trap door ukulele

Pukulele Pete

Pukulele Pete

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I've seen some guitars and some ukes with a second soundhole, one that faces the player. Has anyone built a uke with second soundhole, a hole on the shoulder? I'm wondering if I could make one with a simple trap door on the shoulder.? Has anyone had any experience with this or seen one?
Will the second hole ruin the sound?
 
The second hole has been done, I believe it sounds good to the player, as it sends more sound his/her way. A trap door is an interesting idea.

Ukantor.
 
I build all of my concerts and tenors with a side sound port. I think it opens up the sound a lot. The high notes ring especially clear and I feel like there is a substantial increase in sustain. There is still plenty of lower end too, and the volume and clarity are better from a players and audience standpoint. The only downside I can see is all of the questions people ask about the hole in the side.

This is only my opinion and I am sure that someone will be along soon with the oposite opinion.

About the trap door. Try it and let us know.

Take care,
Thomas
 
I fear that a trap door would lead to all sorts of strange questions. I used to have a motorcycle with the fuel tank under the seat. The visible "fuel tank" was a "glove" compartment for carrying various items. It was very convenient, but I spent a lot of time explaining things to puzzled strangers.

Ukantor.
 
Check out Hana Lima's web page store and look under plans. The Kasha braced ukuleles plans have side sound holes.

Konala
 
ukantor said:
I fear that a trap door would lead to all sorts of strange questions. I used to have a motorcycle with the fuel tank under the seat. The visible "fuel tank" was a "glove" compartment for carrying various items. It was very convenient, but I spent a lot of time explaining things to puzzled strangers.

Ukantor.
Click to expand...
"Arial Arrow two stroke Twin"
arialarrow.jpg
Great bike I had a couple at one time ..I kept the second one for spares.
 
I've seen guitars with a sliding door built inside the upper bout that is meant to adjust the output of a SSP. I'm not sure what the point would be however.
Under what circumstances would you ever want the instrument to sound less than it's best? I agree with Thomas's observations.
 
Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:
I've seen guitars with a sliding door built inside the upper bout that is meant to adjust the output of a SSP. I'm not sure what the point would be however.
Under what circumstances would you ever want the instrument to sound less than it's best? I agree with Thomas's observations.
Click to expand...

I take it you feel it sounds better to everyone, and not just to the person playing the instrument?
 
mattclara said:
I take it you feel it sounds better to everyone, and not just to the person playing the instrument?
Click to expand...

I can only speak of my own instruments. It not only gives the player a little extra feedback but also increases forward projection. Perhaps more importantly it opens the instrument up. Curiously, I have found the same to be true of my dual puka (double sound hole) ukes. Makes one question the traditional sound hole size, placement and number............
BTW, I have found that in order for a SSP to be effective, the main sound hole needs to be made a bit smaller than normal.
This is MY experience on MY ukuleles. All usual disclaimers apply.
 
isn't it called a monitor hole?
 
I agree with Chuck, it not only gives the player feedback, it also changes the sound of his ukuleles. I too wondered how that hole would affect the sound. The side sound port does make the sound coming out of the front hole a bit more open in sound without losing quality in the bass and treble notes. A simple way to hear the difference is to strum with the hole open, and then covered up.

I'm curious to hear how this evolved for guitars and what guitar players feel about this design. From a technical standpoint, I wonder what the side port does to the air resonance in the ukulele.
 
uluapoundr said:
I agree with Chuck, it not only gives the player feedback, it also changes the sound of his ukuleles. I too wondered how that hole would affect the sound. The side sound port does make the sound coming out of the front hole a bit more open in sound without losing quality in the bass and treble notes. A simple way to hear the difference is to strum with the hole open, and then covered up.

I'm curious to hear how this evolved for guitars and what guitar players feel about this design. From a technical standpoint, I wonder what the side port does to the air resonance in the ukulele.
Click to expand...

Seconded!

I own a side sound port Moore Bettah and it makes a difference.
 
I've mentioned this before where a recent article in the Guild of American Luthiers did an extensive study on SSPs in GUITARS. Their conclusion is that the effect is all in your head and that it makes no difference at all. My retort to that is, where is would it be but in your head? After all, that's where my ears and my brain are located. Well, most of the time anyway. My own unscientific, blind tests have proved otherwise, at least on my ukes.
I do believe however that we hear what we want to hear.
 
It is true that our perceptions are a construct of our brains, and can be affected by our built in bias or preference, but what else do we have to go on?

Personally, I'd just trust my own perception.

Ukantor.
 
You also need to consider than since the day we were born, we all suffer some degree of hearing damage which partially explains the reason why we each hear things differently.
 
I've read a few articles and forum posts by others who wanted to answer the question as to whether the side sound ports make a difference on guitars. There are a few interesting articles out there, some way too technical and lengthy to hold my attention. What I gathered is that the majority of the responses say there is a slight increase in volume from the soundhole. One survey found that players felt certain tones were enhanced depending where the sound port was and the size of the soundport.

The one factor that seems to be pretty much agreed upon is that the sound port acts as a monitor. The drawback is that for someone who may be singing into a microphone, there may be feedback challenges since some of the sound from the intrument may be directed up towards the microphone. Of course this can be solved with a rag or sponge.

Check out Mcknight Guitars and their in house, unscientific test of sound ports: http://www.mcknightguitars.com/soundports.html
 
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