Ken Franklin Tenor Ukulele

Ken Franklin

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I don't know whether this is the best place to post this message but I'm sure someone will move it if it's not. This is a recent video of a tenor ukulele that I built about a year ago. I was doing some experiments with tuners and such. This is Tim Farrell who is better known for his fingerstyle guitar playing but has been bitten by the bug.



Here are the instrument specs:

Lutz spruce top
Ziricote back and sides
Sipo neck
Macassar ebony fretboard
Modified Gotoh Stealth tuners
Worth Brown Low G strings

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Very pretty and it sounds good too. Is that recording raw? Great job!
 
Very pretty and it sounds good too. Is that recording raw? Great job!

I'll have to ask Tim. My guess is that it's modified some. I'll get back to you. I do know that the video and sound came from different sources and were synced together.
 
Wow, that is a "BIG" sounding tenor............awesome.
 
Very nice. I like the sleek headstock. Looks and sounds like a pretty successful first build. Did you have experience building other instruments?
 
Very nice. I like the sleek headstock. Looks and sounds like a pretty successful first build. Did you have experience building other instruments?
Thanks, Eddie. Actually I've been building instruments for awhile now. I mostly build guitars but I've built dulcimers and a mandocello too. Lately I've been building more ukuleles and playing more ukulele too. That's my sixth.
 
Beautiful sounding Uke and a terrific song to demo it with.

Will they be available to the Uke market?

Thanks for sharing.
 
Thanks, Eddie. Actually I've been building instruments for awhile now. I mostly build guitars but I've built dulcimers and a mandocello too. Lately I've been building more ukuleles and playing more ukulele too. That's my sixth.

Great. Look forward to seeing and hearing more of your builds!
 
Very pretty and it sounds good too. Is that recording raw? Great job!

I'll have to ask Tim. My guess is that it's modified some. I'll get back to you. I do know that the video and sound came from different sources and were synced together.

My ears detect tiny amount of tastefully applied reverb, either 'small room' or 'hall' with a short decay, but that could also be the natural acoustics of the space in which it was recorded, i.e., wooden floors and high ceilings. I also detect a tiny bit of compression, something 3:1 with a slow attack. In any case, I think it is very well done and makes this uke sound like I'm sitting right there in front of it....

But all of this is just a guess and I could be wrong. :)

Having said all that, I too love the way the uke sounds and also like this arrangement very much as it has a nice 'bounce' to it. :music:
 
Awesome sounding uke, lovely design, and great playing!
 
My ears detect tiny amount of tastefully applied reverb, either 'small room' or 'hall' with a short decay, but that could also be the natural acoustics of the space in which it was recorded, i.e., wooden floors and high ceilings. I also detect a tiny bit of compression, something 3:1 with a slow attack. In any case, I think it is very well done and makes this uke sound like I'm sitting right there in front of it....

But all of this is just a guess and I could be wrong. :)

Having said all that, I too love the way the uke sounds and also like this arrangement very much as it has a nice 'bounce' to it. :music:

Thanks, Booli. I think you're right on about the sound. Haven't heard back from Tim yet though. Love the quotes on your signature BTW.
 
Is there a bracing block inside the body where the top strap button is mounted? I've never seen one placed there!

Funny you should notice... Actually Tim is using the suction cups from one of those guitar leg supports until I can install some strap buttons. He's in Pennsylvania and I'm in California but he'll be coming out to do concerts in February.
 
Thanks to all who have given me feedback about this ukulele. For those who were interested in the recording on the video, Tim Farrell got back to me and had this to say,

"I played Lua Pele into an AKG 214 large diaphram condenser mic into an Aphex Tubessence preamp into a Mark Of The Unicorn analog to digital converter. This went into a MacBook Pro and was recorded using Audio Desk by MOTU. I didn’t feel it needed EQ so I just added a little reverb. The video was recorded on my iPhone 6 and then loaded into the MacBook and synced with the audio track in iMovie.

For the record, the mic was a bit further from the instrument than I would normally have it but when it was in the optimum position for audio it blocked most of the instrument for the video."
 
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