Ukulele Question

[wildbill]

I refinished a 1930'ish Uke that was my Aunt's. She lived in Chicago as a girl and bought it when Ukuleles were "the bee's knees". Label is long gone so I have no idea who made it. I digress.

The bridge was off of it and the saddle broken so I installed a new saddle and glued the bridge on. It lasted a couple weeks and popped off. Since Titebond is the wrong answer, what do I glue this bridge back on with? Epoxy seems so....permanent. Granted, I probably won't ever want it off and it's not a priceless antique.

 

[mayfly]

Hmmm - I'm surprised titebond didn't work.  I've used that for bridges and body/neck joints and it's been solid for me. Is the joint clean with no old glue or finish in it?

Got a pic?

 

[Cagey]

Is the bridge even supposed to be glued on? A lot of the old acoustic stringed instruments I've seen have had their bridges held in place by string tension. That may even be why yours is on the loose.

Past that, I'm also surprised the Tite-Bond didn't work. Maybe take some naphtha after the mating surfaces to make sure there's no wax or oil residue. Also, hide glue is often used in wooden instrument manufacture where a joint may need to be disassembled. Maybe that's the stuff to use.

 

[wildbill]

The back of the bridge has four slots that hold the ends of the strings by knots tied in the end of the string, so all the pressure of all four strings is constantly trying to pull the bridge off. Like a classical guitar bridge. Looking at it again, I think it pulled the lacquer off the body, I need to get it down to a cleaner wood/wood joint like y'all said. Or epoxy it. LOL.  Thanks for the input.