Hmm . . . Cutaway?

Um... because a lot of people think cutaways look really cool, even if they have no intention of playing that far up the neck?

Personally, I don't like the look and will never own a cutaway, but to each their own. :p
 
I like cutaways...it's not all function. Most tenors now a days are 14 frets to the body yet most of us wont play above the 5th.
 
I hated cutaway when playing guitar, but after changing to uke I absolutely love cutaway - I often play beyond the 10th fret so that probably changed my mind! Don't own one yet, but it's on the list. :)

This one has the looks - but as far as actually being a useful cutaway ukulele, not so much.
Had I designed the uke, I would probably have extended the fretboard. Shouldn't be too hard to do - then again, I am no luther. I can barely hit a nail straight. :)
 
I dont like cutaways for ukes for the simple reason that I use the upper bout to hold the uke while picking melodies, instead of using a strap. with the cutaway that part is cut out...
 
I have an 8 string cutaway more aesthetic than anything else . . .
 
a Florentine cutaway looks pretty good on a guitar, i really don't care for a cutaway on a uke at all.
 
For myself, I am learning to play up to the neck from the beginning. So for my first uke, I had a clear mind to target on the cutaway version. :)
 
My skill level will never warrant a cutaway, but I can see the aesthetic appeal.
 
For me, I ALWAYS want a cutaway on my uke.

It does play a functional role for me.
Having a cutaway there enables me to play bar-chords and some solo's higher up in the neck than on a non-cutaway.

Of course, I'm not needing to use those high frets all the time, but it is handy to have.
So for me, it does play an important functional role and thus I prefer all my ukes to have cutaway.
 
I do play a several songs with notes beyond the 12th fret... I'm not claiming I am good at it, but I do it. Plus my cutaway looks like this:
017-3.jpg022.jpg
 
I can understand a cutaway to reach frets. My original post was noting the Cordoba was a cutaway with no extra frets to reach. It has no fretboard extension.
 
It's a standard/soprano and it has a 12-14 inch scale length and 12-14 frets . . . and will not extend that far onto the body.
 
It does seem silly, but I can think of a possible good reason besides aesthetics.

The ideal strum position on a soprano is generally thought to be near where the neck joins the body, at the 12th fret. The cutaway will permit vigorous strumming without scraping or knocking finger nails against the bottom of the higher bout.

Here's a pic of my vintage Gibson to show you what I mean.

gibby.jpg
 
I love cutaway models, and it has nothing to do with looks. It has to do with ease of access to the upper frets, and not just past 12, it's less crowding of your hand when working up there.

Ukes, particularly with re-entrant tuning, have a very limited scale range, and it's nice to be able to easily use all you can get without having to get into awkward fingering positions working around the body. The cutaway just makes getting up there a little easier. Even if the number of frets is the same, getting to them easily is nice. Of course, (seeing the earlier post), if there are no frets up there, then having a cutout would be silly, but most have frets going up past where the body joins.
 
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It's only been in the last couple of years that I've wanted to play a couple of songs where my arrangement would work a little better if I had a cutaway, because it's very awkward with my current tenor to, say, reach around the upper bout to barre across the 14th fret. So far, I've been content to change the arrangements rather than run out and buy a tenor with a usable cutaway. But I can see the attraction.
 
A cutaway on a soprano seems like a joke. If playing a tenor or baritone and you don't see where a cutaway could be of use sometimes, I don't think you are really playing.
 
Radio Flyer said:
jake does't have a cutaway, he does OK.
Click to expand...
What does this prove? That it can be done without a cut-away? Of course it can, but a cutaway makes it easier.

Glad Jake and those before him didn't stop innovating. We wouldn't have he tenor, nor the low g if they did.
 
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