My #7 apartment build ukulele

UkeforJC

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Dear all,
I just completed my latest apartment build ukulele. I would like to post a few pictures to show you. If you spot any issue/mistake, please please tell me, so I can improve it.

This is a koa super soprano ukulele.
14.7" scale, EIR fretboard/bridge.
The shape of the body is very close to the hana lima tenor shape shrink down to soprano size.
2012-10-03 09.31.19.jpg2012-10-03 09.28.22.jpg2012-10-03 09.26.59.jpg2012-10-03 09.26.02.jpg2012-10-03 09.25.21.jpg

Plenty of mistakes learned from this build.
I over compensated the bridge, so the E and A strings are a little bit flat at 12th fret. Even though I made the compensated saddle, it does not completely fix the intonation. Oh well...
And also, next time I will reduce the size of the bridge even more.

I will try to post a sound sample soon.

JC
 
Great job JC. What is the sound port shape?

On my phone right now image is a little
small,but bet sound hole is an ichthus.
 
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Beautiful. Even with a garage full of equipment, I can't turn out anything that nice. To do that in an apartment? Awesome.

Being a newbie to lutherie, I have a stupid question. How are your strings attached? I don't see any tie-offs and obviously there's no bridge pins. Do you feed the strings through the sound hole to get up under the bridge? That seems it would be too difficult.
 
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That is a pretty uke. I love the penguin-head sound port. I have no experience building anything but I sometimes lurk around at the cool stuff everyone builds. My question is, why is the back of the uke made in two pieces instead of one? In all the pics I see of building, the back is almost always in two pieces and I'm just curious as to why.
 
Beautiful work and great sound. Do the strings feed through the top?
 
nicely done!
How did you finish it???
How much compensation did you add ??? Sopranos are tricky little things
 
Thank you guys for your kind words. Really appreciate all your comments.

Being a newbie to lutherie, I have a stupid question. How are your strings attached? I don't see any tie-offs and obviously there's no bridge pins. Do you feed the strings through the sound hole to get up under the bridge? That seems it would be too difficult.
Do the strings feed through the top?

Ya, the strings do go through the bridge and top. In the opposite side of the top, there are beads against the bridge plate. Like this:
2012-10-06 09.17.18.jpg

It is more difficult to install strings for this type of bridge. But I like the look.

My question is, why is the back of the uke made in two pieces instead of one? In all the pics I see of building, the back is almost always in two pieces and I'm just curious as to why.
Well, every builders have their own reasons doing things in certain way. Some masters said that two piece back is superior structurally. Other reason is that it is more difficult to find a piece of wood that is big enough to make an one piece top or back.
For me, it depends on what I have in hand.

What is your top thickness?

I hand planed down the top to around 2 mm, then I assemble the box. I sanded away quite a lot of material during finish sanding, so it is save to say that it is around 1.9-1.85 mm at the end.
 
nicely done!
How did you finish it???
How much compensation did you add ??? Sopranos are tricky little things

It is finished with tru oil. 5 coats only. No pore filling, because I kind of like the way it looks.

It is 14.7" scale, so I actually try to compensate it like a concert. I think I added ~3.5 mm, which I guess is too much.
I will try 3mm in my next build to see whether it will improve the intonation.
Still figuring this out.
 
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