Dominator
Well-known member
Tonight I strung up the spruce top tenor I made specifically to use during my performance at the upcoming Southern California Ukulele Festival in Cerritos on October 4th. Out of the gate the tone is a little brighter than I had expected but it sounds great and will definitely mature over time. Still need to do more work on the saddle as soon as the strings stabilize a bit more.
The spruce top and figured walnut were given to me by Pete Howlett, known as Ukulele Pete, from the Uke Talk forum. This is my first ukulele with a slotted headstock design and, overall, I’m pleased with it but I will adjust a couple of things on the next one to make it even better.
I purposely made the neck on the beefy side to see how it affects my carpal tunnel issues. I can always shave it down later but adding to it would be impossible.
Some of the specs:
Spruce top with paua abalone rosette with bwb inner and outer rings
Figured walnut back and sides
Curly maple binding top and back
Bwb fiber and maple top purfling
Mahogany bolt-on neck
17” scale joined to the body at the 14th fret
19 frets total
Ebony fingerboard with paua abalone combination side and fingerboard markers at the 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th and 15th frets
Ebony peghead overlay with paua abalone logo
Grover 18:1 Sta-Tite gold slotted peghead tuners
Ebony through body bridge
Corian nut and saddle
Worth CH strings
Misi-Acoustic Trio battery free pickup
Top finished in lacquer
Balance of instrument finished in hand rubbed oil and wax
The pics don’t really show it but I hurried the oil finish and up close it shows. I needed to get it strung up so I can spend the next week and a half playing it in and getting acquainted with it prior to SCUF. I spent some extra time on the lacquer top and though not perfect it is 100 times better than my first attempt on my number 002 mahogany tenor.
As soon as the strings are settled and I intonate the saddle I will get a sound sample put together.
The spruce top and figured walnut were given to me by Pete Howlett, known as Ukulele Pete, from the Uke Talk forum. This is my first ukulele with a slotted headstock design and, overall, I’m pleased with it but I will adjust a couple of things on the next one to make it even better.
I purposely made the neck on the beefy side to see how it affects my carpal tunnel issues. I can always shave it down later but adding to it would be impossible.
Some of the specs:
Spruce top with paua abalone rosette with bwb inner and outer rings
Figured walnut back and sides
Curly maple binding top and back
Bwb fiber and maple top purfling
Mahogany bolt-on neck
17” scale joined to the body at the 14th fret
19 frets total
Ebony fingerboard with paua abalone combination side and fingerboard markers at the 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th and 15th frets
Ebony peghead overlay with paua abalone logo
Grover 18:1 Sta-Tite gold slotted peghead tuners
Ebony through body bridge
Corian nut and saddle
Worth CH strings
Misi-Acoustic Trio battery free pickup
Top finished in lacquer
Balance of instrument finished in hand rubbed oil and wax
The pics don’t really show it but I hurried the oil finish and up close it shows. I needed to get it strung up so I can spend the next week and a half playing it in and getting acquainted with it prior to SCUF. I spent some extra time on the lacquer top and though not perfect it is 100 times better than my first attempt on my number 002 mahogany tenor.
As soon as the strings are settled and I intonate the saddle I will get a sound sample put together.