My #6 build - first pineapple ukulele

UkeforJC · Jun 23, 2012

Dear all, I just finished my lastest build, a concert size pineapple.
It is the first time I build the pineapple ukulele.
It has been fun.
Here are the spec:
14.7" scale
sinker redwood top
bubinga back and sides
Spanish cedar neck
Macassar ebony fingerboad and bridge

Here are a few building pictures.

I don't have a mold for this shape, so I am building it "free form."

I have always struggled keeping everything centered. So this time I am doing all I can do to improve that.

since it is a pineapple, I want to have a pineapple side port.

UkeforJC · Jun 23, 2012

the sides and the redwood top are all prepared. The redwood top is fan braced (sitka spruce). The bridge plate is koa.

The bubinga back is also prepared. I have to admit that I don't like to work with bubinga, for it is very dense. It took me about one whole evening to plane it down from 3.5 mm to 1.9 mm. I had to stop a couple time to resharpen my plane blade.

UkeforJC · Jun 23, 2012

So the box is closed and the excess of top and back are trimmed with very sharp chisels and carving knifes.

This is one of my favorite part of building.

..more pictures will come..

sim4lin · Jun 23, 2012

Great looking ukulele so far!, should be really something when finished

Pondoro · Jun 23, 2012

Really nice! I usually do not like odd-shaped sound holes nor do I like the look of side ports but that pineapple side port is one that I really like a lot.

UkeforJC · Jun 24, 2012

thanks guys.
So I rough carved the neck and made a walnut head plate with spruce strip.

This is the very first bridge I made. I used the marking gauge to make two straight lines (1/8" apart) then use chisels to cut the saddle slot. It wasn't perfect, but I believe the next one will be better.

Then tru-oil finish is applied.

UkeforJC · Jun 24, 2012

finally done

I put worth brown strings on this uke. I really like the sound so far.
Here is a few pictures of the finished uke.

ukuloonie · Jun 24, 2012

These ukuleles look really good. Thanks for the update photos always interesting to see how you figure things out.

UkeforJC · Jun 24, 2012

couple more pictures

Thank you for reading. If there is any thought or comment on my build, please please let me know. That is the only way I can learn and improve for my next ukulele.

One lesson I learn from this build is,
I really have to thin my fretboard for at least 1mm more, so I can reduce the saddle height even more. Right now, the saddle is a little bit too high above the bridge.
The other lesson is, building the uke free form (without a mold) is really not working for me. Even I used an almost perfectly made drying rack for resting the bent sides, the whole body is still not very symmetrical. Therefore, I am gona get some more molds to make my next build better.

Thanks to you all.
Aloha.
Jerry

UkeforJC · Jun 27, 2012

I actually feel that concert size is a little bit too big for pineapple ukes. Soprano size might be more suitable.
Any thought?

1300cc · Jun 27, 2012

UkeforJC said:
Dear all, I just finished my lastest build, a concert size pineapple.
It is the first time I build the pineapple ukulele.
It has been fun.
Here are the spec:
14.7" scale
sinker redwood top
bubinga back and sides
Spanish cedar neck
Macassar ebony fingerboad and bridge

can please tell me why you selected redwood for top, and bubinga for back and sides? and are the bubinga solid or laminate?

UkeforJC · Jun 27, 2012

They are all solid.
There was no particular reason why I picked this combination. I just happened to have these boards and the color sort of match.
I do like the red wood a lot after finishing this build. I like it much better than spruce actually, mainly because redwood sounds much warmer and the spruce sounds quite "attacking" to me, even with worth brown strings.
I didn't know what to expect from bubinga, but surprisingly this uke turns out sounding quite nice to me.
Will try to make a sound sample sometime this week.
Thanks.

Bill Mc · Jun 27, 2012

UkeforJC said:
I actually feel that concert size is a little bit too big for pineapple ukes. Soprano size might be more suitable.
Any thought?

Maybe the concert size pineapple feels a bit like holding a mandolin ?

UkeforJC · Jun 27, 2012

Hm...i am not sure. Never held a mandolin before.
I do feel that concert size pineapple is a little bit bulky. I followed the Hana Lima concert pineapple plan, which has a slimmer body than other pineapple I have seen. But still look quite bulky. I will make a soprano pineapple uke soon and see how it looks like.

kkmm · Jun 28, 2012

This pinapple ukulele look gorgeous. I am wondering if the bridge is a little too heavy and this cound affect the sounds ?
It's hard to tell from the photo, maybe it's thinner (as it's all flat except the saddle slot) than typicall ukulele bridge.
Please post a sound sample.

UkeforJC · Jun 29, 2012

kkmm said:
This pinapple ukulele look gorgeous. I am wondering if the bridge is a little too heavy and this cound affect the sounds ?
It's hard to tell from the photo, maybe it's thinner (as it's all flat except the saddle slot) than typicall ukulele bridge.
Please post a sound sample.

Hm.. I didn't feel that the bridge is heavy or heavier than the bridge I used before. But it is made of ebony, which will be heavier than the EI rose wood bridge of the same size.
I made this one at ~3"x0.8" and a little less than 1/4" thick. The wings were tapered as shown in this picture.

UkeforJC · Jul 13, 2012

Sound sample

Here is the sound sample for this ukulele. Please excuse my poor playing.

This ukulele actually sounds kind of deep and low, definitely not the traditional sound.

Dan Uke · Jul 14, 2012

Was there any affects for the sound like reverb or chorus? Sounds a little muddy but it could be my speakers. However, I love teh warm rich tone. Thanks for sharing

gerardg · Jul 14, 2012

Very nice pineapple.
Sweet body curves.
Neck shape look comfortable to play.
Yes, very nice uke.

UK Paulie · Jul 14, 2012

I think it looks and sounds beautiful!! If it doesn't have a home, I'd be interested! BTW, regarding the size, I think there are enough people building soprano pineapples and there's definitely a call for larger sized ones. I know Ko'olau make a tenor pineapple and they seem to go like hot cakes and if you check out the HMS clip of Corey playing it, you'll be in no doubt why. My opinion, you need have no fear on that score.

My #6 build - first pineapple ukulele

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