Is mismatched color between neck and body acceptable?

Vespa Bob

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I'm in the process of finishing my latest teardrop soprano and in between coats of lacquer I decided to double check the neck to body fit. Although I could see earlier on that the mahogany neck was darker than the mahogany body, but I rather liked the lighter tone. Now that I see the neck and body together, I'm not so sure if this is a good thing or not. I have seen ukuleles that have contrasting woods being purposely used and they look great, but if the neck and body are of the same species, is that acceptable? I'm at a point where I can still apply a stain to the body, but before I do, I'd like to hear a word or two from the wise. Thanks.

Bob
 

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I can tinker on electric instruments and do some setup work on acoustic things, but I am far from being any kind of luthier, so please just take this from someone who is a player and enthusiast and who greatly admires the skill and knowledge needed to craft an instrument by hand.

I think that build looks beautiful. I actually like the contrast between the neck and body. Someone suggested staining the body to more closely match the darker neck, and to me that seems like a good approach if the contrast is that bothersome or the person for whom this is being made has a a problem with it.

Essentially, everyone is just different--this kind of thing is going to really bother some people, and some would barely notice and not care at all.

I've seen acoustic guitars with what I thought were horribly mismatched tops and that would put me off, but it never bothered the owners...
 
It looks terrific! Far from a "mismatch," I'd say it's a perfectly valid aesthetic choice.
 
Since you are using lacquer ( assume it is nitrocellulose lacquer being sprayed), you can add special colors to the lacquer to make it match the neck and then apply clear lacquer tops coats.

I'm in the process of finishing my latest teardrop soprano and in between coats of lacquer I decided to double check the neck to body fit. Although I could see earlier on that the mahogany neck was darker than the mahogany body, but I rather liked the lighter tone. Now that I see the neck and body together, I'm not so sure if this is a good thing or not. I have seen ukuleles that have contrasting woods being purposely used and they look great, but if the neck and body are of the same species, is that acceptable? I'm at a point where I can still apply a stain to the body, but before I do, I'd like to hear a word or two from the wise. Thanks.

Bob
 
Thanks for the prompt replies, from which I gather that there is no hard and fast rule as to mismatched necks and bodies. There is a difference on opinion as to whether it is aesthetically pleasing, though, and that is why I'm having a problem deciding on which direction to take. If I were to keep the uke, I'd leave it as it is, because I like it that way and I already have another which has the same tone throughout. However, since this build has so far turned out pretty good, I will probably want to sell it, therefore it should be finished in a way that's acceptable to most buyers. I have the dyes and have used them before, so darkening the body to match the neck is no problem. I'll wait a little longer before deciding. Thanks again for your input, folks, you're great!
The pic below is of a previous build.

Bob
 

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I like the contrast. I don't think you'd have trouble finding buyers.
 
I may try and stain the bridge to match the neck!
 
It's settled then! By my calculations, leaving it as it is wins by a margin! Thanks for the encouragement, I appreciate it immensely. I also love the colour of the wood on the sound box, so that's how it's going to stay. Will post pics once it's all done. BTW, Phil, the bridge is Indian Rosewood, so it is close in tone to the neck.

Bob
 
I like the two-tone look. Adds interest. Also, I'm not a big fan of dyeing wood. I like to go natural. This might have something to do with my less than stellar experiments with wood dyes.
 
I'm one that doesn't like when the neck and body color are mismatched. I cruise eBay almost every night looking at tenor ukes, and many of the ones made by Bruce Wei have mismatched neck and body colors, though the customs he's made for me are matched very well. I actually bought one of his eBay models recently because the neck made of natural maple looked so good against the brown sunburst body, very unusual for his builds on eBay (and it's a nice sounding uke too).

BWA brown uke.jpg
 
I know its only aesthetic, but I like it when they match. A blond neck on a darker body can look good though as pictured above.

You have to keep the tint matched though. If one has a warm tint and the other has a cold tint they look awful.

Anthony
 
No doubt you've heard the phrase "His sense of taste is all in his mouth." I try to be that way. A fussiness about small details often suggests meaningless intolerance more than intelligence, an adopted reaction more than honest feeling. So I try to enjoy everything about instruments other than shoddy workmanship, even if the point in question is something I would never do to my own work. If you like what you've done, its good. If others don't like it, that's their problem. If you're going to grow as an artist/craftsperson you have to be independent in thought and action. Sorry if this sounds preachy, but I never would have thought to ask the question.
 
Not preachy at all, in fact I completely agree with you and was hesitant to post the question for those reasons. Nonetheless, since I'm fairly new at the art of lutherie I was unsure whether or not there was some kind of "unwritten law" regarding this subject. Apparently not:).

Bob
 
Not preachy at all, in fact I completely agree with you and was hesitant to post the question for those reasons. Nonetheless, since I'm fairly new at the art of lutherie I was unsure whether or not there was some kind of "unwritten law" regarding this subject. Apparently not:).

Bob

There's only one rule. Everything you do is right until you need to please one particular person. You have to understand the foundation of lutherie so that your pieces will have a certain life span, but even that can be trial and error if you have the time. The more rules we follow, the more alike our work will be.
 
I think it looks outstanding! Great work there! It only matters if one is shallow enough to not appreciate artistry!!!
 
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