First Acoustic Build

About a year ago, I had the idea to try building a solid body Les Paul style ukulele. It turned out pretty good and, well needless to say, I was hooked. After a couple more solid body builds, a couple tahitian style, and a strumstick style acoustic, I finally got up the courage to try a full on acoustic ukulele. Just thought I'd share here.

It's roughly a soprano scale and I decided to go with an oval body shape to ease myself into the bending world and such. I didn't want to spend a lot on "fancy" wood my first time around, so all the wood is from the pound-stock scrap bins at my local hardwood store. Top, back, sides and neck are poplar and I used purpleheart for the fretboard, bridge, binding and tuning peg heads.

Anyway, here are some pictures. Let me know what you think. Any feedback is appreciated.

Looks pretty darn good. I like the purpleheart fretboard. Didn't get that out of dollar surplus bin I'll bet...

Thanks, Sequoia. I did, actually. They have a domestic pound stock bin and an exotic bin. I lucked out one visit and got a small end of a purpleheart board and some sticks of wenge. Not big pieces, but big enough to do some small fretboards and some other small stuff.

Nice job. I think P H is a great timber especially fretboards and bridges etc. I am surprised more people don't use it.

Looks great. I too like the purpleheart trim. You clearly have the skills to make decent looking instruments. I like your approach, there's no point spending lots on timber and equipment until you know what you are doing.

The drawing shows a bridge patch and 5 fans. Many of us start off with soundboards that are too thick and/or over braced. I would suggest that a patch and perhaps 2 thin fans would have been enough.

You don't say whether you like the way the instrument sounds. If you did use 5 fans (and if you left them too thick), the instrument may have lots of treble. Making great sounding instruments is about learning to make light soundboards with just enough bracing.

I hope you are inspired to make more acoustic instruments.

greenscoe said:

Looks great. I too like the purpleheart trim. You clearly have the skills to make decent looking instruments. I like your approach, there's no point spending lots on timber and equipment until you know what you are doing.

The drawing shows a bridge patch and 5 fans. Many of us start off with soundboards that are too thick and/or over braced. I would suggest that a patch and perhaps 2 thin fans would have been enough.

You don't say whether you like the way the instrument sounds. If you did use 5 fans (and if you left them too thick), the instrument may have lots of treble. Making great sounding instruments is about learning to make light soundboards with just enough bracing.

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Thank you. I did use 5 fans in the bracing. However, I ended up trimming them down pretty thin. I wasn't really sure the best way to do it. I knew that the bracing should be as light as possible, but I was also a little concerned about making sure the soundboard was sturdy enough since it is made of a panel of multiple narrow pieces instead of the usual two pieces for a top. Looking back, I can see a number of places that I should have done things a bit lighter; thinner neck (front to back, not across the fretboard), thinner headstock, etc.

Overall, I think it ended up sounding quite nice. I think it is a little quiet, but the tone is pretty good (to my relatively inexperienced ears anyway). I'm definitely pleased with how it turned out for a first attempt.

greenscoe said:

I hope you are inspired to make more acoustic instruments.

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Oh, absolutely. I think I'm far from done. I have already started on a concert. This time around, I'm trying the next step and going for the standard figure 8 body shape.

DPO said:

Nice job. I think P H is a great timber especially fretboards and bridges etc. I am surprised more people don't use it.

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Thank you. Yes, I think purpleheart looks quite nice. I've still got a bit left over that I'm sure I'll find a good use for. Trying to bend the strips for the binding was a bit of a pain though. Probably better suited for, like you said, fretboards, bridges and other parts that don't need to flex.

"I have already started on a concert. This time around, I'm trying the next step and going for the standard figure 8 body shape."

That's good to hear. Aim for less than 2 mm (0.070") on the sides and the soundboard. Thick sides are hard to bend.

On a concert most use 2 or 3 fans with or without a bridge patch. You might want to consider all the variations for these braces. Some use wide and low, some high and narrow: some taper only at the ends whilst others have a high point sometimes under the bridge and sometimes between bridge and soundhole. As a hobby maker I've tried them all!

Good luck.

I really like the contrasts in wood. Light body, Purple Heart fretboard , bridge and trim. You definitely are on you way. Wish I had that talent. The poplar looks great against the purple.