The story of two strap buttons

Not long ago I showed you a Kala tenor ukuleleand also mentioned that this ukulele does not come with strap buttons fitted at the factory, so I would have them installed myself. I have also been in guitar-related Facebook groups for years, and one name became firmly lodged in my memory:Tibor Medgyesi . I am not exaggerating when I say that group members recommend him for virtually any kind of guitar repair or setup work. I thought I would write to him and ask whether he would fit strap buttons to a ukulele. I was certain he had a huge amount of work and was snowed under, and I would not have been surprised if I had needed to wait days—or even weeks—before I could get an appointment.

I was delighted when, barely more than fifteen minutes later, he replied that I could come in two days. Wow, I thought, brilliant: Tibor has agreed to do it, and I am incredibly lucky that I can take the ukulele to him so soon!

Tibor's instrument shop is in an easily accessible location, close to Blaha / Keleti: Medgyesi Hangszercenterwhere he also carries out repairs and setup work. As soon as I entered, I was struck by the atmosphere of the place: the number of guitars and amplifiers per square metre must be close to a record, if such a thing could be measured. People were constantly coming and going, not only to buy instruments but also to bring Tibor all kinds of minor and major guitar problems. You can immediately see that this is his world: tirelessly and enthusiastically, down to the smallest detail, he shares his opinion about a guitar or ukulele that needs repair, or about the mysteries of sound reinforcement. When it was my turn, Tibor explained what he was going to do with the strap buttons, how, and why... I could barely keep up. There is real science to this, and not a small amount of it. You need to know the woods precisely—whether you can or should drill them, how to do it if you can, and why not if you cannot—and exactly where it is safe or advisable to screw in strap buttons.

When Tibor took the ukulele into his workshop, I felt a little like someone sitting outside a dentist's surgery waiting while a family member is having a tooth treated. I could hear drilling, interrupted now and then by a minute of silence. Then again came the whirrrrr of the drill, and when it stopped Tibor appeared holding the ukulele, now proudly sporting its two strap buttons. The whole operation took no more than ten minutes. They look fantastic, and I can hardly wait to put the strap on!

My apologies to anyone who hoped for technical details and has noticed that I have written none. I did not describe them because I do not know them myself. Tibor's workshop is a private area beside / above the shop, so I did not see the operation itself. One thing is certain, though: I did very, very, very well not to start drilling and cutting into it myself—not that I had planned to—but instead entrusted the strap-button installation to a genuine professional. I would make the same decision again, and there is no question whom I would turn to.

And one final piece of advice: even if you consider yourself handy, only start modifying a ukulele (or any instrument) yourself if you really know what you are doing, understand the woods, and so on. I am not completely hopeless with tools either—I drilled a house number into the wall last week —but that kind of “woodwork”... well, it was only a house number on plaster , not delicate precision work like this. You can cause much greater, even irreparable, damage to an instrument if you work on it in the wrong way.

So once again, many thanks to Tibor for fitting me in so quickly and for turning the ukulele into such a fantastic, fully equipped instrument by installing the strap buttons .

Related blog post: With or without a strap?

Finally, enjoy the rest of the photos: