Ukulele Armrests... Pics

Teek said:

Awesome ukes, who is the builder? They are stunning!

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70sSanO said:

Teek,

The bottom one is also made by Keith Ogata. It is has the older bridge. I really enjoy both of them.

I like you better half's uke rest.. although it probably requires a little more maintenance and doesn't fit in the case very well.

John

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mm stan said:

Aloha John,
Many thanks for the excellent info...I was also looking at the the Keith Ogata Ukes and noticed the the individual string adjustable saddles,
How does that work out....sorta like an electric guitar adjustable saddle? does that give you a little more individual compensation..thanks, Stan...

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the concept of a split bridge comes from archtop guitars and violins, oddly enough. they both use a bridge that is separate from the string anchor point and they produce a clean sound. now, I may not be able to explain the mechanics of it all but suffice to say that it seems to work because they are not coupled together and have less of an impact on what each are doing.

the concept individual saddle pieces comes the same desire for a clean sound. with the traditional "bar" each string affects the others because the one piece saddle supports all of the strings and therefore excites the soundboard as one unit. this is actually a good thing since harmonics play a major role in generating "good" sound. but, again, what about obtaining a clean sound...

my first experiment with individual saddle occurred years ago. it was called an "independent saddle design". the saddle pieces, posts really, were placed directly on the sound board as well the the string anchor points. this isolated the excitation of the each string, albeit too well. remember I said that harmonics are good for sound? this is what I wrote in my review of the design:

It's a crisper, puncher sound. It has an interesting, lively sound picking. Strumming sounds all together different. It doesn't have the fullness of a typical bridge tending more towards the treble side. Using a rasgueado technique provides a clean, crisp sound.

for a fuller sound you need a bridge to tie the individual saddle pieces together but not in a confining way.

so, bridgeless independent saddles gives way to individual saddles on a bridge because just like humans, although individuals, accomplish more working together than independently. synergy, I guess you could call it.

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