Official Luthiers Forum!

Here's my latest effort.  A tenor uke with sitka spruce top, koa sides and back.  Binding is ebony. Inlay is pua abalone except for logo which is white MOP and yellow MOP hibiscus. This one features a battery-less MISI Acoustic Trio undersaddle pickup.  For some reason string one is not amplified as much as the others. If anyone knows why I'd like to hear from them.

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Just beautiful! I love everything about it! Congrats on a real beauty. How many have you built? This better not be #1 or I quit!
Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Tracy relax, its number 2.  Regards Rich

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

That is a great looking Uke.  I really like it.  Everything is perfect, in my opinion.  Except, maybe, that first string thing.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

She's a beaut!

And the uke ain't bad, either.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

I like that a lot. The whole instrument is elegant and with just the right amount of Bling.

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Allen R. McFarlen
Barron River Guitars & Ukuleles
Facebook
Cairns, Australia

Rich,

That's gorgeous - beautifully put together.


Does the spruce top give a very different sound than an all koa uke? I'd love to hear a soundclip. Are the tuners mini Gotohs? I notice that LMI does Gotoh uke tuners that look interesting.

I still have making a uke on my "radar" and am getting very tempted by the harp-ukuleles like these.

I'm afraid I can't help much with the pick-up problems as I'm no expert and others here will be more help to you. It could be to do with proper contact over the full saddle length but I have read that sometimes if you use bone for the saddle, different densities along the saddle length can cause problems too.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

I wish I could remember where I saw it last night, but I was watching television, and saw a report of a 911 call, where someone was reporting a vagrant playing a ukulele on the corner across from their house.  Very disturbing behavior!   

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

The first string thing kind of resolved itself - maybe it was my amp setting?
Dave, the only other uke I built was an all walnut.  This one is more responsive.  Steve Grimes told me that he didn't like all koa guitars, because he thought that spruce tops produced much better sound.  The tuners are mini Gotohs.  My next one will feature open geared Gotohs which are a lot lighter, but a bit more expensive.  You can get them for a decent price at the hanalima site.  Rich

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

I really like your ukulele. Did you saw out your pearl yourself? Comparing the two e's they appear slightly different which makes me think they weren't Cnc'd.

Very nice inlay, the flower too. Reminds me of the hibiscus I saw all over Maui, and the one on my back deck yesterday.



Congratulations on a fine instrument.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Mmmm, love the koa w/ ebony binding look.  Beautiful.  Out of curiosity, how deep is the body at the end block?  I haven't seen many tenor uke's, so that thing looks huge to me.

As far as the pickup, my only thought was that of Dave's - and that's coupling.  Certainly could be something else, that's just the first thing that popped into my head.

Very fine Uke Rich. Love that Koa !

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Bruce, I did the pearl cutting and inlay.  Not my favorite part of luthiery and would gladly farm it out.
Csmonty, the design is based on a Hanalima plan and is 3" deep at the the tail block.  Actually the design calls for 2 3/4" at the head block going to 3"  two inches aft of the waist and going back down to 2 3/4" at the tail.  I just didn't like the look of the tail end so I left it at 3".  I may try a Wickham plan, since I think proportions of many of the parts such as the fingerboard and bridge could be reduced. Thanks for your comments. Rich

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Rich, that's gorgeous.

Love it.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

That is a very nice looking ukulele. You have done an excellent job. I really like your headstock and the choice of tuners to match the koa and the gold inlay. The bridge looks a bit hefty but I’m sure it will work fine. But I agree on the pinless pass through bridge for string attachment. I ‘m planning on the same pinless style on all my ukuleles.

You might check Bob Gleason’s Pegasus Guitar and Ukulele site for ukulele plans. The plans are very reasonably priced and he has made a ton of ukuleles. I was thinking about trying some of his plans out in the future. Currently I’m sitting a real nice set of select Koa and great set of Curly Mango for future builds. The Mango really has a nice tap tone. My thought is to use some of Shane’s Lutz for the tops. That wood is pretty stiff and would give a lot of leeway in tuning. I would also like to build a Bubinga ukulele. My current guitar build is of Bubinga and it really has a great tap tone. I know that Hana Lima in now selling a Bubinga kit but I haven’t heard any reviews of completed projects.

Philip

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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.

Konacat, I didn't see plans advertised on the Pegasus site.  His koa sets seem to be reasonably priced. Thanks Rich

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Purdy lil thing.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Hesh, Likeke is my name Richard in Hawaiian.  I play slack key for Lei Mele a Hawaiian music group in the Seattle area. Thanks Rich

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Looks great, Rich. Is that tuned GCEA, with the G tuned a fifth above the C? What's the scale length?

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

[QUOTE=Ricardo] Hesh, Likeke is my name Richard in Hawaiian. I play slack key for Lei Mele a Hawaiian music group in the Seattle area. Thanks Rich
[/QUOTE]

Cool, Rich. Are you from the islands?

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Rich,

You really need to look around from site directory on Bob's site but here ia link to his Builders and Repair Items. He has a lot of good stuff and offers a great deal of options along with some servicing. I have a feeling that anything purchased from Bob would be a good product.Pegasus Guitar and Ukulele

Philip

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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.