F holes or 2 circle holes in cigar box?

ukebrudder

ukebrudder

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I'm currently in the process of building my first cigar box uke and I can't decide on what kind of sound holes I wanna use. I either want to have two F holes or two 2" holes on each side of the strings. I'm not sure which will sound better though. I really want the F holes because they look amazing on cigar boxes but if it isn't going to sound good, I'll probably go with the two circles.

Opinions? Thanks!
 
I tried one with two round holes, but found my strumming fingers kept catching on the edges. Maybe it's just me, or perhaps it's possible to adapt, but I'd go with the 'F' holes. I like the look, and don't believe it would inhibit the sound.

Ukantor.
 
ukantor said:
I tried one with two round holes, but found my strumming fingers kept catching on the edges. Maybe it's just me, or perhaps it's possible to adapt, but I'd go with the 'F' holes. I like the look, and don't believe it would inhibit the sound.

Ukantor.
Click to expand...

Thats another thing I had thought about which made me lean more towards the F holes.

BTW you use a router for cutting those, right?
 
I don't have a router. In fact apart from a small hand planer, I don't use any powered machines. I cut my sound holes by hand. It takes a long time, but it is very relaxing.

Ukantor.
 
The nice thing about F-holes is that they can be enlarged easily to balance the bass and treble responce. When I make mandolins, I always start with the f-holes smaller, string the instrument up and check the responce. With the f-holes small, the bass strings are really loud but the treble dies off. I gradually enlarge the holes until things are reasonably balanced.

Brad
 
Bradford said:
The nice thing about F-holes is that they can be enlarged easily to balance the bass and treble responce. When I make mandolins, I always start with the f-holes smaller, string the instrument up and check the responce. With the f-holes small, the bass strings are really loud but the treble dies off. I gradually enlarge the holes until things are reasonably balanced.

Brad
Click to expand...

Is there templates online for the shape of the F holes, or do you normally draw them out?
 
iym59bb4zurku-full.jpg
 
Strike a blow for individuality, design your own effin' sound hole! Sorry, I meant 'F' sound hole, of course. There are other elongated shapes to choose from, too. It's your creation, so why not create?

Ukantor.
 
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