Question on neck

Joyful Uke

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 17, 2014
Messages
3,506
Reaction score
2,571
What is a D style neck?
I can't find a good website describing the different styles of necks.
Can someone explain, or point me to a good website?
Thanks.
 
It's the shape of the back of the neck. This is guitars but same would apply to ukes:

I ran across that site, too, but it doesn't show a D shape. How would that differ from a C or U shape?
 
My thoughts, subject to change, based on some concerts I have right now...
C: Kanile'a
D: Magic Fluke Flea
U: Pono

Let's see if that correlates better/gets exaggerated in Arial Narrow font?
C: Kanile'a
D: Magic Fluke Flea
U: Pono


my impressions:
Kanile'a & MF necks aren't quite as deep as Pono
Kanile'a is continuously curved
Magic Fluke's curve flattens out at the apex
Pono is continuously curved & deeper than both.

As an aside, not exactly relevant are concert nut widths:
Kanile'a 1.5"/38.1mm
Magic Fluke Flea 1.4"/35.56mm
Pono 1.375"/34.925mm


I ran across that site, too, but it doesn't show a D shape. How would that differ from a C or U shape?
 
Thanks, Wukulele. That's helpful. I haven't seen a Pono in person, but have the other 2, so that gives me some idea.

Anyone else have any input?
 
I would concur with Wukulele's description above on the Kanilea & Magic Fluke shapes.

I would say my Kanilea, KoAloha, Moon Bird, and Blackbird Clara all fall into the C shape category. The Kanilea & KoAloha being on the slightly thinner/medium end of the C spectrum, and the Moon Bird & Clara being on the full/medium end. I've never owned a Magic Fluke, but played one that a friend had. Definitely the D shape, with a more flat back portion and more defined/straighter sides. I did own a Famous brand uke for a short time, and it was D shaped. D-shapes are not my cup of tea. I prefer medium C shapes.....not as thin as a Loprinzi that I once owned, and not as thick as the Kala ukes I've tried.
 
I've never owned a Magic Fluke, but played one that a friend had. Definitely the D shape, with a more flat back portion and more defined/straighter sides.

I bought a used tenor walnut Fluke a few months to be a beater uke, for me the flat part on the back of the neck is very fatiguing. Taking a cue from another post, I'm going to round it out to a standard D shape.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 11 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 35)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
I may be the only one who doesn't quite get this, but if you saw my writing, maybe that would explain why D and C aren't clear to me.

Can anyone give an idea of which brands have which necks? That way, I could at least sort it out (maybe) by what they seem like to me, if I've had any experience with those brands, or maybe by photos of those brands.

I suspect the neck shape is part of what makes a neck good or not so good for me, (though there will be other factors), but I can't figure this part out yet.
 
I may be the only one who doesn't quite get this, but if you saw my writing, maybe that would explain why D and C aren't clear to me.

Can anyone give an idea of which brands have which necks? That way, I could at least sort it out (maybe) by what they seem like to me, if I've had any experience with those brands, or maybe by photos of those brands.

I suspect the neck shape is part of what makes a neck good or not so good for me, (though there will be other factors), but I can't figure this part out yet.

In my opinion, of ukuleles I've owned or played......

C-shape - KoAoloha, Kanilea, aNueNue MoonBird, Blackbird Clara, Teton, Imua, Gary Gill, Bonanza, Islander, Loprinzi (thin C), Kala (thick C).

D- shape - Magic Fluke, Famous (Kiwaya)

Shape is one element that I consider when deciding on a uke. Thickness of the neck, and width of the fretboard are others.
 
It seems like I'm the only one who loves the flat neck. Having the resting place for my thumb as a plane versus a curve makes so much sense to me. I'm usually an extremely unpicky person whose motto is something like "ukuleles are ukuleles." However if I ever was in a position to get a bespoken ukulele from Jay Lichty, I think I would request the flat-backed neck.
 
As a builder, with a D shape neck, the top of the fretboard is the widest part of the neck. With a C shape, the widest part of the neck is below the fretboard. Think of tumble home on the sides of a ship.
Brad

I would think of tumble home on the sides of a ship, but I don't know what that means. :)

I'm so bad at visualizing things, but all the input is starting to clear things up a bit. Your mention of the top of the fretboard vs. below the fretboard is definitely helpful. Thanks.
 
In my opinion, of ukuleles I've owned or played......

C-shape - KoAoloha, Kanilea, aNueNue MoonBird, Blackbird Clara, Teton, Imua, Gary Gill, Bonanza, Islander, Loprinzi (thin C), Kala (thick C).

D- shape - Magic Fluke, Famous (Kiwaya)

Shape is one element that I consider when deciding on a uke. Thickness of the neck, and width of the fretboard are others.

I'm finally realizing that shape makes a difference for me, along with width, radius, and probably other factors too. When you can only buy without trying first, figuring out those details can definitely be helpful.

Thanks for your input.
 
I'm finally realizing that shape makes a difference for me, along with width, radius, and probably other factors too. When you can only buy without trying first, figuring out those details can definitely be helpful.

Thanks for your input.
I had the opportunity to try a Magic Fluke, but the Famous Brand was a crapshoot. I had heard such good things about the Famous/Kiwaya ukes, and was bummed that the neck shape bothered me so much.
 
I had the opportunity to try a Magic Fluke, but the Famous Brand was a crapshoot. I had heard such good things about the Famous/Kiwaya ukes, and was bummed that the neck shape bothered me so much.

Were they not all D-shape? Or did they differ in thickness? Or something else?
 
Top Bottom