Modding a Romero ST

[Oldscruggsfan]

^^^ Yep. That thought was bouncing around my head. Seems like a simple experiment to answer some questions.

I’m very interested to know how this turns out. Seems like there should be a standard minimum & maximum ratio of “outlet area” to sound body volume in cubic mm/ inches. The sound port I plan to install will be something like 40 square mm.
Cheers!

 

[LorenFL]

Closure:

I did very briefly one day play with stuffing a piece of cloth in a couple of the sound holes. Really didn't make a huge difference.

After looking at this thing hanging on the hook next to my Ohana for another month... it finally got back out to the car. (had to get my phone fixed, and knew I'd have to entertain myself without a phone in my hand <gasp!> for an hour or two yesterday)

It works in the car. I was pleased with it in that environment. And that's what I bought it for! A smallish uke to keep in the back seat of my driver's ed car for those times when a student cancels mid-day and I've got time to kill, or when I have lessons that are close together and I have a 45 minute gap between lessons and a 5-minute drive to make.

With the head stock and armrest mods that I've made, it's more playable (for me) than it previously was, and it sounds plenty good enough in the car. I enjoyed jamming on it for a while.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

Closure:

I did very briefly one day play with stuffing a piece of cloth in a couple of the sound holes. Really didn't make a huge difference.

After looking at this thing hanging on the hook next to my Ohana for another month... it finally got back out to the car. (had to get my phone fixed, and knew I'd have to entertain myself without a phone in my hand <gasp!> for an hour or two yesterday)

It works in the car. I was pleased with it in that environment. And that's what I bought it for! A smallish uke to keep in the back seat of my driver's ed car for those times when a student cancels mid-day and I've got time to kill, or when I have lessons that are close together and I have a 45 minute gap between lessons and a 5-minute drive to make.

With the head stock and armrest mods that I've made, it's more playable (for me) than it previously was, and it sounds plenty good enough in the car. I enjoyed jamming on it for a while.

I think I know exactly that feeling and sound. Yesterday during my lunch hour, I played a uke in my car for the first time. Because the midday outdoor temp was in the 40's, it was a toasty place to be and though I was playing a library-borrowed Donner uke, the acoustics were surprisingly good, somewhat the same vibe as singing in the shower. I got so carried away that I moved to the rear seat and posted a cover of "Hello My Baby". It crossed my mind to come up with a good story in case a police officer drove by, but what possible harm can one do while strumming a soprano uke alone in the back seat of a parked car? "Actually, officer, yes, I'm alone."

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

Here's the slot-style port I finally cut last weekend. Though I didn't initially notice any difference other than increased upward (player-side) volume, when practicing a solo version of Sweet Georgia Brown last night, there seemed to a bit of extra treble, which isn't necessarily a good thing with High G tuning.

 

[Renaissance-Man]

Paul1973UK - Thanks again. Are you aware of a specific brand or just whatever is on the "weather stripping" shelf at a hardware store? In other words, do you know whether a specific type of U section seal is sold in a narrow-enough width that gluing it to the edges of a planned DIY side port won't detract from the overall appearance of LorenFL's boat paddle uke and won't leave mine any uglier than it already is?

Car door edging is another option. It's more durable than weather stripping.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

Car door edging is another option. It's more durable than weather stripping.

Thanks but all of the car door edging that I’ve seen is rigid & would have to be kerf-cut to work on inside corners. Am I misinterpreting the product type?

 

[Neil_O]

This is a very entertaining thread. Thanks for posting!