Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a brother in law from Somoa who is just a great guy and does lots of nice things for people. I would like to build him a high end BRW uke and give it to him as a birthday present. I know absolutely nothing about the uke. He is a football player and quite large (350 lbs) What size instrument would be best for him and does anyone know where I can get plans and info to help me with the build?

Thanks,
Robbie

Robbie,
The "ukulele guild of hawaii" is a good place to start www.ukuleleguild.org

Bob Gleason builds some pretty ukes and offers supplies/wood for sale he's at pegasusguitars@verizon.net

_________________
Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

you can get plans at elderly. The most common size is a soprano, as it is
called the "standard" but your friend may, or may not have trouble
playing it with large fingers. There have been plenty of large hawaiians
who play the soprano no problem (IZ for example). But you might want to
go with a Tenor uke. You can find plans for it at www.hanalima.com as
well as lots of supplies ect.

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Robbie- I apologize for the delay answering your PM. It's been an intersesting week.

A couple of thoughts...

Most islanders play tenor ukes. They enjoy the extra room on the fingerboard. Most tune them to guitar tuning with a low D string. This gives them more notes at the low end.

I prefer the re-entrant gcea tuning...ity sounds more uke-like (My dog has fleas)

I studied with Mike Chock at Hana Lima 'ia and recommend his tenor plan. It comes in Kasha or fan braced. I built the fan braced tenor with him and it is a great uke. I gigged on it today. Hana Lima 'ia

The Ukulele Guild of Hawaii is a great organization. I agree with all of the suggestions above.

Robbie, go with the tenor. That's the most common size here with players for the reason Geoff mentioned above. Also the Hana Lima plans are probably the most complete out there.

As Dave mentioned Bob Gleason offers supplies but I believe he'll be out of state for the month of May. His son may be handling the business but I'm not sure. Some other sources of supplies are Hana Lima and Ukulele Supply of Hawaii

Be sure to post pictures.

Robbie,

You brother in-law is a lucky man and I am sure he will appreciate the ukulele. I too would have to agree with using Hana Lima ‘Ia as a source for your needs. Mike and Asa Chock are good people and will provide anything you may need concerning ukuleles. Both Bob Gleason and Ukulele Supply of Hawaii sell Koa sets for building. My experience says that the most desired wood for the ukulele is Koa. All the top custom builders use Koa and most of the time use a Koa top. From the standpoint of Hawaiian music all Koa is what you are looking for. That being said, a good instrument is a good instrument period.

As for a size I think that if your brother in-law is large then a tenor is the size for him. Tuning might differ if he is a strummer or a picker. If he strums and or plays chord solos then GCEA with high G is good. If he likes to also finger pick or play note solos than a Low G will give him an increased note range. Someone, I can’t remember whom, makes a bridge with a split saddle that can be moved into one of two grooves for high or low G strings.

I have a great custom-made concert size uke with low G tuning which play great. The concert size is just a tad smaller but has a bit more of the traditional ukulele sound. The ukulele I play most though is my extended neck soprano. It has the smaller size box that provides that “ukulele” sound yet provides greater room on the fretboard. That would be a concert neck on a soprano body. No matter what you choose to build I am sure he will be thrilled.

I will be attending the Hana Lima ‘Ia school of ukulele making in July. Just so you know, I started playing the ukulele after meeting the conductor on “The Sugar Cane Train” on Maui. On the return ride he broke out his soprano ukulele and played and sang. He was really a great musician and singer. But what started me playing was watching him just enjoy himself while he played. The most striking thing about him was that he was plenty large and looked like he had 10 huge thumbs instead of fingers yet he played beautify. I said if he can play so well with those monster fingers then I should be able to knock out a few notes… so I did.

Sorry to be so long.

Philip

Here are a couple of links

Hana Lima 'Ia

Hana Lima 'Ia gallery
Ukulele Supply of Hawaii
instrument gallery from Glyph Ukulele for ideas

_________________
aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

Thanks everyone so much for all the info. I will begin doing my homework and will post some photos of the finished instrument.