sound hole shape

[ripock]

Hello folks,
Is there any functional reason why sound holes are round? I was thinking why cannot I have a trapezoid or even the sexist cutout of the mud flat woman that used to adorn semi trucks in the 70's?

 

[Cornerstone]

They can be any shape. I guess it’s the traditional design and easier to cut and make rosettes. Mine are an ellipse.

 

[KohanMike]

I had a custom spalted mango tenor cutaway uke made from a design of my luthier in Vietnam, Bruce Wei. It does not have a top sound, they are all the way around the bouts, with a larger one in the cutaway. It has lots of projection.

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Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
8 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 36)
•Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
•Member The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

 

[man0a]

This research report from MIT says violins originally had rounder sound holes, but evolved (over 800 years) to the current F-shaped sound holes that supposedly significantly improve the sound quality. Ukuleles are only 140 years old, so maybe they still have a lot of evolving to do.

Power efficiency in the violin

A new study from MIT identifies key design features that boost violins’ acoustic power.

news.mit.edu

 

[Canada Jim]

Here's my Joe Zier uke. I love it.

 

[Canada Jim]

Oval holes seem fairly common:

 

[Canada Jim]

F holes are also fairly common:

 

[Canada Jim]

And some are just strange:

 

[anthonyg]

I've owned some ukuleles with decorative sound holes such as the ones above, and sure they work, you can hear them, but they do also have some effect on the sound.
My impression is that these decorative sound holes lend themselves to a more boxy, mid range sound, yet I can't rule out that this is about the absolute area of the holes, rather than just the shape of the holes.

 

[VegasGeorge]

I suppose the shape, size, and location of sound holes makes some difference in volume and tone quality. But I strongly suspect that other factors, such as bracing, wood used, dimensions of the sound box, etc. have a much greater effect.

 

[Timbuck]

From an engineering point of view it's best to avoid sharp corners and notches from where cracks can easily propagate, therefor a smooth round hole is ideal, especially if it is strengthened with a rosette or a back patch.

 

[Brett S.]

Oval holes seem fairly common:
View attachment 137131View attachment 137132

Can you tell me more about that archtop and who made it?

 

[Coast_Ukulele]

I just shipped out this one and I think it sounded great! It was a challenge getting my fingers in the hole so I put a side sound port too.

 

[Canada Jim]

Can you tell me more about that archtop and who made it?

 

[necessaryrooster]

I just shipped out this one and I think it sounded great! It was a challenge getting my fingers in the hole so I put a side sound port too.

Wow that fretboard is gorgeous! What kind of wood is that?

 

[Ukecaster]

I just shipped out this one and I think it sounded great! It was a challenge getting my fingers in the hole so I put a side sound port too.

A rather unique soundhole for sure, and a beautiful uke.

 

[Coast_Ukulele]

Wow that fretboard is gorgeous! What kind of wood is that?

oh thanks! it’s ziricote. it was a rather big piece so i used it on the headstock too.