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Thread: First Time Ukulele Build

  1. #16
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    Feb 2009
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    Finished up the ukulele today. Definitely not perfect but I am very happy with it and it sounds quite nice... Now I need to start learning songs. My biggest mistake is that the 2 sides are not mirror images of each other and it is noticeable from the back.

    Anyway here are the pics of the finished product.




    Andrew Gibson
    Program Manger and Resident Instructor
    Florida School Of Woodwork

  2. #17
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    Jan 2009
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    Williamsburg,Va.
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    I just did some quick handles for ceramic kitchen knives,and put Tru Oil on them. Every time they get a bit of water on them,they seem to get a sticky feel. I only put on 1 thinly stretched coat. Handles are bloodwood,which I had scraps of.

  3. #18
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    Aug 2009
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    Canyon Lake, CA
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    Look into French polish as a finish. I'm using shellac for my first acoustic build and so far after the spit coats I really like the look and I'm no where close to having it finished. I looked into the Truoil but too many cons for me. I use an oil/varnish mix on my hard body electrics including the neck and like the look and feel on those. The oil doesn't effect the sound on an electric.

  4. #19
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    Sep 2007
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    Louisville, Ky
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    186
    Andrew,

    Looking nice so far! How thick are the top and sides? I have a little soprano uke and am having a lot of fun with it, The chords are fairly easy and fun to play.

  5. #20
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    Hi kevin. The sides are around 3/32" and the top and back around 1/8" finished up a Concert sized Uke a few days ago. the sides are about 1/16 and the top and back about 3/32"
    I will post picks and a video of how they sound here shortly.
    Andrew Gibson
    Program Manger and Resident Instructor
    Florida School Of Woodwork

  6. #21
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    Well number 2 is done as well. I thought I would post a pic and a video showing a how they sound.
    http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/vid...53443&comments
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Andrew Gibson; 06-17-2011 at 2:56 PM.
    Andrew Gibson
    Program Manger and Resident Instructor
    Florida School Of Woodwork

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Lakeland Florida
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    It's beautiful Andrew!
    “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” ~ Albert Einstein

  8. #23
    Congrats on your build. I followed the thread from old to new and was formulating this response that you should realize that you can't possibly make a great-sounding instrument the first time out. The design cycle is really long --- weeks at the shortest, unless you can pump out a uke every few days --- so the iterations take a while. Plus, it's REALLY hard to keep everything constant and just change one or two things so see what variables change what characteristics of your instrument.
    So, it's evolution, slow and rocky. After half a dozen you'll converge on a good sound.

    Then I see that you've made a second one. Congrats on you persistence. I have a couple comments.
    1) Your bridges are way too big / heavy. To understand this, play any old violin, then set some convenient weight...say half the weight of a golf ball ... atop the bridge and play again. The volume drops tremendously.

    2) Instruments like this really want to be thin, thin, thin, to sound great. Thin instruments self destruct faster than fat, heavy instruments. People starting out always make their instruments too heavy. Find the other end of the spectrum...where you really want to be for the good sound ... by making an absurdly thin top with thin sides. Enjoy it for a few days until the top punches in. The finest sounding harpsichord I ever made was a little octave spinet that folded like a potato chip at the end of 6 months.

    3) I can not find a way to get good intonation out of this uke size. The fore-shortened nylon just isn't very linear up and down the scale. The next size up is about the shortest you can go with nylon and still hold pitch all over the fret board.

    4) It's a great learning instrument. I highly suggest you pick up some uke TABS and go for it. I've found them all over the internet. The art-deco era uke music is fantastic stuff with imaginative passing notes between chords and plenty of work for your left hand. Tablature makes a LOT more sense than sheet music for a uke. And...a bonus in case you didn't know this...the same chords work on the 4 highest strings of a guitar ( though the pitch value, thus the name of the chord, is different ), so some of the chords on the uke will be identical on the guitar.

  9. #24
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    Thanks Russel, I just noticed your post. I definitely was thinking my bridges were heavy, but I just followed the plans I had. I actually have at least 3 or 4 more ukes in the plans... I acquired this weekend some really wonderful wood... some red eucalyptus, some Cuban mahogany, and some rosewood. All local treet that were destoned for the dump. My plans are to saw some up into instrument blanks and let it dry for a while then try a few more builds. I am working on a blog post about the sawing so keep an eye out if your interested in that kind of stuff.
    Andrew Gibson
    Program Manger and Resident Instructor
    Florida School Of Woodwork

  10. #25
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    I guess this will be the final update in this thread as far as I have now built 2 ukes...
    I sold uke #2, and #3 has been commissioned. He wants another Concert out of cherry, just like #2.

    I also have a pic of some of that Eucliptus that I was able to saw up today. I needed to make sure I had enough thickness before I resawed some Monkey Pod that I acquired this weekend. Wood porn coming up
    IMAG0159.jpgIMAG0156[1].jpgIMAG0155[1].jpg
    Andrew Gibson
    Program Manger and Resident Instructor
    Florida School Of Woodwork

  11. #26
    Where did you get your plans from. I think I might want to try one of these.

  12. #27
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    Sep 2009
    Location
    Northwest Wisconsin
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    Certainly, I don't want to put my bits of novice experience up against George's years of expertise, but I know of quite a few people who've had nothing but good things to say about Tru-oil. I worked alongside a self-taught old-timer for a few years. Frank used the stuff consistantly, and to my knowledge, never had a problem with it not hardening. I've played on hsi guitars here and there and a half-dozen of them were pushing fifteen or twenty years old. The finish seemed fine on these and on Tru-oil instruments built by a few other luthiers of my acquaintance. I've talked to others, though, who've had the same concerns as George.

    I've used Tru-oil on my few instruments, and like the feel. Maybe I'm just biased from working with Frank, and he's not infallible. (I do know that at least a few of his instruments contain a drywall screw hidden in the guts...)

  13. #28
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    Apr 2010
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    savannah
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    I just watched the video, and those are very good sounding ukeleles. I don't know why, but it seems that a good sounding uke is very hard to find. There is always something that sounds bad. But yours sounded great. The lows and the highs blend very well.
    It's sufficiently stout..


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