DIY large body Super Tenor

[tonyturley]

The newest ukulele from my shop sung its first sweet tones this morning. It is a Super Tenor, with a 18 1/8" scale length tuned GCEA, and a body the size of a baritone ukulele. Neck join is at the 12th. Strings are Hannabach Red low tension Flamenco 1-4. The tone is warmer and richer than a regular tenor uke. The top is curly Redwood and the back & sides are bees wing Black Cherry. (Most difficult wood I have ever tried to bend.) The fretboard, bridge, and arm bevel are Maple. The arm bevel gave me no small amount of headaches, requiring three attempts before I got it to my satisfaction. The peghead overlay is from a piece of Black Cherry trim I saved when we remodeled one of our rooms many years ago. Pickup is a K&K Aloha Twin. This instrument will replace a pair of my older tenor ukuleles that will soon be going to new homes. Last image shows the new instrument on the right, with a baritone ukulele I built earlier from the same body molds, using bees wing Black Walnut for the back & sides. Body molds were from baritone plans from Oaktown Strings.

 

[hoji]

Those look fantastic. Nice work!

 

[Benros]

Really nice work, Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your string choice? I can't find Low Tension Hannabach Reds, only High Tension. Do you think, they would also work on an 17" Tenor?

 

[tonyturley]

Really nice work, Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your string choice? I can't find Low Tension Hannabach Reds, only High Tension. Do you think, they would also work on an 17" Tenor?

Check with StringsbyMail. I bought a treble set and added the 4th string separately. I like the strings so far. I'm not sure how well they would work on a standard tenor.

 

[Benros]

Check with StringsbyMail. I bought a treble set and added the 4th string separately. I like the strings so far. I'm not sure how well they would work on a standard tenor.

Thanks, i will try.

 

[ThomD]

Interesting headstock, do you have a profile picture of it?

 

[tonyturley]

Interesting headstock, do you have a profile picture of it?

No, but it's just a standard 15 degree angle.