracked around the dent, but it's not the whole way through the top.

I've done a fair amount of repair to the body, but none of the splits should affect the tone.  The two in the back are tight (and now glued) and these two top cracks are near the side, which is a fairly dead area in terms of vibration.