Soprano Uke commission

robinfowler

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Hi All,

I am looking to commission a Soprano Uke. The only brief I am looking for is below. I have provided an example picture but am open to any design that fills the brief. Let me know if you would be interested in building such an instrument for me.

1. Std Soprano scale length (Martin sizing 13.5" scale)
2. Over all as short, narrow and thin as possible - this is to be a hand luggage travel uke.
3. An acoustic body - not looking for a "stick" or electric type travel uke.
4. Think minimal head stock, small tuners, small thin body, body shape and bridge placement to allow as short an instrument as possible.
5. Solid would instrument - wood choice to provide best sound with small body construction.
6. Light weight - for travel and also for feel/sound - I love the older light weight instruments (Vintage Martin/kamaka feel).
7. Example pic below but open to any body shape.
8. This will be a hotel room practice uke - want it to play and sound nice but this will not be playing any shows so some compromise in volume etc. is OK.
9. Simple but stylish and classic, as all hand made instruments should be a thing of beauty.

short.jpg
 
Contact Rob of tinguitar.com
he has a Facebook page where you can check out his past work.
I have a soprano and a 19 inch tenor from him. I am very happy.
He is one of few that I know who makes a custom soprano at a reasonable price, just the basics nothing over the top fancy.
 
I don't know the overall length, but you've pretty much specified the Romero XS:
https://www.romerocreations.com/xs-soprano

They are nice but overall length is about 19" - I cut the headstock down on my Kala travel soprano and it came out shorter than that. Also the Romero body is wider/thicker than it could be. To fit in a small overnight back I am looking for 16" or close to it.
 
Contact Rob of tinguitar.com
he has a Facebook page where you can check out his past work.
I have a soprano and a 19 inch tenor from him. I am very happy.
He is one of few that I know who makes a custom soprano at a reasonable price, just the basics nothing over the top fancy.

Thanks - his work looks good - I have emailed Rob to see if he is interested.
 
Thanks - his work looks good - I have emailed Rob to see if he is interested.

A few years ago Rob Collins designed a travel soprano which pretty much matches your specs (shortened headstock, etc), and built several. So he should have pictures to show you.
 
The Rob Collins compact soprano is a simple design which works very well indeed, as I recall. A standard type of soprano, just significantly shorter than the classic soprano layout.

John Colter
 
The Rob Collins compact soprano is a simple design which works very well indeed, as I recall. A standard type of soprano, just significantly shorter than the classic soprano layout.

John Colter


Thanks John - a google search showed these were called an Airline Soprano - does look like the sort of the thing I want. Where to find one through???
 
Thanks John - a google search showed these were called an Airline Soprano - does look like the sort of the thing I want. Where to find one through???


Although further searching looks to be the size of an Ohano Sopranino which is about 18 3/4" - I am looking for smaller.
 
I do enjoy a challenge now and then. At first glance I did not think this would fly. You want a 13.5” scale on a 16.5” ukulele. That leaves a whopping 3” to set the bridge back from the end, and provide space to mount the tuners. In my honest opinion, I believe you need to mount the bridge at least 2” from the back end to have any chance of transferring any vibrations to the top. So that left me with about 1” to mount the tuners. Pulling out everything I could think of I have designed something that meets your criteria. There is no peg head at all, the strings attach directly to the nut and go back over a floating bridge to the tuners at the back of the body. To test the concept, I have built the body and will post some pics in next post.
Brad
 
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