RafterGirl
Well-known member
I’m toying with the idea of a new build. I’m thinking about cherry or walnut. Can anyone speak to the tonal qualities of these woods. It would probably be top, back, and sides of one of these woods. Thanks.
One of the best sounding tenors I own is an all cherrywood Compass Rose. It both warm and clear. But, it was also built by Jake Maclay. I’m pretty sure Jake could make cardboard sound good.
... ask your builder. Your builder has much more to do with the tonal properties than choosing between walnut and cherry.
I recommend checking out the MyaMoe Ukulele website. They have extensive explanations about woods, their tonal properties, and even sound samples of various wood combinations. It will give you an excellent starting place that you can use to for a discussion with the builder, or even people on the forums about what you like.
www.myamoeukuleles.com/
Enjoy the exploration and process.
The builder is local & I just recently met him. He had one of his cherry sopranos at a recent jam, so I was able to look at it & listen to it. Very nice. He builds all sizes, and some unique stuff as well. Cherry, walnut, and maple are woods he likes to work with. Reasonably priced & the opportunity to design something just the way I want it. He has several builds in progress, heading into the holidays, so maybe first of the year once I get some money together.
Just trying to get an overall sense of the woods. Seems like they are mid-range in terms of warmth vs brightness. I'll see if I can play his cherry soprano a little more at a jam.
Here are some resources I used when I had the same questions:
http://tonewooddatasource.weebly.com - in the top navigation menu, hover over "Species & Attributes," then "The Details," and then pick a letter of the alphabet to find information about various tonewoods. Prepare to be overwhelmed.
http://www.guitarbench.com/tonewood-database/ - far fewer tonewood listings than the other link, but good info nonetheless