Pete Howlett
Well-known member
Never thought I'd be putting these as standard on my instruments. You can flame me at will...
Pete Howlett eats his hat
- Thread starter Pete Howlett
- Start date
Not me; I like hearing the sound from a side port aimed in my face. Besides, that's a very good looking ukulele.
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DPO
Well-known member
As standard? Not on the Vita uke surely?
Those holes are very useful. You can use it as a cup holder while you are playing 
Joking aside ... holes in the sides do allow you to hear better when playing.
I think if I every made a uke with one I would consider adding little magnets inside and make a thin cover that I could stick over the hole. I would then have the option to close it off, partially open or fully open. I think I saw someone do that on a guitar once but can't recall who it was.
Joking aside ... holes in the sides do allow you to hear better when playing.
I think if I every made a uke with one I would consider adding little magnets inside and make a thin cover that I could stick over the hole. I would then have the option to close it off, partially open or fully open. I think I saw someone do that on a guitar once but can't recall who it was.
Croaky Keith
Well-known member
'The Jury is still out' as far as I'm concerned.
Maybe if you are playing in a big open area it works, but I have to play in a small room & the walls are only a few feet away, & they probably reflect more sound than a side port allows to escape.
(I took the tuner/pre amp out of one of my ukes, for other reasons, & don't notice any extra volume when playing it.)
Maybe if you are playing in a big open area it works, but I have to play in a small room & the walls are only a few feet away, & they probably reflect more sound than a side port allows to escape.
(I took the tuner/pre amp out of one of my ukes, for other reasons, & don't notice any extra volume when playing it.)
Dan Gleibitz
Well-known member
I'd use Very Hungry Caterpillar plush toy when I wanted to close it.
Ha ha! genius! certainly beats faffing about with fiddly woodworking.
ukes from Wales could ship wirth fluffy sheep ... ukes from Canada could ship with fluffy moose ... ... ok I'm going to stop now (sorry)
Michael N.
Well-known member
A few years ago I made an experimental guitar. Primarily it was to test a bracing scheme but when I had finished with that I tried a few other alterations. The last experiment was the soundport. Over a few days I slowly increased the size of the opening. I also made a tapered plug so that I could close the port.
My conclusion was that it did act like a near field monitor. Not a huge difference but it was there. Until I tried it in a fairly lively acoustic room and then the advantage seemed to disappear. So if you play in a room full of soft furnishings you will probably hear a difference. In a room with harder surfaces you may not.
My conclusion was that it did act like a near field monitor. Not a huge difference but it was there. Until I tried it in a fairly lively acoustic room and then the advantage seemed to disappear. So if you play in a room full of soft furnishings you will probably hear a difference. In a room with harder surfaces you may not.
stevejfc
Well-known member
In addition to directing some sound up to the player, I have found them useful when used for an external pickup. I have a Myers External pickup which rests nicely next to the side sound port................it's out of finger and arm way, and picks up the sound as well as if it was used through the main sound port. Also, it is not nearly as noticeable.
What do you think of this design? The sound holes go all the way around the sides of the body.
What do you think of this design? The sound holes go all the way around the sides of the body.
if I'm honest it does not look quite right to me. Perhaps it is becuase I can't quite get my head around the visual side of not having any holes in the sound board. Although it certainly looks very well executed ... some of the rectangular holes make me think that the uke is expecting some thing to be inserted like a preamp ... if that makes sense. Don't get me wrong though ... it is a pretty cool thing to try out.
does it have any significant effect on sound projection to an audience? Also did the sides need to be totally laminated or just a load of patches on the inside to keep it structurally sound?
I'm going to find out in a few weeks, ordered a spalted mango top, and curly mango body that the builder recommended for stability. I like ukes that are different and this sure is. My understanding is that the vibration of the top is where the sound comes from and just needs any kind of sound hole for dispersion, but Pete and others can verify that. I mean violins only have those thin F holes that face up when playing.
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