IT IS TIME to attach the bridge to Bob's Koa/Cedar uke. The french polish has had two weeks to harden up, the nut and the saddle were shaped from buffalo bone long ago, perhaps tomorrow the 3 degree taper reamer will arrive from Stew Mac so I can make the holes for the bridge pins, But first we have to glue on the bridge-- and it must be perfectly placed to assure proper intonation. Here is how I do it.
![Picture](/uploads/1/1/9/6/11963232/2619656.jpg?349)
First I insert the nut, not yet notched for the strings but shaped to fit otherwise. Then I clamp a wooden template onto the fretboard, tight up against the nut.
![Picture](/uploads/1/1/9/6/11963232/3125340.jpg?353)
That wooden template is exactly cut to the scale length of a tenor ukulele. I know that if I can glue the bridge with it's saddle exacty up against that template I will have perfect intonation. So here it is perfectly placed. Now the challenge is to glue it there.
![Picture](/uploads/1/1/9/6/11963232/21907.jpg?388)
We will do that with tape, to carefully set the limits of the bridge edges. A couple of layers of blue tape very accurately delineates the edges of the bridge and will hold it in place so that it does not slip during glueing.
![Picture](/uploads/1/1/9/6/11963232/8984677.jpg?373)
The tape now defines the glue area for the bridge. I will mask off the rest of the soundboard against the possibility of a tool slip that would mar the finish that has taken so long to produce. Now with a razor blade I must carefully scrape off every last vestige of shellac from the bridge area to insure a successful glueing.
Stay tuned, tomorrow we will glue it on.
Stay tuned, tomorrow we will glue it on.