UK-243TS Ukulele Neck Reglue | Part 1

Part 2 ▶

I was handed this Techno UK-243TS Concert Ukulele just yesterday. The finish is an open-pore sunburst of sorts. The strings are still on, the saddle is missing; and the neck has separated completely from the body. No wonder, for the neck has simply been glued to the body without the benefit of a joint.  

Peering into the body, I notice that the neck block is rather narrow and lacks thickness. Now I know why they just used glue -- there isn't enough width and depth for a proper mortise and tenon or dovetail joint. Moving on, if you look closely at the top, you'll see a large embedded staple. This is how Techno attached the neck block to the body. I guess they wanted to save a few rupees. Finally, take notice of how both the top and back body binding extend into the neck/body "joint" area. This reduces the area of wood to wood contact and further weakens the attachment.

This particular ukulele was manufactured by Techno Music India. The UK-243TS is not listed on their website at all. Perhaps it's been discontinued. Anyhow, I'll hazard a guess that "3TS" refers to "Three Tone Sunburst." The closest match I've found is the UK-24P, featuring die-cast sealed tuners, a mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard and bridge; and spruce body. That's about it for this post, and do enjoy the pics.

Techno Logo

Die-Cast Sealed Tuners

Rosewood Fretboard

Sunburst Open-Pore Finish

Wooden Soundhole Label

Neck Block

Kerfing

Rosewood Bridge

Four-Ply BWB Binding

Detached Neck

Remnants of glue and wood

Binding in the area of the neck/body "joint"

Ye olde neck block staple