joejeweler
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Looking For A Builder Who Is Willing To Build Me A "Not Quite Finished" Concert Uke?
I'm looking for a skilled luthier who can build me an "almost completed" concert sized ukulele, in simple koa or mahogany back and sides, with a fine grained spruce top. When's the last time someone ordered a custom unfinished uke???
I prefer a bit longer scale of around 15-5/16" (my Ron Saul) up to about 16" scale, with frets in place and leveled/finished on a flat unbound fretboard. Grover silver machine head tuners. I like a bit wider neck with nut at around 1-7/16" instead of the usual 1-3/8", and that gets wider to match up with a wider string spacing at the saddle of around 44mm.
Frets the thin mandolin style or similar....
...12 fret to body, 15 frets total, and a neck width of 46mm where it joins the body. Neck either spanish cedar, or mahogany,....with added neck carbon fiber support, and an ebony or rosewood fretboard.
No body bindings or finish either, with the back to be braced with lightweight (solid or kerfed) linings notched to accept the back, which i'll glue up once i add what i want to the internals.
This is going to become a prototype of a design i'm refining, so it doesn't have to be "pretty"!
I'd like the sides thicknessed to around 1.5mm, with a "One Piece" spruce top as thin as you dare based on it's stiffness.
The spruce top i'd like braced just at the soundhole with thin 3mm thick flat bracing positioned under the fretboard and directly opposite the soundhole. No bracing at the sides of the soundhole. (ie, no bracing at the uke's "waist" sides around the soundhole) No rosette necesary.......
I'll add any additional bracing as i see fit under the bridge once i make it up, so NO Bridge or Bridgeplate
underneath,....."bald" up top and underneath! I want to make one up suited to my own plan......
The back can be thicknessed and braced normally.
I'll do final setup work after i complete my work and glue on the ready to go back. Roughed in nut slots ok for Aquila nylguts reg hi G tuning, and bone nut and saddle.
That's it,...... i'm not particular!
For a builder who hates finishing and final set up, i'm your guy! You don't even have to put a label in if you don't want to, god forbid someones sees it in that state and thinks you normally work this way!
I've ported a few ukes recently, but one for a special purpose. I needed extra access to work on a new design i'm currently working to get patented, and i finally got a prototype worked up yesterday on my Ron Saul Concert koa/spruce. It was the best candidate for what i'm doing, as it is already very lightly built, with thinner than usual top bracing. I didn't really need a prototype for a patent application, but wanted some feedback on my work.
It looks to be a workable methology, offering many benefits to current designs,......but i just can't get into specifics at this point. There is just so much i can do to retrofit an existing uke to extract the most info, and i simply don't have the room right now to set up a complete shop and work from scratch and add additional changes i want to do for a fully functional prototype.
Im probably looking at a year,....maybe as much as 2 or 3 years out before everything is completed at the Patent Office, and $4000 to $5000 in cost.
I just charged $400 to my patent attorney a few days ago to get things started with a patent search.
Now the long wait begins!
Anyway,....anyone up to the project can add their thoughts and estimate of both time and $$$?
......PM's OK also if you want to remain in the backround.
I'm looking for a skilled luthier who can build me an "almost completed" concert sized ukulele, in simple koa or mahogany back and sides, with a fine grained spruce top. When's the last time someone ordered a custom unfinished uke???
I prefer a bit longer scale of around 15-5/16" (my Ron Saul) up to about 16" scale, with frets in place and leveled/finished on a flat unbound fretboard. Grover silver machine head tuners. I like a bit wider neck with nut at around 1-7/16" instead of the usual 1-3/8", and that gets wider to match up with a wider string spacing at the saddle of around 44mm.
Frets the thin mandolin style or similar....
...12 fret to body, 15 frets total, and a neck width of 46mm where it joins the body. Neck either spanish cedar, or mahogany,....with added neck carbon fiber support, and an ebony or rosewood fretboard.
No body bindings or finish either, with the back to be braced with lightweight (solid or kerfed) linings notched to accept the back, which i'll glue up once i add what i want to the internals.
This is going to become a prototype of a design i'm refining, so it doesn't have to be "pretty"!
I'd like the sides thicknessed to around 1.5mm, with a "One Piece" spruce top as thin as you dare based on it's stiffness.
The spruce top i'd like braced just at the soundhole with thin 3mm thick flat bracing positioned under the fretboard and directly opposite the soundhole. No bracing at the sides of the soundhole. (ie, no bracing at the uke's "waist" sides around the soundhole) No rosette necesary.......
I'll add any additional bracing as i see fit under the bridge once i make it up, so NO Bridge or Bridgeplate
underneath,....."bald" up top and underneath! I want to make one up suited to my own plan......
The back can be thicknessed and braced normally.
I'll do final setup work after i complete my work and glue on the ready to go back. Roughed in nut slots ok for Aquila nylguts reg hi G tuning, and bone nut and saddle.
That's it,...... i'm not particular!
For a builder who hates finishing and final set up, i'm your guy! You don't even have to put a label in if you don't want to, god forbid someones sees it in that state and thinks you normally work this way!
I've ported a few ukes recently, but one for a special purpose. I needed extra access to work on a new design i'm currently working to get patented, and i finally got a prototype worked up yesterday on my Ron Saul Concert koa/spruce. It was the best candidate for what i'm doing, as it is already very lightly built, with thinner than usual top bracing. I didn't really need a prototype for a patent application, but wanted some feedback on my work.
It looks to be a workable methology, offering many benefits to current designs,......but i just can't get into specifics at this point. There is just so much i can do to retrofit an existing uke to extract the most info, and i simply don't have the room right now to set up a complete shop and work from scratch and add additional changes i want to do for a fully functional prototype.
Im probably looking at a year,....maybe as much as 2 or 3 years out before everything is completed at the Patent Office, and $4000 to $5000 in cost.
I just charged $400 to my patent attorney a few days ago to get things started with a patent search.
Now the long wait begins!
Anyway,....anyone up to the project can add their thoughts and estimate of both time and $$$?
......PM's OK also if you want to remain in the backround.
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