First spy pic of my next uke

Jim Hanks

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I won't list all the specs yet, just what I can see so far. English walnut top, cocobolo fretboard. I was expecting the top to be lighter and the board to be darker, but we'll see how it is after finishing.
 
I love that fender Stratocaster style headstock, Jim. Uncommon for a Mya Moe.

Thanks for sharing!
 
CK: hate to disappoint but, mine is the one on the right with the more uke-like headstock. And, um, not even close to Mya Moe. :confused:
 
Hmm, interesting. I just found out from the builder that there was a mixup and the neck actually is tenor scale. And the fretboard is black walnut like the back/sides. Hmmmmmmm.
 
Ok, now you're just messin with me. Haven't you seen those Sasquatch commercials? Watch out. :stop: :)

I promise I will reveal all the details if I keep it, which I probably will.
 
Scale length issues aside, photos of unfinished wood never show what it will look like under finish.

I have come to absolutely hate it when clients want to see work-in-progress photos thinking that they can tell what the instrument will look like when finished. Most woods will darken considerably under finish and the figure contrast will be dramatically improved. Some woods will change color with exposure to air as the surface oxidizes, some will lighten over years with exposure to UV, some will darken with exposure to light. Dampening the raw wood with mineral spirits will give a little hint, but still not be what the instrument will look like done. Then, different finish processes will have different effects, too. Also there are subtle and not so subtle ways of changing or enhancing the look of the wood with stains. For instance, I can do a light to medium brown stain on figured myrtle that results in something that looks exactly like figured koa.

The moral of this story? Don't be a helicopter client to your luthier during the build process...other than rather major stuff like wrong scale length. If you really don't like the end result, that's another story, but don't think you can project what the wood will look like unless you have a lot of experience in woodworking.
 
I promise I will reveal all the details if I keep it, which I probably will.

I guess I don't understand this thread. You won't tell us a thing about it right now, you will not tell us a thing about it if you don't keep it, post #1 says you won't give us specs, and you don't want us to guess.

What exactly are you looking for here, Jim? I'm not being flippant--I, honestly, have no clue what you want from this thread. :eek:
 
Good point, but that hasn't stopped KoAloha and Ohana from building them even longer 17" ones. Besides I plan on using a strap, either a UkeLeash or full strap.

I like longer necks but what I was referring to was the tuners. I like well balanced ukes and you can control the weight with wood choice for the neck (spanish cedar vs. hog) and tuners (geared vs. friction or pegheds / UPTs). Even if you use a strap all the time, having a well balance uke doesn't hurt. Just my opinion.
 
Scale length issues aside, photos of unfinished wood never show what it will look like under finish.
...The moral of this story? Don't be a helicopter client to your luthier during the build process...other than rather major stuff like wrong scale length.
Understood Rick. My comment about expecting the fingerboard to be darker was because I thought it was going to be cocobolo. It's actually black walnut, so that explains it.

What exactly are you looking for here, Jim? I'm not being flippant--I, honestly, have no clue what you want from this thread. :eek:
Just sharing my experience, CK. Wasn't really "wanting" anything.

Even if you use a strap all the time, having a well balance uke doesn't hurt.
Understood, and I won't really know until I see it.
 
Rick --

I very much want the luthier to do what he does with minimal input from me; that said, I also very much like seeing the WIP photos, because while I have the woodworking dexterity of a manatee on mescaline, I find the process fascinating. Going from bare, rough wood to finished instrument and seeing that just makes me appreciate the magic that much more. I appreciate skills I don't have more than those I do ...

A luthier doing a build for me has a private page on FB for his clients whereupon he shows various stages of each, and far as I can tell, we all love seeing not only ours, but theirs, too, sharing in their joy. Different strokes, I guess ...
 
*uses rendering software, reverse engineers ukulele specs, posts them on ukeleak.com*
 
Steve, I understand. Also please understand that stopping work to take photos and send or post them interrupts build flow, and, to put it bluntly, costs money, and too many of the most demanding clients in this regard will try to grind me for a lower and lower price. It becomes an untenable business model.

I've instituted a charge for each photo session in custom builds, and I state that photos do not necessarily properly represent what will be the finished product. Every minute that one of my luthiers or I spend taking and sending pictures and blabbing about instruments is a minute that we don't spend building a uke or guitar. Every custom client wants to feel special and that they have a relationship with the builder. Well, you can, but in the end someone has to pay for that. That's the reality of custom lutherie. Frank Ford at Gryphon Stringed Instruments tracked...in excruciating detail...a year of his work: how many hours at the bench working vs. how many hours spent talking to customers. It was 1,000 hours of working to 1,000 of talking. So if his shop rate was $75.00 an hour, it was actually $37.50 an hour. Hmmmm. OK, so some of that time can be written off as promotion of the store, etc., but...

One of the least financially rewarding custom builds I ever did was with a client with whom there wound up being 135 exchanges of emails, and yes, photos were a part of that. Who do you think sucked the big one with that? My bookkeeper knows the answer to that!

So just understand that when you do choose to be a "helicopter client", either you're taking lunch money away from a luthier or he or she has built that time (which = money ) into the quote. A good friend of mine, Jeff Traugott, builds guitars that start at about $26,000.00. Would you care to guess what about $10,000.00 of that is? It's paying for the relationship with Jeff.

And you still won't know what the uke or guitar or bass or whatever will look like 'til it's done and you see it in person. It's really hard to take that leap of faith, but you know, I do it every day when I go into my shop and look at the work in progress. I know what the stuff is going to look like. It doesn't look like that today...

You should (not) see some of my "dyed in the wood" sunbursts right after I shoot the color onto the bare wood. They look like utter dog s**. Then I shoot or wipe on the first pre-sealer coat...night and day, and still a month away from gorgeous. I don't want clients to see my 'bursts in that first stage; nobody would get it.

So go light on the luthier...well, go light on a good one!
 
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