Hi all,
I am in the process of making my sixth stringed instrument. (Never quite sure what to call them... they are not quite ukuleles and not quite guitars, they kinda have a mix of both). Anyway for simplicity's sake I will just call this latest one a long scale six string uke. For some details on a few previous builds, you can take a look at https://hackaday.io/project/22273, https://hackaday.io/project/26034, and https://hackaday.io/project/28278
So you get an idea of what I am talking about, the current instrument is the size of a parlour guitar (about 13" lower bout, 9 - 10" upper bout, 625mm (24.6") scale length. It will have 6 strings in the 6 string baritone uke tuning (D, g/G, B, e/E).
My question for the collective knowledge is about string spacing at the nut vs. saddle. Originally I was planning on doing it how you normally would: the two-string courses follow down to the saddle, so you have the 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 spacing there as well as at the nut. However I was thinking about making the bridge equi-distantantly spaced, like a standard 6 string guitar, while leaving the nut with the 4 course spacing.
There are a few reasons why I think this would be nice:
1) It gives the nylon strings more space to vibrate, so I can have the two-string courses tighter (at the nut) than I would otherwise.
2) It gives my right hand more space for finger picking (assuming I can teach myself to do that... my brain doesn't work so well when trying to pick and chord)
3) I never really play any lower than first position (open chords), so the course strings would be closer together in that position than they would be otherwise. Yes, if I were to play down the neck it would get a bit more difficult, as then the strings would be getting too wide.
I have a few more days (probably closer to a week) before I need to make up my mind and start on the bridge, but I would be interested if anyone has tried something like this before, and how it worked out.
Also in case it helps, attached is a picture of the design. If there is interest I can also show what I have done so far.
Cheers
Design (showing the string spacing that I am trying to explain):
I am in the process of making my sixth stringed instrument. (Never quite sure what to call them... they are not quite ukuleles and not quite guitars, they kinda have a mix of both). Anyway for simplicity's sake I will just call this latest one a long scale six string uke. For some details on a few previous builds, you can take a look at https://hackaday.io/project/22273, https://hackaday.io/project/26034, and https://hackaday.io/project/28278
So you get an idea of what I am talking about, the current instrument is the size of a parlour guitar (about 13" lower bout, 9 - 10" upper bout, 625mm (24.6") scale length. It will have 6 strings in the 6 string baritone uke tuning (D, g/G, B, e/E).
My question for the collective knowledge is about string spacing at the nut vs. saddle. Originally I was planning on doing it how you normally would: the two-string courses follow down to the saddle, so you have the 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 spacing there as well as at the nut. However I was thinking about making the bridge equi-distantantly spaced, like a standard 6 string guitar, while leaving the nut with the 4 course spacing.
There are a few reasons why I think this would be nice:
1) It gives the nylon strings more space to vibrate, so I can have the two-string courses tighter (at the nut) than I would otherwise.
2) It gives my right hand more space for finger picking (assuming I can teach myself to do that... my brain doesn't work so well when trying to pick and chord)
3) I never really play any lower than first position (open chords), so the course strings would be closer together in that position than they would be otherwise. Yes, if I were to play down the neck it would get a bit more difficult, as then the strings would be getting too wide.
I have a few more days (probably closer to a week) before I need to make up my mind and start on the bridge, but I would be interested if anyone has tried something like this before, and how it worked out.
Also in case it helps, attached is a picture of the design. If there is interest I can also show what I have done so far.
Cheers
Design (showing the string spacing that I am trying to explain):