Soon to gain a tenor (sort of) ukulele

That bari uke I've posted about, well, turns out it isn't really a bari. I'm going to string and use it, for now, as a tenor.

Here's the story:
I went to the coffee house to meet my friend who was meeting me to give me his uke, which he told me was a bari. Whom should I meet there, first, but the guy who built the darn thing in the first place! We visited for awhile, then my friend shows up, with the uke. The luthier guy/friend takes a good look at the uke, measures the neck, and discovers that the neck is only 15", shorter than a bari. We discuss it, and we all three agree it would be better strung and tuned as a tenor, with a low G: G-C-E-A. So, I'm getting me a tenor!

The uke was missing its nut, and there was a slight crack in the lower bout. The luthier friend took it with him to fix it. Kind of nice, to have the guy who built it fix it.

I'll let y'all know how everything works out. I LOVE instruments with stories!

Well, by FB message my luthier friend, the original builder of the uke, told me it's ready. $30 parts and labor, new nut and new strings. It's strung now as a tenor. Meeting him tonight at the coffee shop after work. Excited!!

Tenors are nice, too.

uke1950 said:

Tenors are nice, too.

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Yes! And this one IS nice! Nice warm tone, and loud enough without being brassy.

My luthier friend strung it as a tenor, low G--wound string.

Pics to follow.

I now officially have 4 ukes: 2 sopranos, a tenor and a bari.

Congrats....pics soon? Who's this builder?

Nickie said:

Congrats....pics soon? Who's this builder?

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Thanks! Yes, pics soon. Tomorrow, I think.

The builder/luthier is a friend by the name of Dave Schneider. Over the last 30-odd years he's built ukes, mandolins (acoustic and electric), mountain dulcimers (I used to have one of his and surrendered it to my ex-wife when we split--still miss it, the instrument, that is), basses and a guitar or two. His work and reviews of his pieces can be found on the "Electrics" page on the "Eye Candy" link on mandolincafe.com. His favorites to build are mandos. His dulcimers are built to have a BIG and LOUD but warm sound. He must have built the tenor a LONG time ago because he says he doesn't remember building it. Builds as a hobby. Good luthier; nice fella too. Currently he's building--or just built, I'm not sure--what he calls a "contra uke": a uke tuned in re-entrant G-C B-A an octave down (or maybe two--I'll ask him). I'd like to see and play it.

Here it is! My new (to me) tenor. Purty, ain't it?

Very purty!