Hi All, new to the forums so I hope this is all ok and in the right place!
Bit of a philosophical question here: What makes a Ukulele?
A while back a customer of mine brought a tenor guitar (I think is was an ashbury) into the shed to discuss adding a fifth string for an octave-pair 4th, converting it to nylon and using it as a big baritone ukulele for the group he plays with. I found this quite an interesting idea.
Quite a few years back I drew up a set of plans (and even made a mould) for a requinto guitar that I never got around to making, and in size it fell somewhere between this tenor guitar and a regular baritone uke so I fancied having a go at a big five string baritone. For a little over a year it's been one of a few side projects bubbling away in the background around actual work, but what with the pandemic and everything work's been a bit quiet and I found time to get it finished up. It got it's first strings on Friday.
The result is a 21 1/4" (540mm) scale with a 1.5" nut and very guitar-like proportions. The whole things about 34.5" (875mm-ish) top to tail. I'm anticipating difficulties finding a case for it. The photo's aren't the best, the shed has whacking great daylight tubes that make lighting pics a bit of a challenge, but hopefully you get the idea. I'll get around to having some better ones taken at some point.
The thing is I enjoyed making it but I am finding it a bit difficult to evaluate how successful it is. I am the first to admit that I don't know all that much about the ukulele, I don't make many and I don't really play them (I like them plenty, they just aren't my instrument), so I'm not 100% sure what a player looks for in a good baritone. I do make nylon-strung guitars and tenor guitars among other things so from my point of view I kind of feel like I have made a small, nylon strung, tenor guitar when I wanted to make a ukulele. And I'm not even sure if that makes sense!
I guess what I am really asking is does it count; have I made a ukulele? And, bearing in mind it's a bit tricky to put it in the hands of someone who can actually play the ukulele right now, can you help give me an idea of whether its a good ukulele or not?
Bit of a philosophical question here: What makes a Ukulele?
A while back a customer of mine brought a tenor guitar (I think is was an ashbury) into the shed to discuss adding a fifth string for an octave-pair 4th, converting it to nylon and using it as a big baritone ukulele for the group he plays with. I found this quite an interesting idea.
Quite a few years back I drew up a set of plans (and even made a mould) for a requinto guitar that I never got around to making, and in size it fell somewhere between this tenor guitar and a regular baritone uke so I fancied having a go at a big five string baritone. For a little over a year it's been one of a few side projects bubbling away in the background around actual work, but what with the pandemic and everything work's been a bit quiet and I found time to get it finished up. It got it's first strings on Friday.
The result is a 21 1/4" (540mm) scale with a 1.5" nut and very guitar-like proportions. The whole things about 34.5" (875mm-ish) top to tail. I'm anticipating difficulties finding a case for it. The photo's aren't the best, the shed has whacking great daylight tubes that make lighting pics a bit of a challenge, but hopefully you get the idea. I'll get around to having some better ones taken at some point.
The thing is I enjoyed making it but I am finding it a bit difficult to evaluate how successful it is. I am the first to admit that I don't know all that much about the ukulele, I don't make many and I don't really play them (I like them plenty, they just aren't my instrument), so I'm not 100% sure what a player looks for in a good baritone. I do make nylon-strung guitars and tenor guitars among other things so from my point of view I kind of feel like I have made a small, nylon strung, tenor guitar when I wanted to make a ukulele. And I'm not even sure if that makes sense!
I guess what I am really asking is does it count; have I made a ukulele? And, bearing in mind it's a bit tricky to put it in the hands of someone who can actually play the ukulele right now, can you help give me an idea of whether its a good ukulele or not?