I was planning on waiting until this uke got closer to completion (end of November/beginning of December) before starting this thread, but Luis sent me some pictures of the woodsets recently and I couldn't resist!
For those who don't know, Luis is a luthier based out of Ontario, Canada. He builds his ukuleles in the Maccaferri design (notably used by Django Reinhardt). I really like this design as it strays from the typical ukulele design so I thought it would fit well with my current lineup. I was originally looking at Kepasa's Gypsy Rose but liked Luis's design a little more. Luis doesn't have a huge presence on this board but for the few who have one of his ukes, they can't sing its praises high enough.
I encourage any of you to check out his site here.
After choosing the top, back & side wood, Luis sent me a contract outling the uke. Mine will have a Western red cedar top with East Indian rosewood back and sides. The fretboard and bridge will be ebony with a bone nut and saddle. For those who know of my penchant for the look of maple, Luis is using maple bindings (which I didn't ask for, he just decided it would work well...coincidental as all of my customs have maple bindings!). Luis uses a carbon reinforced neck (although I don't yet know what material the neck will be made out of) and modified Grover tuners for the slotted headstock. Nut will be 1.54", fretboard width at the 12th fret will be 1.81", saddle length will be 4.72". String spacing (G-A) at the nut will be 1.22" and string spacing at the bridge will be 1.73" (measurements are standard on all his ukes).
Anyway, on to the pictures. He cut out the rough shape of the top and back and hasn't glued the bookmatched pieces together. He says he cuts them out and lets them hang for a couple of months before the build so that they can acclimate to the humidity in his workshop.
For those who don't know, Luis is a luthier based out of Ontario, Canada. He builds his ukuleles in the Maccaferri design (notably used by Django Reinhardt). I really like this design as it strays from the typical ukulele design so I thought it would fit well with my current lineup. I was originally looking at Kepasa's Gypsy Rose but liked Luis's design a little more. Luis doesn't have a huge presence on this board but for the few who have one of his ukes, they can't sing its praises high enough.
I encourage any of you to check out his site here.
After choosing the top, back & side wood, Luis sent me a contract outling the uke. Mine will have a Western red cedar top with East Indian rosewood back and sides. The fretboard and bridge will be ebony with a bone nut and saddle. For those who know of my penchant for the look of maple, Luis is using maple bindings (which I didn't ask for, he just decided it would work well...coincidental as all of my customs have maple bindings!). Luis uses a carbon reinforced neck (although I don't yet know what material the neck will be made out of) and modified Grover tuners for the slotted headstock. Nut will be 1.54", fretboard width at the 12th fret will be 1.81", saddle length will be 4.72". String spacing (G-A) at the nut will be 1.22" and string spacing at the bridge will be 1.73" (measurements are standard on all his ukes).
Anyway, on to the pictures. He cut out the rough shape of the top and back and hasn't glued the bookmatched pieces together. He says he cuts them out and lets them hang for a couple of months before the build so that they can acclimate to the humidity in his workshop.
