Jim Hanks
Well-known member
Here for your viewing and listening pleasure is the premier of the first super tenor ukulele from Pete and Shelley Mai, aka Bonanza Ukuleles.
First, I'll run down the specs and then talk about how this instrument came into being.
19" scale
Pear shape tenor body
Cherry top and headplate
HPL (high pressure laminate) back/sides, "fallen leaves" pattern
Mahogany Neck
Rosewood Fingerboard
Walnut bridge
Corian nut/saddle
Geared tuners, gold with amber buttons
Gold end pin
Fremont Blackline "bari tuned tenor" strings, tuned reentrant F (cFAD)
Pictures
More pictures - https://imgur.com/gallery/dsIZv
In my last NUD post, I talked about plans I had for my $36 Rogue baritone: plans to try different strings, more setup work, etc. Well, that didn't happen until very recently when I put some 'octave ukulele' strings on it, low-low GCEA. But the original plan was a low reentrant tuning (low as in lower pitch, not as in cuatro or lillu). I figured why not do it up right on a "real" instrument. First, I needed a partner in crime.
The basic idea was a reentrant tuning as low as possible. With several strings sets available for dGBE at 17" tenor scale, I was confident they would serve for cFAD at 19" baritone scale, which is as long as I want to go these days. And then later maybe try for lower with more oddball string choices - or not.
About the only "off the shelf" options for this are the "super tenor" ukes but most are rather pricey. Kanilea and Kamaka have models well into four figures. Even the new Kala is only a dollar away from a grand!
Scanning the array of "custom" builders, I thought Bonanza might be a good fit for this project since they already build tenors and 19" baritones, their cost is quite reasonable, and they've been getting good reviews.
I approached Bonanza about the project and Shelley was receptive to it. She wasn't 100% sure the lower tuning would sound good on the smaller body, but we figured worst case we could always resort to dGBE tuning, and I was fine with that. I wanted to go with a solid wood top instead of an all laminate body, and after listening to a couple of samples of walnut and cherry tenors, decided to go with the cherry. It was a little bit brighter than the walnut, which is generally not my preferred direction, but the thinking was that the lower tuning might benefit from that - keep it from getting too "muddy". Probably overthinking but that was the thought process anyway.
Total time from initial contact to delivered instrument was a little under three months. I think this is actually on the long side for them, but the holidays, winter weather in Minnesota, and some unexpected downtime for Pete conspired against us. Even so, that's still really quick for a custom build with a couple of unknowns going in. I was very pleased with the whole process and the end result.
There are a lot of textures and colors on this uke but I think they all fit together in a complementary way. Quirky but tasteful.
With the low tuning and these strings, the uke has a very mellow, soothing voice. The strings keep stretching and could easily be left a notch lower at bEG#C# for reentrant E, but Eb would probably be too far. I'm not sure yet if I like the feel of the Blacklines. They are pretty thin to be this low but have an almost "plastic-y" feel. I'll probably try some fluorocarbons next, either Southcoast or Living Water most likely as they both have sets for tenor dGBE that should work for bari cFAD. Or maybe a SC set with the intention of dGBE.
Sound sample :
First, I'll run down the specs and then talk about how this instrument came into being.
19" scale
Pear shape tenor body
Cherry top and headplate
HPL (high pressure laminate) back/sides, "fallen leaves" pattern
Mahogany Neck
Rosewood Fingerboard
Walnut bridge
Corian nut/saddle
Geared tuners, gold with amber buttons
Gold end pin
Fremont Blackline "bari tuned tenor" strings, tuned reentrant F (cFAD)
Pictures
More pictures - https://imgur.com/gallery/dsIZv
In my last NUD post, I talked about plans I had for my $36 Rogue baritone: plans to try different strings, more setup work, etc. Well, that didn't happen until very recently when I put some 'octave ukulele' strings on it, low-low GCEA. But the original plan was a low reentrant tuning (low as in lower pitch, not as in cuatro or lillu). I figured why not do it up right on a "real" instrument. First, I needed a partner in crime.
The basic idea was a reentrant tuning as low as possible. With several strings sets available for dGBE at 17" tenor scale, I was confident they would serve for cFAD at 19" baritone scale, which is as long as I want to go these days. And then later maybe try for lower with more oddball string choices - or not.
About the only "off the shelf" options for this are the "super tenor" ukes but most are rather pricey. Kanilea and Kamaka have models well into four figures. Even the new Kala is only a dollar away from a grand!
Scanning the array of "custom" builders, I thought Bonanza might be a good fit for this project since they already build tenors and 19" baritones, their cost is quite reasonable, and they've been getting good reviews.
I approached Bonanza about the project and Shelley was receptive to it. She wasn't 100% sure the lower tuning would sound good on the smaller body, but we figured worst case we could always resort to dGBE tuning, and I was fine with that. I wanted to go with a solid wood top instead of an all laminate body, and after listening to a couple of samples of walnut and cherry tenors, decided to go with the cherry. It was a little bit brighter than the walnut, which is generally not my preferred direction, but the thinking was that the lower tuning might benefit from that - keep it from getting too "muddy". Probably overthinking but that was the thought process anyway.
Total time from initial contact to delivered instrument was a little under three months. I think this is actually on the long side for them, but the holidays, winter weather in Minnesota, and some unexpected downtime for Pete conspired against us. Even so, that's still really quick for a custom build with a couple of unknowns going in. I was very pleased with the whole process and the end result.
There are a lot of textures and colors on this uke but I think they all fit together in a complementary way. Quirky but tasteful.
With the low tuning and these strings, the uke has a very mellow, soothing voice. The strings keep stretching and could easily be left a notch lower at bEG#C# for reentrant E, but Eb would probably be too far. I'm not sure yet if I like the feel of the Blacklines. They are pretty thin to be this low but have an almost "plastic-y" feel. I'll probably try some fluorocarbons next, either Southcoast or Living Water most likely as they both have sets for tenor dGBE that should work for bari cFAD. Or maybe a SC set with the intention of dGBE.
Sound sample :
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