It's a Mystery!

OldePhart

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Stay tuned...
 
My guess is it's a saxophone...
Right?
 
OOO..for once I'm awake when these things happen!
 
I don't know why everybody is getting excited...
OldePhart SAID he was finished buying his new ukes.:wallbash::deadhorse::nana::biglaugh:
 
hang on ye olde phart, just off to grab the popcorn...!!! (ooooh you're naughty)
 
Sure is some purty rosewood...

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Hint - this is not the tenor I just bought from Glenn in the marketplace. :eek:
 
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Garcon!!! Garcon!! More popcorn please....oooooh but you're awful :drool:
 
So... thats the backside of the Red Cedar Mainland Tenor - I thought that the shape looked familiar in the first pic. And... under the blue tape in the first pic you can see the outline of the wide bridge Mainlands have... am I right??

Now WHAT are you gonna do w/that baby?
 
So... thats the backside of the Red Cedar Mainland Tenor - I thought that the shape looked familiar in the first pic. And... under the blue tape in the first pic you can see the outline of the wide bridge Mainlands have... am I right??

Now WHAT are you gonna do w/that baby?

You must have seen the last post before I edited it. That's not the tenor... I got to thinking about it and didn't want to worry you too much so I edited the post. LOL
 
If it's taken you six hours to take the blue paper off, it can't be that exciting. ;)

Well...I've done a little more than take the blue painter's tape off...

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Mike at Mainland has a well-deserved reputation for doing right by his customers...but I think I may have voided the warranty on this red cedar concert...

:biglaugh:

John
 
A mainland Resonator?!??!?!

You win the gold star...

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Now if you look closely at the picture you will see that the resonator "cone" is the bottom of a 1lb coffee can. There are two things to note about this:

1) It's absolutely essential that you use the right brand of coffee - only Cafe du Monde from New Orleans has the proper mojo to match the red cedar.

2) By leaving the "best buy" date on the can I have thoughtfully considered my heirs. Some day 100 years from now my great-great grandson will be able to prove to the Antiques Road Show that his great-great grandfather butchered, I mean, modified, the rare and valuable Mainland red cedar concert "back in the day" before it became rare and valuable.

Actually, the real things to note are that the hole has to be a very snug fit because the can actually rests on the top of the ukulele by its rim. The can is cut very short, only about 3/4" of can hangs down into the uke. This is because I wanted a real "wood body resonator" sound.

I also used a little then CA glue on the inside of the top all around the hole to stabilize the wood to help prevent it from splitting or shrinking away from the can.

The can is not glued in, but fits snugly and rides on its rim.

I've seen a couple of conversions where someone just upended a can in a loose hole, letting the can sit on the back of the uke. That works, but volume is low and it sounds more like a tin can than a wood-body resonator.

Hopefully, this will be louder and sound more like a resonator. Time will tell.

Oh, and, yes, carving a 4" diameter hole in the top of a new Mainland red cedar concert ukulele was very nerve wrecking!

John
 
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