Violin makers take on the Ukulele

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vlnmaker

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My daughter fancies herself a Uke player- so for her 18th I made her this archtop uke. A violin makers take- purfling, ebony trim and fholes.

Enjoy-

David Frederick
www.davidfrederickviolins.com

uke front.jpg
uke back.jpg
uke side.jpg
 
Thanks!

I will try to get her to make a video after she gets it..I just finished it yesterday and have been playing around myself ;)

top is 50yr old spruce - back, side and neck 20yr old maple. the rest is gaboon ebony.

David
 
How did you change it to suit pizzicato vs. the usual emphasis on arco for a violin design?

The instruments work very, very differently...
 
Looks great. Is it a soprano? We'd love a vid to hear you daughter play it.
 
Hey Rick,

I have a background in guitar as well. It is basically a mini jazz guitar with some violin aesthetics.

David
 
The uke is a soprano scale with a concert box (11") to accommodate the bridge and f-hole placement. It is ported on the upper bout as well.
 
Now we can discuss how Carleen Hutchins would build a ukulele :) I hope Rick's question get a good answer.
 
agilitydog said:
Now we can discuss how Carleen Hutchins would build a ukulele :) I hope Rick's question get a good answer.
Click to expand...

I would rather not discuss Hutchins (not everyone in the violin community buys into her meathods). I believe I answered Rick - this was not approached as a violin build per se.

Here is a video that others requested , Please forgive the playing...

http://youtu.be/7Zs6_Zj0NU0

Peace,

David

EDIT: flipped the video....
 
Last edited:
Looks and sounds great. Very interesting design. Thanks for sharing the photos and video :)
 
Very, very cool David. Thanks for doing the video, it was fun to see and hear it.

I am friends with a violin luthier in the SF Bay Area (John Jordan) who is just building his first few ukuleles. I am excited to see what he comes up with.

It is so cool that you brought other design elements into building the ukulele. I really like when luthiers are creative like this. Nice Job!
 
So awesome to see you going out and doing your own thing, and absolutely knocking the ball outta the park! Really nice.
 
Thanks for the kind comments.

Here are a couple of ukes that have been hanging around the shop- thought they may be of interest.

This is a gretsch from 1920's-30's

gretsch uke.jpg

gretsch head.jpg

This is a Jonah Kumalae from around 1911
jonah uke.jpg

jonah label.jpg

Enjoy-

David
 
Last edited:
Hi David,

Your Kumalae is a style B. I've been working on one trying to fix it up. Great, loud little ukulele. You can see my fumblings with it in this section.

Thanks for sharing!
 
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