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Tudorp

Big guy with a lil' uke..
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I think I have a huge problem. I really don't know if I am cut out for the uke sales thing, and may have to give it up. Reason? I simply can NOT afford it. I had a box for a few days, that I have not had time to open. I opened it today, and it was two of my ukes I ordered to set up to sell. It is the curly maple tenors. Man, these things are STUNNING. these pictures do not do these two ukes justice. I got two of them, and I am going to have to keep one of these myself. I can not afford to keep falling in love with the "Product" during set up, I get too attached I think. I seriously think I am gonna keep one of these assuming the bride doesn't steal the other one. She like them too. stunning stunning ukes.. I set them up with Nguts, but still need to pull them back off to set the action, thats a little higher than I like. But, man, beautiful ukes.. Take a look..

again, these pictures really don't capture it..

curly1.jpg


curly3.jpg


curly2.jpg


curly4.jpg
 
Aloha Bruddah Tudorp,
Wow they surely look very nice...if they were made by a private builder in the states they would be above the mid range price tag....you have any videos of them...we UUer's would certainly
want to hear it....thanks for sharing..MM Stan
 
Ask Mim how she handles it... I seem to recall her making a similar statement in the not-too-distant past. (About not wanting to let go of some of the ukes....)

-Kurt
 
Not yet brudda.. I played it some today, but I really want to get it set up properly before I share any sound samples. It does have a different tone than the Acacia and mahogany. Not as "warm", but that is to be expected I think from maple. But, it being a tenor balances that out so it doesn't sound too bright. But it is definatly brighter than I ussally go for. But, I like it for that sound for different reasons than I like the warmer tones of mahog and Acacia.
 
Aloha Bruddah Tudorp,
I like the grain, binding, but the neck inlay is just outstanding....maybe thicker strings for a warmer tone..will balance things out....and drop the tuning a half step..
 
It does have a different tone than the Acacia and mahogany. Not as "warm", but that is to be expected I think from maple. But, it being a tenor balances that out so it doesn't sound too bright. But it is definatly brighter than I ussally go for. But, I like it for that sound for different reasons than I like the warmer tones of mahog and Acacia.
Those sure are purdy! :)

I have a tenor with cedar top and maple back/sides and it is quite loud/bright.

If you want to go for warmer/mellower, maybe try some Worths on it?
 
Those sure are purdy! :)

I have a tenor with cedar top and maple back/sides and it is quite loud/bright.

If you want to go for warmer/mellower, maybe try some Worths on it?

Actually, I am not buying these for myself, I am buying them for resale, so I think it is a good idea to have several options and tones to appeal to everyone. These have a great sound, but are brighter than I am personally used to. I like the tone of these too, for different reasons than I like the warmer tones. So, I will probably not try to change them as far as tone. But I do want to change the action up on it..
 
Ah I have the same problem every time I buy knives to resell. I just want to keep them b/c they're so cool.

Then I think about how much clothes I could buy with the money from the knife. (Clothes are a great denominator b/c $100+ gets a LOT of clothes.) Then I can usually bring myself to sell. Haha. Saving for a Rolex or a down payment on a condo is slightly less effective mental jujitsu.
 
Here is a preliminary sound sample of the curly maple. I still need to do some nut/bridge work on it yet, but here is a little bit..

 
It sounds good.

Since you are ordering these from a guy trying to break into the build market, why don't you just have him set them up the way you like when he builds them? That way you won't spend all your time (time is money) changing the set up yourself.
 
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It sounds good.

Since you are ordering these from a guy trying to break into the build market, why don't you just have him set them up the way you like when he builds them? That way you won't spend all your time (time is money) changing the set up yourself.

Actually, he really isn't interested in setting them up for specific buyers, he is just an "artist" and interested in the actual build. To be honest, I would end up just setting them up again anyway myself, because that is the only way I can be assured they are set up the way I like personally, because basically, each one is different, so it's difficult to standardize on one specific "setup". I deal with each on individually. Time is money, but the way I do busiess, I have to put in the time and make it work for me, otherwise, I am nothing more than a warehouse or middle man.
 
I dunno Tudorp. It seems to me that no matter who he sells them to, they ought to be reasonably set up to begin with. I'd give him a spec like 1mm at the 1st fret, and 2-3mm at the 12th. That ought to make his job easy, and certainly would make yours easier. Hopefully, he isn't just setting them at some random height now. I could be way off, but I doubt someone like Mainland Mike leaves off the height of the strings spec on the ukes he has made for him. Naturally, there will be some that will slip through the QC and he will have to adjust them.

I do know that firms such as Ohana often set the action too high, so that newbies don't complain about buzzing when they strum hard or change strings, but your target customer seems a bit more high end than that. Now, if a specific customer wants a particularly high or low action, it would make sense for you to spend time giving it to him.

If I were an artist, I would not consider the final setting of the instrument to be playable as something outside my pervue. He has to cut the nuts and set the saddles anyway. I'm just thinking it would make things easier for ya.
 
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It WILL get easyer! One day you will sell them like puppies- you are happy that they find a good home but sad that they must leave! this is life... nothing to do about that. I still feel sorrow when one of my babys is leaving home, but I know I must let them go. I cant play them all anyways :) and I have my favorite right where it belongs (on my lap).
 
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