Quick NUD - Part 1

RafterGirl · Nov 28, 2019

My Cocobolo concert #419 arrived today. It's a beauty. The mixture of dark red and light wood is stunning. I chose to try for this particular one in the lottery because of the amazing swirls of color, the mixture of dark and light wood on the sides, but mainly..... it was the eyes. There are two very distinctive "eyes" on the back. They instantly caught my attention. They looked at me. I think they kind of look like a a giant squid, or maybe an elephant. My mom thinks they are giant squid eyes. Whatever they are, they look so cool and soulful.

I tuned her up, and even with fresh strings, she sounds wonderful. A good mix of bright & mellow. I'll give a more complete review of the sound, and the function of the MiSi pickup after the strings are settled, and I've had more playing time.

One interesting thing. When I sent my mailing address to Kevin, he replied back that he grew up within a few miles of me in Sandy Utah. Small world.

Pics of "the eyes" on the back, and the beautiful front swirls.

Bill Sheehan · Nov 28, 2019

Holy cats, that's pretty! Enjoy it, Rafter, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Arcy · Nov 28, 2019

Gorgeous! Love the eyes! That one’ll really look out for you!

Kenn2018 · Nov 28, 2019

That's a real looker.

Congratulations. It reminds me of the way the early Cocobolo ukes looked.

Can't wait to hear how it sounds. Enjoy it.

John boy · Nov 28, 2019

That is truly beautiful, eyes and all. Score! Congrats on winning the lottery and getting it.

LarryS · Nov 28, 2019

Very nice. I see a kraken, the chthulu

Jerryc41 · Nov 28, 2019

Yes, that is beautiful!

keenonuke · Nov 29, 2019

Wow add me to the list giving you a great big congrats on a beautiful ukulele. Enjoy and Happy Strumming

YUNI · Nov 29, 2019

I vote elephant eyes!! I think the lines underneath make them look a little droopy like skin under an elephants eyes

captain-janeway · Nov 29, 2019

Cross your fingers for me on 423. I like the way the pattern swirls on top and the wave up the neck. That or maybe 424.

RafterGirl · Nov 29, 2019

captain-janeway said:
Cross your fingers for me on 423. I like the way the pattern swirls on top and the wave up the neck. That or maybe 424.

Nice choices. Good luck.

RafterGirl · Nov 29, 2019

NUD continued

Here are a few more pictures. I charged up the MiSi, and gave it a try out this morning with my Roland AC-33 amp. Super. Sounds wonderful. The uke has Worth Brown strings. The amplified sound is very balanced. I'm very pleased with the ukulele so far. The neck is comfortable. The action is spot on for me. It sounds awesome plugged in. It is a bit heavier than my other concerts, but doesn't feel unbalanced. In terms of weight from lightest to heaviest .....My KoAloha, then the Clara, then the Moonbird, then the Cocobolo. The neck joins the body at the 13th fret, same as my KoAloha & Clara. My Moonbird joins at the 15th fret.

Kevin was great to work with. Very quick response to all emails. Shipping was fast. Nicaragua to Utah in 3 days. I'm not a fan of Uke Crazy cases in general, but it's great that they include a protective case with their ukuleles.

WebParrot (s2) · Nov 29, 2019

How about "Manatee" eyes !! o~~o Beautiful looking instrument....

View attachment 123182

captain-janeway · Nov 29, 2019

From that angle it kind of looks like a hippo lol

RafterGirl · Dec 2, 2019

The more I play this ukulele, the more I’m digging it. A couple things to mention about Cocobolo concerts.....they are a 16 inch scale length as opposed to the standard 15 inch, and they have a 12 inch radiused fret board. I don’t have a great mm ruler, but it looks like a 35mm or maybe 36mm nut. The overall body length is about 1/2 inch longer than my other concerts.

Ziret · Dec 2, 2019

You have a great collection. My lust for one of those dropped off the radar for about a year, I wish you hadn't reactivated it. Beautiful wood and craftsmanship.

captain-janeway · Dec 2, 2019

RafterGirl said:
The more I play this ukulele, the more I’m digging it. A couple things to mention about Cocobolo concerts.....they are a 16 inch scale length as opposed to the standard 15 inch, and they have a 12 inch radiused fret board. I don’t have a great mm ruler, but it looks like a 35mm or maybe 36mm nut. The overall body length is about 1/2 inch longer than my other concerts.

On 16" scale are the frets spaces farther apart so it's closer to tenor spacing or the bridge is just set farther down?

Arcy · Dec 2, 2019

captain-janeway said:
On 16" scale are the frets spaces farther apart so it's closer to tenor spacing or the bridge is just set farther down?

The fret positions would be spaced farther apart.

The scale length is the distance from the nut to the bridge, and the fret locations are mathematically derived proportions of the scale length (the 12th fret is always half of the scale length, the 5th fret is always a quarter the scale length, etc.) so moving the bridge requires recalculating the fret positions. Moving the bridge a full inch would throw off of intonation significantly.

RafterGirl · Dec 2, 2019

captain-janeway said:
On 16" scale are the frets spaces farther apart so it's closer to tenor spacing or the bridge is just set farther down?

Both. Nut to bridge distance is 16 inches. Fret spacing is different, but I didn’t notice it at all until I went back and read the Cocobolo website specs. David Ingalls with Ono ukuleles builds mainly 16 inch concerts. He discusses why he does it that way with Andrew, Kalei, and Corey at HMS on one of their latest podcasts. Interesting discussion. I honestly wouldn’t have given it a thought, had I not been measuring the ukulele to decide on a hard shell case for it. I play concerts (after much experimenting) and this one sounds just as nice, if not better than many I’ve owned or currently own. More playing time with it will tell the whole story, but for now, I like it.

captain-janeway · Dec 2, 2019

Arcy said:
The fret positions would be spaced farther apart.

The scale length is the distance from the nut to the bridge, and the fret locations are mathematically derived proportions of the scale length (the 12th fret is always half of the scale length, the 5th fret is always a quarter the scale length, etc.) so moving the bridge requires recalculating the fret positions. Moving the bridge a full inch would throw off of intonation significantly.

Good to know. Concert is a decent size for me, but tenor's out of range. I'd do better on a soprano, but I don't like the high sound.
Cracks me up when people say to make an E chord to bend that ring finger and put the first joint to string. For me to cover that space I'd have to break the finger halfway between the two joints. Needless to say I'm trying other options lol. Favorite is 1x02.
I want a soprano neck on a concert body but yes I know it would throw things off. I did build a banjo uke with a soprano neck and 10" pot. It actually doesn't sound half bad. Since it was my first, I may try another because the first two builds showed some of the things to look out for.

Quick NUD - Part 1

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