Waiting for a Boat Paddle NUD

Ed1

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David Hanson is building me a Cuban mahogany Boat Paddle ukulele. I'm surprised I can still get excited about something like this. Part of it is because David added into his thinking my problem with older, painful hands.

It will be ready in two or three months. David put it into his work schedule and started sending pictures. What the finished product will look like and a sound sample are at his web site https://www.cripplecreekmandolins.com .

I noticed that the Cuban mahogany is darker and redder than the Honduran mahogany neck. This started me doing some web learning about woods that are mahogany and mahogany-wannabees.
 

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I have the Cuban mahogany concert boat paddle pictured on his site. I just go it a few days ago, and it's pretty unique. I need to spend more time with it to do any kind of NUD, but I like it a lot.
 
Lovely instruments.

Ed1, looks as though you will have a wonderful instrument to show us. [Hint, hint!]
I'd be very interested in what David Hanson suggested regarding your hands and arthritis and the build. Will you be getting a radiused fretboard?

Congratulations Cadia on the beautiful Cuban Mahogany Boat Paddle.
 
I have the Cuban mahogany concert boat paddle pictured on his site. I just go it a few days ago, and it's pretty unique. I need to spend more time with it to do any kind of NUD, but I like it a lot.

I wondered if you were the one who had it. I saw you had sent him a pm about it.
 
Lovely instruments.
Ed1, looks as though you will have a wonderful instrument to show us. [Hint, hint!]
I'd be very interested in what David Hanson suggested regarding your hands and arthritis and the build. Will you be getting a radiused fretboard?

David has been great working with me. We decided on a 12" radius and a nut about 1 1/2". He just emailed me asking about the neck shape I would like. In the past, it didn't matter too much to me. Now it does. So, off to my uke "stash" to try some of them to see what feels the best. This is probably a personal preference more than a pain issue.

Also, he sent me a picture of a guitar with a shorter depth bout on the bass side than the treble side and asked if this might help. I don't think it would because it would add some extra flexion to the wrist and a wrist in flexion has a weaker grip than a wrist in slight extension. And, reversing the idea to put the wrist in a little more extension would point the sound hole downward. So I decided not to try this idea.

I couldn't have asked for more than he is doing to help me have a ukulele that works for me. I think that's part of the reason I'm excited about this.
 
Think I'll keep posting pictures for a while. I'm fascinated by the process.
 

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You're in for a treat! :D
 
This may be my last post of pictures here - until the end - unless others are interested in how David Hanson is building the ukulele. I find builder's photos interesting, but don't want to clutter up the forum with pictures if I'm the only one interested.

I have decided to add a shorter treble (A string) side to the ukulele. The idea is that a shorter treble side will produce less wrist flexion which should be a help. From a neutral wrist position, grip strength is better with some wrist extension (your wrist is in extension when doing a push-up) and worst in flexion. Because the uke will be aimed slightly downward, it's also going to have a sound port. When I mentioned it to him, David said he also had thought about it and didn't mind the challenge of having to bevel the bottom and side to make it work.

The two pictures here are before the work started on the shortened side.
 

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Wow, an amazing process. I have so much respect for the luthiers. I think it's safe to say they're much more handy than I am! ;)
 
This may be my last post of pictures here - until the end - unless others are interested in how David Hanson is building the ukulele. I find builder's photos interesting, but don't want to clutter up the forum with pictures if I'm the only one interested.

Ed, please keep posting - I for one love to witness the magic that goes on in the luthier's shop.
 
I'm not understanding the "shorter treble side" bit. Shorter in what dimension?

The uke has a slight wedge look to it. The side of the G string (re-entrant C6) is normal height. The A string side has been cut in such a way that it is slightly shorter in its middle. The points where the A side meets the other side and where it meets the neck are the same heights as the G side. That means that when held against my body like other ukes, the sound hole will be pointed slightly downward compared to other ukes. and was the reason we agreed a sound port would be a good idea. I'll post a couple of pictures of this and how he did it next week.
 
Here is how the "wedge" shape was set up. I'll post pics of the attachment of the bottom and how it looks next week. The good news for me is that David has found this project interesting and has moved it up and expects to finish earlier than originally thought.

boatPaddle17.jpg boatPaddle19.jpg boatPaddle21.jpg
 
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This will be the last post until it's finished. The third picture is after the first coat and shows the 10 inch radius and the the wedge shape. I decided I wanted to try everything that could add to wrist and hand comfort. I know David will do a great job with it, both for looks and sound, so the wedge shape isn't much of a gamble for the help it might provide.

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Well, it's finished. Here are two of the glamour pics David Hanson sent me. He's keeping it for another week to let the strings settle and see if he wants to make any last minute adjustments. Working with him has been absolutely great!

This uke will have all the ideas I wanted to see if it would be more comfortable than my others: concert size, a 10 inch radius fingerboard, a very, very, low setup, and a thinner treble side to make holding it more comfortable when I want less wrist flexion. Since the sound hole will be slightly aimed downward and the uke has a very low setup, there's also a side port and the fret dots are on the side (where I wanted them). David wrote he doesn't think the sound is affected by the wedge and that a lot of sound is coming out of the side port. It'll be fun to see how all these features rolled into one uke play out.

boatPaddle29.jpg boatPaddle30.jpg
 
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