New Baritone; Thanks for the Inspiration Chuck

Here are some shots of my first baritone ukulele--all koa body with maple binding and sound hole ring, and birds with flowering tree inlay on the neck and peg head. The design was inspired by one of Chuck Moores ukes. His site is a wealth of inspiration for me. Thank you Chuck. I hope you believe that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

The uke has a 20" scale, and rather than stringing it for guitar pitch, I strung it tuned f/bflat/d/g (a tone below normal high uke tuning). At that pitch, it still sounds like a ukulele, but with the bigger body and longer string length, the instrument actually has significantly more tone and resonance as you play up the fingerboard. It's also more comfortable for the left hand playing up the neck--for me at least. My wife and I like to play jazz standards and she loves singing to this uke because it has enough sound to support her and because it brings the pitch down a step to a more comfortable range for her.

Nice, and I want one in that tuning, too, for the same jazz standards kind of material. I'd call it a Bb tenor rather than a baritone.

Good looking uke!

Beautiful uke Mason!!! And a lot of it on that beauty.

What a lovely instrument....great job! I really like your rosette....how did you come up with that shape? Did you do the inlay yourself? Looks very impressive.

Tom

Nice work. If you happen to make a sound sample, please post it. I would love to hear it.

That is sharp.Really nice job.

It's a beautiful instrument. You're no slouch with the inlay skills either.

I'm just about to finish up a Baritone and will try out that tuning on it as well.

Thanks for the encouraging words.
For Tom, I've seen guitars with that kind of geometric rose. It is not hard to do. You draw an inner circle like you would for any rose. Then you move the center point south and draw another circle with a larger diameter. Get out your compass and try different diameters and different center points until you get something you like.

I wish I had the patience to do inlay like that.

Beautifully proportioned - Beautifull period.

Bflat is my favorite Baritone tuning as well.

I can guess where the rosette Idea came from too.
I don't mind inspiring builders with my work but you'll get a lot more satisfaction out of it if you make an attempt change things up a little and add some of your own creativity. I find that coming up with new inspirations for my designs is by far the hardest thing I do; building the uke is fairly simple and I don't lose sleep over that part any more. You'll feel a lot more accomplished if the work is your own.

I was a bit sad to see this piece because I know that it was more plagiarism than inspiration. Sorry mate, someone had to say it in defence of the immense creativity that goes into Chuck's pieces. I'm glad I don't do this stuff because I would be less restrained in my response than the good man who works at Moorebettahukes

I was a bit sad to see this piece because I know that it was more plagiarism than inspiration.

Click to expand...

Disagree. Plagiarism is taking an idea and claiming it is one's own. The OP credited Chuck for the "inspiration" in the title of this thread. Is Timbuck a plagiarist for making vintage Martin reproductions? No, because he says that's what he's doing at the outset.

OK wrong word. However well executed, it was a blatant copy of elements of Chuck's work. I was trying to be polite. I'm not going to get into a slanging match over this - copying an artist's original ideas is wrong and we should know better. Having said that, I guess it is more a case of poor judgement than anything else.

I am an artist, have been an artist my whole life, and find myself surrounded by artists often. So many times have I seen feelings hurt by copying, when really they do not need to be. Imitation happens in art, in business, and in life. And in the process, hopefully the process of imitation leads to growth and a deepening of the art within the person who is imitating. Before I can fly, I need to know that flying is possible, I need to see it, to imagine it, to imitate.... then I may be able to... and hopefully, to take it to the next level. There are those people who forge strongly ahead into uncharted territory, those are often the truly gifted. In the case of this instrument, It looks beautiful. The work on Chucks website is stunning, Chuck you are amazing. In the evolution of the art of the Ukulele, much has been explored, it is difficult to find something truly fresh. For some it is a big enough step just to bring all of the elements together and, yes, kind of imitate something. If it is cloned for commercial purposes that is one thing, but if it is done in the spirit of self refinement, and in refining the art, one's art, then I personally do not mind. I admit, I do get senstitive when someone copies a design of mine, and gives no credit, which has happened more than once. If it is an individual who is doing a 'one off' no big deal... if someone puts it into production, my hackles go up a bit more....

Chuck, you are in an enviable position of having work that is inspiring to others, it brings emotion, it is amazing. As far as I have seen, you are actively helping to define the world of Ukuleles. Pete, I have watched many of your videos, you too are very inspirational, thank you for sharing! You are genius. I hope that you do not get upset if someone learns from any of your ideas that you have shared on your videos, some of them are no less artistic or ingenious, or unique.

Many of the people who are posting here are seriously gifted! Thank you for your contributions! May the sharing continue....

( I do not know enough of the OP's history to know if this was a commercial venture, or just for the art of it.... )

That was a pretty 'inspired' copy...

While I definitely agree that there is more satisfaction when there is more creative originality in a piece artwork. And I agree that artistic originally ought to be a goal. At the same time, I think that if the work is done for your personal use and enjoyment there is nothing really wrong with mimicking another persons work. At times I've also found it helpful to copy other peoples work when learning a new craft.

Now if your were selling it then you've crossed a line. Copying another's work for profit is stealing, unless you've received permission and given credit where credit is due.

BTW - beautiful Uke.

I have no problem people copying my stuff - none of it is original because there are no unique aspects to it. Where I use a cutaway claimed to have been invented by a luthier here in the UK I acredit him whilst knowing he doesn't own the designl. Likewise I use a guitar design of David Myka's with permission for my Firefly Ulectic. In both cases I sought permission from the maker and on my website you will find links to the source. Where generic designs are in the public domain I use them - Vita Uke and Le Domino, some headstock shapes. This is acceptable and sensible. My pearl logo is 'borrowed' from elements of a Weymann banjo design - legitimate because the designs were generic and mass produced in Germany for export to the US. When you buy a MooreBettah ukulele you are getting more than a musical instrument. It is not the samer as buying a Pete Howlett ukulele which is nothing more than (I hope and strive for) a well made and finished ukulele.

I completely agree with Chris_H and bBashfulPuppet. In learning a craft it is a common practice to utilize the work of the masters, to facilitate learning. Although I never had the opportunity to be an Art student in my formal academic pursuits, I have had the opportunity to take several lower and upper division classes at the university level. In almost all of my art classes at some point there were assignments to do reproductions of great artists. I am currently taking a ceramics course, and assignments for the semester are just that; each week we are to choose either historic or contemporary pots to copy and then to make a reaction piece to.

I also agree that learning and profiting are different, and taking credit for another’s ideas is not tolerable in any discipline.

I too am in awe over Chucks inspiring art, and have studied some of the work on his site, not so much for the purposes of an exercise to refine my skills (I have almost no inlay skills but hope to some day), but more to look at the techniques that he is using to execute his inspired ideas. I have spent many hours over the years toiling over inspiration, I only hope that someday I will come up with an inspiration worthy of attempting in such a way.

On another level I strive for individualism throughout most of my endeavors, sometimes ‘reinventing the wheel’ as my dad would say. I find that often my attempts, and more often my mistakes are the way in which I best internalize the nature of what I am doing, and the way I truly learn. I often end up referring to the experts and finding the better way to do things when things don’t go as planned and as a result find myself with a much more thorough understanding in the end of both the proper way to do things and the reasons why it didn’t work when I tried my way. This approach works for my artistic side too, trying to execute my ideas is often much more challenging than I anticipate, and every time things don’t turn out I can learn from the shortfalls of my approach.

And to the OP, that is some awesome workmanship, and I’m looking forward to seeing your next piece. I can understand the appreciation of chucks work, It shattered my idea of what was possible with instrument inlay. I was totally floored when I first found his site, as I continue to be.

It was common practice to see fine art students set their easels up in museums and galleries in an attempt to learn from the masters. Imitation is a good way to gain insight on how a work of art, or anything for matter, is created – It originates in the idea of journeyman/apprentice relationships. It is also the highest of compliments to be thought of so highly that someone would want to emulate your work. Credit was given to Chuck Moore right upfront and I think Chuck's responsive was reserved and well thought out.