Resonator innards

Pete Howlett

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I know there has been a thread on this but until now I had nothing to show. Here is a snap of the neck end of the underside of the top on my resos. The plywood well glues flush to a 3.8mm plywood top. A flat brace (a coupler) ties underneath the neck block back to the side of the well which is further 'blocked' up with more ply. This is because this area has a trendency to dip unless braced and a conventional cross or lateral brace won't work. The coupler completely locks the front rigid.

IMG_0172_zpsce6abe3e.jpg


I'll post some further progress picks of this ukulele which in a rare fit of creativity I have named, 'Black Dog'.
 
Pete....As these type of ukes require such a great deal of material to make them dead, so as to produce the best pure sound from the cone..I supose a "solid body" uke carved out of heavy wood to the correct dimensions to accomodate a cone and also allow vibes from the rear of the cone via portholes would be the best way to go??...a bit like the "Les Paul"..it would save a lot of bending and gluing....just my thoughts:).. (You know I don't like reso ukes and banjos co's they distort my hearing aid):(
 
I've seen Mike Lewis who makes resos in France do it - Clapton has one.... it is the obvious way to go I agree but you know the uke community - your ukes are so popular because they are such good repros. The buying public generally want what they already know. Innovating in this craft is almost a redundant exercise if you are swerving to far from the norm.
 
Pete, I can only speak from my perspective: Folks really respond to my cantilevered fingerboard and now to the side port sound holes. They're pretty far from the norm, though the idea of a fingerboard NOT damping the top is as old as the uke itself. I've had but one customer in the past hundred or so who specifically asked for no side port. So it is possible to introduce features that really deliver the goods.
 
I don't believe such changes challenge the norm. ken's suggestion does when it replaces acoustic for solid. Your innovations are executed on traditional shapes tho respect man for the use of indigenous timber. I think you will find Asia and Europe intensely conservative. The huge internal market that is the USA has plenty of space for the innovative and, having lived there, the US 'consciousness' is wholly different from us conservative Europeans. Believe me - two different markets exemplified by when Mya Moe went to a uke fest a few years ago they sold all of their exhibited stock. Last fest I did in the UK, a major one, I sold one instrument... We just don't know how to buy here in the UK or even more profund, why we should buy. I tried making it as a furniture designer for the best part of 7 years to clients who wouldn't think twice about spending shed loads of money on a car that devalued 30% they day they bought it, but often balked and haggled at the price for something they would pass on to their children. When I lived and worked in the US I had plenty of business making in the morning, teaching guitar in the afternoon and gigging at night! I was even offered workshop space in hawaii where, had I been able to get my work permit I would have been able to make a good living. Innovating in Europe is a great risk. It's why my work is so conservative. I don't want to be totally broke, poor yes, but destitute? Nahhh :)
 
Not the same conservative... a lot of US citizens thought I lived in England. England is a country. I live in Wales. Wales is a country... we share a common language but a different understanding.
 
A lot of Americans can't find their own country on the map much less Wales. Most of us also have a hard time wrapping our heads around the UK. England, Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland but not Mann and those other little islands next to France. And if you want to really throw us off start talking about the Commonwealth!

Can't wait to see the Reso when it is done. I always enjoy your "conservative" work. Very classy.
 
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