Eight string strung

Steve vanPelt

Steve vanPelt

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It's been about a year in the works, off and on, a lot of help from my friends, and even more design as I go, and finally got this strung up last night. No wonder 8 strings are popular, these are cool! It still needs a little action tweak, but I'll let the strings, and everything else settle a bit first. Haven't had much shop time so far this year, so it felt really good to get back out there and get this done. Now I just have to find a couple 8 string fans to play it some to see how I did. :).

Steve

eight string uke.jpgeight string uke back.jpg8 string uke side.jpg8 string end.jpgeight string head.jpg
 
Can't wait to see it . . .
 
Another thing of beauty. hows it sound?

Steve are you going to have any of your ukes with you in Reno? The wife and I will be there saturday for the concert I would sure like to see your work in person
and meet you if we have a chance
 
Kanaka916 said:
Can't wait to see it . . .
Click to expand...
Can't wait to show it..... when you going to be at L&L next? It would be cool if Bo and Bob could make it, too.

Thanks, Terry. And Perry, yeah, I'll be bring a few along with us to Reno. It sounds, well, powerful...probably all those strings. :) Looking forward to getting some feedback from folks more familiar with the 8 strings than I am.

Steve
 
That is one super spiffy looking 8 string. Hope it sounds as good as it looks.
She's a beauty.
 
Aloha Steve,
Beautiful job Bruddah, can't wait to see it also. I'm sure Danny will give it a good road test. I'm in Maui at Dodie's place at the moment and don't know for sure when I'll be back. Hook up with Danny at L&L, maybe Chris might be there too.
Darn, I may miss the uke fest in Hayward April 1st.
Get back to building and I'll keep in touch...........................BO........................
BTW: lastest uke find, Maui Music Koa Concert, pawn shop..$250.00, good shape....sounds great............
 
two dogs plucking said:
Can't wait to show it..... when you going to be at L&L next? It would be cool if Bo and Bob could make it, too.

Thanks, Terry. And Perry, yeah, I'll be bring a few along with us to Reno. It sounds, well, powerful...probably all those strings. :) Looking forward to getting some feedback from folks more familiar with the 8 strings than I am.

Steve
Click to expand...
Hi Steve, probably the 23rd and if anything changes, I'll send ya a PM.
 
Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:
Nice work as always Steve. Is that some of that "psycho" curl from BI?
Click to expand...

Thanks, Chuck. It's from Dustin, but it's not all that psycho in person. I got the binding and back strap from Jeramiah last year, and it is da kine! I have a few full sets of it. BTW, saw the Phoenix uke you made for dk, and WOW, simply jaw dropping.

BO, I feel for ya man, stuck on Maui. See you when you get back.

Bob, the strings were donated by Danny and they are GHS and they sound really good. As to the photography, nothing all that fancy, just my trusty old D200 and a speedlight. Dark room, black backdrop, speedlight all the way up with a diffuser on it. Knock the flash back a stop or so, and then it's just the angle of the light vs. the lens creating the unlit areas.

Kanaka, hopefully see you in a couple weeks.

And thanks to Michael, Willie and Phil for the kind words.

Steve
 
Looking good! Is that a tenor? What string spacing did you use at the nut and saddle, if you don't mind sharing?
 
Yup, it's a tenor. String spacing is approx. 2mm at the nut and 3mm at the bridge. Used Ken's nut scratcher for both and it worked a treat.
 
That is gorgeous. Know a whole lot of people coming to UWC that would love to play it. Come on over.
 
Aloha Steve,
Mahalo for your sentiments, but I'm making the best out of it,hehe.
Went through my first storm I've experienced here and it was crazy, but having fun.
Will hook up when I return, not sure when, that goes for you too Danny............................BO......................
 
How about the spacing between the pairs of strings? I'm getting ready to cut and shape my neck, and want to make sure I make it wide enough. Thanks again.

Alan
 
funaddict said:
How about the spacing between the pairs of strings? I'm getting ready to cut and shape my neck, and want to make sure I make it wide enough. Thanks again.

Alan
Click to expand...

Hi Alan,
The nut is an inch and a half, slotted to fit. Spacing at the bridge is 1/2" between courses. Please use this only as a starting point...the spacing issue held me up for months. I would strongly suggest laying it all out on paper to get make sure you like what you see. My biggest concern was buzzing between strings and there is none of that. My other biggest concern was playability, getting two strings down with one finger easily.

I had the opportunity to pass this uke around to a number of experienced luthiers yesterday, some of whom are ukulele players as well. The consensus was that the string spacing worked great, but the neck could have been a hair wider. Just a hair. Maybe. Might adjust the bridge at some point, but want more feedback first. My favorite comment was, " I had no idea you could play melodies so easily on an eight string, I thought they were just for strumming." That's when I knew I got the spacing right.

So, again, please be cautious, as I've simply described my experience with my first eight string ( definitely not my last ). And good luck with your build.

Steve
 
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