All cherry ukulele?

Matt Clara

Matt Clara

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While having trouble printing an image to the top of the walnut/sitka/sycamore uke I'm building (working title: Uke 0001), I keep eyeballing this quarter sawn cherry I bought some time ago, which I had resawn, and then promptly screwed it up in a planer (which I subsequently sold). So, instead of working out these frustrating printing problems, the next thing I knew, I'd bent the cherry into sides, added solid lining, made a top and bottom, and most of a neck, all from the same cherry. Ok, the neck's from a different quarter sawn board. I made the bracing and tone bars from the same cherry as the neck. All that's left to make is the fretboard and the bridge. Here's where I think I'm about to go astray--I'm sorely tempted to make the fretboard and bridge out of cherry, too, and ebonize them with the jar of steel wool dissolved in vinegar I've got over here, just to make them stand out from the rest. I know it's not an appropriate wood for these purposes, but there's that temptation for the 100% pure cherry uke.

Thoughts?
 
Sounds cool Matt,

I say go for it. But, as you know, cherry is awfully soft for a bridge, but it would probably work Ok, for a while.
 
Matt,
Had me thinking about a cherry bridge all night. I'm wondering if there's some way to strengthen the relatively soft cherry to make it stout enough for a bridge. Could you laminate a slice of hardwood, ebony or rosewood, in between two pieces of cherry, so that the string holes go through and and the string tension bears upon the hardwood? Of course, it would then become a non-all-cherry uke.
 
Matt, this sounds like you're going to have a real looker and listener when you finish. You could stain the fretboard and bridge - how about cherry color? - to get a little contrast without going all the way with ebonizing them.

I really wish there was a way to post recordings here at UU, but alas... Anyway let us know how she sounds, your little cherry belle.
 
Nu Uke said:
Could you laminate a slice of hardwood, ebony or rosewood, in between two pieces of cherry, so that the string holes go through and and the string tension bears upon the hardwood?
Click to expand...

We did this with the little matchbox uke - with mahogany and rosewood. Actually we started out with the bridge made of mahogany only (actually sapeli, but hey there's not a big difference - and I know I'm going go get my dear desserts for that statement, so I'll add... - at least when you're talking about a piece of wood about 15 x 4 millimeters in size. Anyway, after tuning 'er up the high E string broke a corner off the bridge, in the back where the strings were attached. The mahogany just wasn't hard enough - so we cut the bridge off with a razor saw, cut the back strip (with the broken corner) off the bridge, glued on a little strip of rosewood (same wood as the saddle), drilled little string holes in it and voilà...
 
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wait, hold on a second, you guys are considering every plausible option, except for changing the design of the bridge your using. Have you thought of using a bridge design that has the strings anchored through the bridge underneath the soundboard, that way instead of having some slim wood taking all the tension, you have the bridge plate, the soundboard, and the WHOLE bridge to absorb that tension? not to mension the fact that using this method, the bridge won't separate from the soundboard, because the tension works WITH the bridge, to keep it together rather than pulling it apart.

I think this guy makes them like this:
http://www.wsukes.com/index.html
 
Yup, a string through bridge is the simplest way if you're determined to use cherry for the bridge. I guess it will have a bone saddle anyway? That said, I'm making all wood, all cherry bridges on my piccolos, a little like the Brüko bridges. String through. I figure they'll be perfect, as long as both I and the future owner relax and concentrate on the important issues. Like cheese and beer.

S
 
For those who are not familiar with the Brueko design, the standard Brueko bridge does not have a separate saddle. The front edge of the bridge is raised and functions as the "breaking point". But I would point out that Brueko uses a slotted bridge, not a string-through design.

FWIW I don't see much difference whether you put the little hardwood helper into the bridge or below the soundboard. This is where we would have to stop theorizing and start experimenting. But who wants to spend the time making two otherwise identical ukes using the two different bridge designs? I may get around to it... some day.
 
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I think it is also worth noting that if you use a string-through-soundboard design, the bridge can also be made smaller, reducing mass, making the soundboard more flexible and possibly improving tone and volume. Sorry for the extra post, just think its worth noting.
 
Brazilian Cherry!

Matt Clara said:
While having trouble printing an image to the top of the walnut/sitka/sycamore uke I'm building (working title: Uke 0001), I keep eyeballing this quarter sawn cherry I bought some time ago, which I had resawn, and then promptly screwed it up in a planer (which I subsequently sold). So, instead of working out these frustrating printing problems, the next thing I knew, I'd bent the cherry into sides, added solid lining, made a top and bottom, and most of a neck, all from the same cherry. Ok, the neck's from a different quarter sawn board. I made the bracing and tone bars from the same cherry as the neck. All that's left to make is the fretboard and the bridge. Here's where I think I'm about to go astray--I'm sorely tempted to make the fretboard and bridge out of cherry, too, and ebonize them with the jar of steel wool dissolved in vinegar I've got over here, just to make them stand out from the rest. I know it's not an appropriate wood for these purposes, but there's that temptation for the 100% pure cherry uke.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...


I know the post is old, but I registered just to comment. I made an ukulele out of all cherry with brazilian cherry bridge, plugs, fret board, and tuning pegs. I did however use ebony and purple heart for the marker dots on the fretboard.

IMG_9070.jpg

IMG_9071.jpg
 
Very pretty! One of my friends owns a solid cherry LoPrinzi uke, wow it's a beauty too. It's one of the best sounding ukes I've ever heard.
 
What Pete said...

I've made baritones, tenors and concerts out of quarter sawn cherry and it can be very suitable. It would probably be used more for ukes if it were less plain. Interesting figure isn't very common, at least in my area.
 
Pete Howlett said:
Figured wood, any figured wood is uncommon most places....
Click to expand...

So true. A guy down in California who mills a lot of claro walnut told me that about 5% of the logs he sees have any kind of figure at all. No wonder the really good stuff tends to be costly.
 
Costly? Depends what youmean by that. I recently bought some lovely figured walnut boards from a trusted source and after resawing managed to get a high yield coming out at around $35 for a 4 piece tenor set. That's a third of the price of similarly figured hardwood like koa and maple. If you buy wisely and can resaw for yield you do not have to pay an arm and a leg for stuff. In my interview with Bob Gleeson he reckons a 'start' in learning how to resaw is a six month, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week beginning. Of all the processes I still love doing, standing at a bandsaw that I have set up with a fine resaw blade and cutting into expensive wood is the greatest blast!
 
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