cutting a hole on the side of my tenor ukulele

My tenor ukulele (I built it myself) has the traditional round sound hole. It currently sounds a lot better that it was when first built (I guess due to the wood dries off).
I saw a few ukuleles having hole cut on the upper side with a small hole on the top but not at the end of the fretboard, it's closer to the neck/body joint on the upper side (the Riptide ukulele for example). And they sound pretty loud.
Question: if I cut a round hole on the upper side (leaving the traditional sound hole intact), would this improve the sound in anyway (louder, sweeter,etc...) ? or it will actually makes it sound worst.

By doing so you are able to modify your bracing to possibly allow for a larger vibrating surface. Of course you have to make sure you are not compromising the integrity of the uke by doing so.

Some like it, some don't.

I now put side ports in all ukes unless asked not to. So far that's one person in the past 100 ukes.

A side port will make a uke sound louder for the player, but not so much for the audience. It's sort of a poor man's stage monitor.

Do you make the side hole surface area in any proportion to existing sound hole? Is there a relavence to cubic volume to body of the Uke. As in air movement through sound hole/s.

The way I read the question I was thinking the OP was referring to an off-centered main sound hole, not a side sound port on the upper bout. If I'm wrong, and it sure won't be the first time, then my response doesn't apply. Maybe the OP will clarify.

EDIT: OK, I've reread the post a dozen times and I'm pretty sure I misunderstood the question. I though he was talking about an off centered sound hole as shown. (There are names for these parts folks!)

Hi Moore,
I do mean a side sound port ( I like this terminology ), not an off-centered sound whole on the top board.
Since no one here thinks this is a crazy idea, I will cut the hole (small diameter first) to see how much louder it will be, even just for me.
I am re-doing the finish for the neck and the back of this ukulele, using a much darker finish. It may take a week to get a few coats on it.

I have a question about this though:

By doing so you are able to modify your bracing to possibly allow for a larger vibrating surface

Click to expand...

How can I modify the bracing with a side sound hole ? In my imagination, it's tough to do any work inside the body of an ukulele (and mandolin) once the top/back board are glued in.

Last year, I repaired one F-style mandolin that has collapsed top by cutting off the back. That's the only way I have access to the braces.
I cleaned up the lose braces (which cause the top to collapse) and reglue both of the braces back. Then reglue the back board. I still have this mandolin (my favorite), it plays great for me, no sign of trouble after 12 months.

kkmm said:

How can I modify the bracing with a side sound hole ? In my imagination, it's tough to do any work inside the body of an ukulele (and mandolin) once the top/back board are glued in.

Click to expand...

You can't. I was talking about the main sound hole on the front of the uke.

BTW for next time; many builders will reduce the sized of the main sound hole when installing a side sound port.

Well is all sorta like a bag pipe...you blow the bag up and squeez the air out.
The sound you hear is compressed air moving down a tube.

Now a sound box on a strunged up instrument is one big hairy airy pump, full of tension and pressure, expanding and contracting, just waiting to blow it self apart.

So you pluck a string, the energy goes through the bridge into the top and vibrates it. The top in turn then vibrates the air inside, actually it's pumping the air in and out of the sound hole because the top vibrates up and down.(ever notice how up and down and in and out motion is a real key to stuff but me just babbleing here)

Now if you got too big of a sound hole, (or too many) the air, she don't get no chance to build up pressure inside the box. Its the pressure that moves the air through the sound hole and carries on to the hear drummies in yer head. (Now if you starts hearin drummies in yer head ...go see ear Dr. ..actually yo don't wanna see s/him ...ya wanna hear what s/him gotts to say....but me babbling again.)

Ya der are loofies who know how to calculates the air volume of the box and determine duh sound holes size and make it so...but um me ain't one of them. Naw me just go with the flow and guess at duh size to makes hole.

My take,... if yer hard of hearing, it might help a bit, but you might need to amp it for the audience cuz dude, Ukes wern't engineered for '56 Buick raceing side ports.

Now regarding "improve the sound in anyway (louder, sweeter,etc...)"...dude, you gotts to be joking.

Finally since we's talkin air here...have you been keeping up your part of the deal to help pollute the planet...just askin?


blessings
duh ?adma

Thanks for the clarification about the bracing.
If I build another ukulele, I will follow the Riptide sound holes scheme. Looks very cute to me.
For the current ukulele, the main sound hole is already there.
Maybe I can do something to make it smaller (by glueing a wooden ring on it, doable but may look ugly).
I will try to cut a side sound port about 1" in diameter first and see how it goes.
The Ovation design is quite interesting, there are a lot of tiny sound holes on the top, but on both sides, close to the neck joint.

cutting a 1" hole in the side of a finished uke sounds like a good way to make firewood. just my gut feeling. (What do I know though.... )

I think it was Steve Grimes at the last GAL convention who said something like "Adding a side sound port is the biggest improvement you can make [to a guitar] by taking something away."
I agree. I've been installing SSPs on my ukes for about 5 years. Not only does it make the instrument a little easier for the player to hear, but it also seems to increase forward projection as well. It simply makes it sound fuller or more open. Of course this stuff is hard to measure but I've done my own sloppy blind tests here in my shop. For reasons I haven't been able to explain though, the difference varies from uke to uke, even with the same hole dimensions. Sometimes the effect is dramatic while at other times it is subtle.

can a hole be safely cut with no reinforcement behind the side? in a finished instrument? That seems dangerous to me.. am I being too cautious?

Chris_H said:

can a hole be safely cut with no reinforcement behind the side? in a finished instrument? That seems dangerous to me.. am I being too cautious?

Click to expand...

You're right, it's not a good idea. I did it on my own personal uke though. It's what got me start on side sound ports in the beginning. Start with a small hole and open it up with a 1/2" sanding drum. After the hole was finished and sanded I glued two small braces to either side of the hole, perpendicular to the sides. It's only been 5 or 6 years but I haven't had any problem with it. But it sure isn't as good as a reinforcement backing. I'm extremely cautious when I build so personally I wouldn't recommend installing an SSP on a finished instrument. (See similar thread on installing rosettes after the fact!)

You can just put in a couple of spruce braces, one on either side of the sound port, to prevent any longitudinal cracks from forming. And I'm firmly with Chuck on this.

thank you Chuck, and Rick, for the answer

Chris_H said:

thank you Chuck, and Rick, for the answer

Click to expand...

you are lucky 2 of the best luthiers in the uke world giving you advice..and they both use the side sound port.. you can not ask for more than that

I only install side sound ports because it saves wood.

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

I only install side sound ports because it saves wood.

Click to expand...

Ha very funny

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

I only install side sound ports because it saves wood.

Click to expand...

hahahha. Quote of the day!