Dominator
Well-known member
Here is a mahogany tenor gone bad in so many ways. I started this uke 2 years ago along side the spruce top I’ve been playing since late September of 2008. It was intended for another luthier, Kevin Crossett, but I will be building him another. There were just too many mishaps along the way, and though no money is changing hands in our arrangement, I just couldn’t let this one get out in circulation. This is the 3rd Spanish cedar neck that I’ve made for this uke and as you can see from the photo of the back I screwed it up as well. I’m embarrassed to say that I actually super glued a clamp right to the HS and when removing it a large chunk of cedar came with it. Thus I routed out the back and inserted an ebony patch. This was only one issue of a number of them but it was the last straw.
This was my first time working with Spanish Cedar and though I took all the normal precautions when drilling etc when making the slots I ended up with way too much chip-out and flaking. I was forced to actually slightly chamfer the insides of the slots around the entire perimeter to remove the chip-out. It doesn’t look terribly bad but not right just the same.
The problem is that my building suffers drastically from my lack of consistent shop time. I find myself tripping over myself and trying to remember how I did things in the past. I’m trying to keep better notes etc. but I don’t think there is any replacement for consistent hours in the shop.
The upside is that it sounds fantastic. Probably my best to date. I will be taking it with me tomorrow when I leave for the Milwaukee Uke Fest. I will be able to hear it side by side with another mahogany tenor that I built a number of years ago for Ukejon (Jon Prown). It will be interesting to see the difference in sound.
This was my first time working with Spanish Cedar and though I took all the normal precautions when drilling etc when making the slots I ended up with way too much chip-out and flaking. I was forced to actually slightly chamfer the insides of the slots around the entire perimeter to remove the chip-out. It doesn’t look terribly bad but not right just the same.
The problem is that my building suffers drastically from my lack of consistent shop time. I find myself tripping over myself and trying to remember how I did things in the past. I’m trying to keep better notes etc. but I don’t think there is any replacement for consistent hours in the shop.
The upside is that it sounds fantastic. Probably my best to date. I will be taking it with me tomorrow when I leave for the Milwaukee Uke Fest. I will be able to hear it side by side with another mahogany tenor that I built a number of years ago for Ukejon (Jon Prown). It will be interesting to see the difference in sound.