Carbon Fiber Ukulele from "Legacy Guitar Works"?

Hello Everyone,

We were pointed to your forum by a member so I would like to introduce myself.
My name is Kyle from Legacy Guitar Works. So there is no confusion with my Username, to better align with our product offerings and vision for the future, we will be transitioning to the name Synergy Guitars. Our plan is to have our new website launched next week and I will definitely keep everyone posted on that.

So to answer some of the questions that have been asked, here they are:

1) top is 100% carbon, not a sandwich construction with foam.
2) the neck is hollow
3) nickel frets are standard but stainless steel will become an option very soon
4) strap buttons are included. They weren’t installed at the time we took the pictures. With that said location of the strap buttons will depend on the customer. We can install them anywhere you prefer.
5) we do accept returns as our EBay mentions and a loaner could possibly be arranged.
6) fretboard and saddle are both a composite material (as well as the nut). We wanted to make sure our instrument was suitable for all environments.
7) side sound port could be requested as a custom option. Everything is done in house from the designs, to CNC programming and machining to assembly. Pricing hasn’t been figured out for that option but it’s something we could discuss.
8) fretboard radius - we can Machine any radius you desire. Again, we haven’t priced out this option yet but we certainly can.

And just to clarify, the ukulele’s on EBay are not stock we had made for the Kickstarter. While the Kickstarter didn’t succeed, we believe strongly in our Ukulele’s and hence are moving forward with building them when orders are placed.

One thing that we have struggled with is getting demos of the ukulele being played so that everyone can hear how it sounds etc. I’m happy to say we just met with a a talented musician with the skill to make some high quality demos and you will be seeing those in the very near future.

I am more than happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

Thanks,
Kyle
 
Fantastic introduction Kyle, thank you for taking the time to answer those questions in such a detailed fashion. When you are ready to send out a loaner I would be interested in doing a demo and review. A member here by the user name Solorule is an accomplished player and friend, she has many videos in the Links and Videos subforum. I can have her play it and we will record it. Between three of us (we play together) we own 7 carbon/ekoa/composite type ukuleles so comparisons would be possible and valid.

Thank you again and good luck with the endeavour. I would be interested in the pricing on the sound port and radius options once you have those established.
 
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Thanks so much for joining the discussion, Kyle! Always good to have first-hand information. Getting some videos and sound samples up would definitely help your marketing, along with impartial reviews from customers like Fretie, or Dave and his Canadian gang. I am very confident that your ukuleles will be a success if you are able to keep the price in the range it is now. Personally,I'd be very interested in one with a side sound port, a radius fretboard and metal components made from stainless steel.

One additional question: How do your instruments hold up to water? What I'd be looking for is an instrument to take along on a boat or paddle board without having to worry about it getting wet.

And one final thought: Seems like the domain "Synergy Guitars" is already taken by a store in Boca Raton (FL). In order to avoid confusion and frustration, you might want to reconsider your naming choice.

Anyway, all the best with your endeavor, hoping to hear more from your company soon!
 
Welcome Kyle. See email I sent you last night. Having a player sound video and a few reviews is a great idea to get things going. UU forum is very progressive on new Uke and alternate materials. Good luck with your project. As fellow Canadian now on easy coast , I am rooting for your success. Specs looks great!
 
Another thought (meant in the most constructive way, as I really want your product to succeed): From what I can tell from the pictures, it looks like you are using Paua Abalone shell for position markers. With new regulation, this will most likely cause problems with international shipping, so you might be better off using a synthetic material for the markers as well. Also, my guess is that many players would prefer having position markers (dots) on the upper side of the fretboard.
 
Kyle, so glad to see you join in the discussion here. There is a wealth of knowledge among the members of this forum and I’m sure what you are able to glean here will be a benefit to the development of your composite ukulele line.
I am thrilled to be getting the cf tenor and looked forward to giving it a test drive and providing feedback on its playability.

best,
Erin
 
Hi Kyle,

Welcome to the Forum! As you can tell, your Carbon Fiber Tenor has created a lot of interest here.

I myself am eager to find out how it sounds and feels.

Will the setup be adjustable at the nut and the saddle?

Will you offer a pickup option?

Don't want to overload you with questions and suggestions. Your base model is enough to get things rolling. Options and extras once you ramp up.

Feel free to ask us questions or for our opinions as well.

Best of luck with this endeavor.
 
I for one ,like fretboard market and side dots. I like idea of sound hole and radius fretboard options. I agree that you can use another material for the fretboard marrieds to a voice shipping issues.
 
Is the guitar still being made? I can only see ukulele and bass for sale
 
That's great news, and I too look forward to a review. With ukes it's kind of fun to track where they are made. Living now in Minnesota I just had to buy a Bonanza uke when they came out. And since my family is from Utah I couldn't resist the Klos kickstarter campaign when it was announced. I went to university in England and now own a Beltona resonator. But I've also lived in Africa, Michigan, and Connecticut, and don't yet have any ukes from those places - so I still have work to do.

Buy a used Fluke from someone - they were made in Connecticut up until 7 or 8 years back.

If there are any ukes made in Michigan worth buying, Gerald Ross will probably know.


-Kurt
 
eBay often has Connecticut Flukes for sale. I've bought several at good prices.

And Michigan does have locally-made ukes.

https://www.google.com/search?q=uku...rome..69i57.6303j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Thanks Jerry
I went to the first link in my search
https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/northern-michigan-ukuleles-strike-a-cord-with-customers
and visited the website of that builder.
https://tcguitarcompany.com/north-coast/
If I was in the market for more ukuleles I would start there :) It also looks like a nice place to visit.
 
My apologies for the delayed response everyone,

Keep the questions coming, happy to answer any that you might have. Here are some more answers:

1)Will definitely keep you posted on a loaner, would love to see some videos of you and your friends playing as well as to see the comparisons as you have a lot of composite ukuleles. Will definitely let you know about the sound port and radius pricing once we have figured it out.
2)In terms of our ukulele being around water etc, that is not a problem at all. Every component is either a composite or metal. We have even taken one swimming in the ocean without any issues. Just need to make sure to rinse the saltwater off.
3) Yes there is another Synergy Guitars out there, but to avoid the confusion our new website will be www.synergyinstruments.com
4) Inlays - excellent point. We can do a variety of inlay materials to avoid this issue, however if there are inlay materials that people prefer over others we would love to hear about them. This way we can stock the material to keep our build times down. Side dots are also something that we can do and will get back to everyone with pricing. Will be making up a list of all available options with pricing and will post it once ready.
5) Erin - Thank you so much for trusting us to building you a beautiful Carbon Fiber Ukulele. We cannot wait to get it in your hands and hear your thoughts on it.
7) Setup - This is adjustable both at the nut and saddle. When ordering just specify the action you prefer and we can set it up that way.
8) Pickups are definitely an option and we can work with a wide variety to suit peoples preferences. We are currently building one with a pickup for demo videos so stay tuned for that.

So with all that being said, I also want to let everyone here know that we have a Baritone and Soprano coming for those looking for something other than a Tenor.

And thank you all for the warm welcome and all the questions, suggestions, and interest in our ukulele's. We are looking forward to hearing your thoughts as we get a few in the hands of members.

Thanks,
Kyle
 
Kyle,
As I was not set up on ebay, I googled your company and sent off email to your company email. Now , that you are set up on UU to post, you can send me. Private message. I will do same for you. From response above you are definitely heading in the right direction with options etc. Look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks.
 
If that is the case then we will definitely be looking at adding side dots at no extra charge.

Definitely appreciate all the feedback and knowledge from the members on this forum!

Thanks,
Kyle
 
might I suggest a concert scale ukulele - either a longneck Soprano or a Concert ukulele.
it seems that many current players enjoy the extra fret of the Concert scale. it doesn't seem
like much, but for those who play within the first 5-7 frets it does make a difference in
comfort and 'playability' :)

just my 2 cents. I would get a longneck Soprano over a 'full-size' Concert for a slightly more
portable form factor :)

keep uke'in',
 
might I suggest a concert scale ukulele - either a longneck Soprano or a Concert ukulele.
it seems that many current players enjoy the extra fret of the Concert scale. it doesn't seem
like much, but for those who play within the first 5-7 frets it does make a difference in
comfort and 'playability' :)

just my 2 cents. I would get a longneck Soprano over a 'full-size' Concert for a slightly more
portable form factor :)

keep uke'in',

With all due respect and I do respect you a lot and appreciate your boot camp the tenor size is a safe bet. If you look at Klos and Blackbird they both make a tenor. I image moulds are very expensive and having one popular size is enough. But if they want to do soprano or concert that would be awesome.
 
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