Would you be interested in...?

robedney

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Throwing out an idea here: Soon now I will be offering a carbon fiber hybrid uke. The body/neck is vacuum formed from textured ABS, the top is hand laid vacuum bagged carbon fiber with -- perhaps -- simplified V bracing (jury still out on the bracing), custom laminated fingerboard/headstock veneer, etc.

So, in the category of ukes should be FUN in addition to well made and offering great sound, I've discovered hydro-dipping graphics. To simplify, a graphic is printed on a special film, that film is sprayed with an activator, then floated on water, then sprayed with a second formula. The part (in this case the carbon fiber top plate) is then dipped. The ink adheres to the carbon fiber and the binder film dissolved. Once dry, it's clear coated with a super tough two part finish.

The result is that you could have a uke with virtually any graphic in full color on the soundboard. I have a graphic design background, so I could convert/optimize anything anyone sent me as a digital file, from a photograph to your favorite cartoon character.

Dumb idea? Great idea? Thoughts?
 
SUCH a good idea. I can already think of at least 5 designs I'd want! Subscribing to this to see how it turns out, pricing, etc
 
I have nothing but admiration for this idea...who woudn't? My thought isn't so much what picture I would digitize, but rather if the thickness of the carbon fiber can be altered so that you could attain a soft wood sound or a hard wood sound.
 
I think I've seen that done on a car part on TV if I'm not mistaken. I like the idea, the question is how much would it cost?


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Very cool idea. With the caveat that conservative, more traditionalists will want a plain carbon fiber look. (If the term "traditionalist" is a term that can be applied to someone buying a carbon fiber/ABS ukulele.

You will have to send very detailed instructions out to people about how to make high-quality images for you to use. Otherwise your graphic dept will spend countless hours trying to modify files sent to you to get a usable image.

Be aware of the complaints about Kloss and have a plan to avoid them. And to fix the ones that do occur.
 
Robert:

Great idea, except for the last part. Cartoon characters are copyrighted, so you wouldn't want to infringe on anyone's copyright.

Luke
 
If you offer people choices they will usually get excited about options and personalization. The down side is potential ease of scratching, most people buy carbon fibre for a worry free "knock about" instrument. Resale drops significantly with an instrument that has been personalized.

I love the look of plain black carbon fiber so the graphic option would not appeal to me. Sound quality, playability and durability are most important to me in a synthetic instrument. But from a business point of view I think it is a good option to offer people
 
Very cool idea. With the caveat that conservative, more traditionalists will want a plain carbon fiber look. (If the term "traditionalist" is a term that can be applied to someone buying a carbon fiber/ABS ukulele.

The real traditionalists will want to print the carbon to look like koa or mahogany ;-) LOL

Cool idea.
 
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The real traditionalists will want to print the carbon to look like koa or mahogany ;-)

Cool idea.

I can't imagine anyone wanting a faux wood look over authentic carbon fiber look... But if Martin makes some composite uke with bamboo print on it, why not.

Personally, if I was to get carbon fiber uke, I would probably want it to look like carbon fiber. But I like my ukes simple without bling. But the idea of a costumizable print sounds like a pretty decent idea, if the prize is not too high, there must be a market for it.

There is a catch that a lot of people who would like a costumized uke probably dont have access to decent non copyrightet graphics. A proper solution would need to include software on a webpage, that allow the costumer to see what the design would look like. Including the option to upload a file or use stock scalable vector graphics.

It would need a big production to get the price down.
 
Just re-read the original post and visited your webpage.

I see that you intent to do the graphical work, and while ukes are not listed, the violins cost a little more than a gadget.

For a uke that costs more than 500$ I think that it would be smarter to focus on professionally made designs rather than the costumers old fotos.

But that doesn't mean that the option to contact you for picture request cannot be an option.
 
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