"Dumb" question about sizes

bobinde

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I was just looking at my assorted ukes and discovered that my Lanakai 8-string tenor is about 3/8 inch thicker at the bottom than my KPK tenor. Is this a manufacturer thing? Or are taropatches thicker in general? I don't have much in the way of Uke dealers around here to be able to check it out.

Thanks!

bobinde
 
I'm no builder, but I would have a guess that with the extra tension, the uke will need to be more robust...
 
I was just looking at my assorted ukes and discovered that my Lanakai 8-string tenor is about 3/8 inch thicker at the bottom than my KPK tenor. Is this a manufacturer thing? Or are taropatches thicker in general? I don't have much in the way of Uke dealers around here to be able to check it out.

Thanks!

bobinde

there are no dumb questions.
 
I'm not a builder or an expert either but I would venture to say that there are very few "standard" measurements for any part of a ukulele. Nut width is probably the closest as most nuts are 1-3/8" but there are 1.5" and even some other oddballs. A 3/8" difference in the thickness of a body sounds like a simple design choice.
 
There are some general dimensions that apply within +/- ranges largely so instruments will fit in cases as expected. But there are many minor variations from mfr to mfr or even within a given mfrs line. Thickness is actually one of the easiest dimensions to vary without worrying about case fitment because most cases are tall enough to give a little more wiggle room there without the instrument seeming to be a poor fit.

John
 
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