Paul Henneberry
Well-known member
Hi Karl,
I'm happy to give my opinion on how I hear the differences but there are a few conditions attached. The differences I hear on my weird shaped tenors might not apply to regular shaped tenors. If you look at the build picks I put in about half way down this thread you will see that my X bracing is very unusual and any difference might not be the same with a regular X braced uke. I also mentioned that I make this probably unique spruce carbon fibre laminated bracing material which might make the characteristics specific to my ukes. And at the end of the day the differences might be more or less prominent based on my personal (poor and sloppy) playing style. So with that out of the way - my impressions of the differences.
I put side by side a fan braced uke and X braced uke where both had Worth Brown strings (both mahogany). The X braced one is a bit brighter and the fan braced a bit warmer when strummed and the same holds true when they are both picked. The X braced has more separation and also has a bit more sustain. Volume is about equal. The spruce topped uke also has Worth Brown strings and compared to the mahogany fan braced one it is louder and has slightly less sustain but the voicing is quite similar.
Hollis ( who started this thread) above talks about a custom String by Mail set which are wound bass and classical guitar trebles. I also fitted these to a fan brace verses an X brace uke and they sound more similar to each other than different. Tons of sustain and if there is any difference at all - the fan brace uke is slightly brighter. Weird - I wasn't expecting that.
To the side by side string comparison, first a pair of X braced ukes side by side (Worth’s / Strings by Mail). The Worth’s are a bit brighter with more separation between notes and the Strings by Mail are slightly louder when strummed. The same applies to picking but with the Strings by Mail set the huge bass sort of drones under the higher notes which is pleasant and interesting. With the fan braced pair side by side the difference is subtle with the Worth Brown uke slightly brighter when strummed. When picked the Strings by Mail set ring a little clearer and brighter.
Some of these results contradict some of the other results. I cant explain it other than to say that it is just how they sound to me.
As I said above, if any body can give me some advice on where and how to make available an audio file of about 10meg you can judge for yourself. Youtube was suggested and I have done a couple of uke making clips on there so am familiar with how that works. I might get around to it but will have to find the time to attach some interesting pictures to go with the audio that I have already made.
I hope that answers your question Karl. For what its worth I'm already planning the next batch and am thinking a pair of curly maples and a pair of American black walnut all with double X bracing.
cheers
Paul
I'm happy to give my opinion on how I hear the differences but there are a few conditions attached. The differences I hear on my weird shaped tenors might not apply to regular shaped tenors. If you look at the build picks I put in about half way down this thread you will see that my X bracing is very unusual and any difference might not be the same with a regular X braced uke. I also mentioned that I make this probably unique spruce carbon fibre laminated bracing material which might make the characteristics specific to my ukes. And at the end of the day the differences might be more or less prominent based on my personal (poor and sloppy) playing style. So with that out of the way - my impressions of the differences.
I put side by side a fan braced uke and X braced uke where both had Worth Brown strings (both mahogany). The X braced one is a bit brighter and the fan braced a bit warmer when strummed and the same holds true when they are both picked. The X braced has more separation and also has a bit more sustain. Volume is about equal. The spruce topped uke also has Worth Brown strings and compared to the mahogany fan braced one it is louder and has slightly less sustain but the voicing is quite similar.
Hollis ( who started this thread) above talks about a custom String by Mail set which are wound bass and classical guitar trebles. I also fitted these to a fan brace verses an X brace uke and they sound more similar to each other than different. Tons of sustain and if there is any difference at all - the fan brace uke is slightly brighter. Weird - I wasn't expecting that.
To the side by side string comparison, first a pair of X braced ukes side by side (Worth’s / Strings by Mail). The Worth’s are a bit brighter with more separation between notes and the Strings by Mail are slightly louder when strummed. The same applies to picking but with the Strings by Mail set the huge bass sort of drones under the higher notes which is pleasant and interesting. With the fan braced pair side by side the difference is subtle with the Worth Brown uke slightly brighter when strummed. When picked the Strings by Mail set ring a little clearer and brighter.
Some of these results contradict some of the other results. I cant explain it other than to say that it is just how they sound to me.
As I said above, if any body can give me some advice on where and how to make available an audio file of about 10meg you can judge for yourself. Youtube was suggested and I have done a couple of uke making clips on there so am familiar with how that works. I might get around to it but will have to find the time to attach some interesting pictures to go with the audio that I have already made.
I hope that answers your question Karl. For what its worth I'm already planning the next batch and am thinking a pair of curly maples and a pair of American black walnut all with double X bracing.
cheers
Paul
