I have 8 other ukes I have to get out. I'll work on this when I can and post it when I'm done. Black walnut back and sides, Sitka spruce top, flame figured maple neck. Probably a tobacco burst.
Building an arch top ukulele
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tonyturley
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Hello everyone. I know this is mostly an old thread, but I was curious what your opinions were concerning the sound of an archtop uke vs a standard body. I'm presently working on my Stew Mac tenor kit, but the wheels have already started turning on my next build. While I was doing some woodworking for another project this morning, I cut and machined a Black Walnut fretboard blank for my next tenor uke. The top I carved for my old archtop guitar was quite laborious, but then again, it was much larger than a ukulele top. I'm just mulling it over right now, but I have a crazy idea about an archtop with an offset sound hole.
here is a new Ko'olau archtop(Koa/Spruce) built by Ryan Condon from Ko'olau
https://vimeo.com/282174991
https://vimeo.com/282174991
Pete Howlett
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I know a man who is doing amazing stuff on a CNC here in the UK. Will keep you informed.
Pegasus Guitars
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Tony- I've made a few arch top ukes and guitars. I definitely plan to do more. My ukes have had redwood tops on koa backs and sides. They came out sounding very bright with a lot of volume. Very different from my flat tops. Carving the uke top and back is way easier than doing a guitar, simply because of the surface area. I guess there are places you could get the plates done by CNC, but you'd miss all the carving sweat, misery, and hands on learning. No fun in that! Enjoy your projects.
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tonyturley
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Thanks for the quick replies folks. Pegasus, that's a beautiful uke. I just found out today that I may be able to get a nice supply of well dried Black Walnut. Wild Cherry, and Cedar for little to no cost to me, due to an offer from a family member. A woodworker's dream. Uke #1 build is only a few days old, and uke #2 is already starting to take shape. I had a small bit of Black Walnut already on hand, and fabricated a fretboard blank today while I was working on some other stuff. One only learns and gets better by doing, right? 
weerpool
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a few archtop builds i did back in 2016.
tonyturley
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Those are beautiful.
tonyturley: My book learnin' learned me that archtop guitars are prized by jazz musicians for the clarity and distinction of individual notes. There isn't a lot of sustain, i.e., the ringing between notes. I'd imagine that's true of archtop ukuleles, too, but it's what you would call an educated guess. Someone will be a long shortly to tell me why I'm wrong.
BuzzBD
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Hey Matt, you are correct about what you have read on guitars, and in my experience arch top ukulele generally behave similarly. Although the sustain on most ukulele is rather short compared to a guitar, so the difference is not as noticeable. I am working on an 8 string arch top ukulele now, mandolin shaped body, concert scale and four courses of unison strings with linear tuning. Will post some pics when done.
Bradford
Bradford
I have a Chennell archtop baritone. There is a very noticeable difference in volume between an archtop and flat top. Plugged in or with a mic, is where the magic of an archtop shows. It's my favorite instrument plugged in or if I want that mellow jazz sound acoustically. With the floating adjustable bridge I can use steel or nylon on it.
Since we're showing photos, here's mine and a bass he did at the same time. I've posted them before so hope you don't mind seeing them again.
Those are really beautiful archtops. They've always been a favorite style for me and glad to see quality AT' ukes are being made. I searched for awhile looking for a luthier who made them.
I didn't realize this was the Luthiers Lounge until after I posted. I thought is was a thread on Uke Talk. I tried to delete but wouldn't do it. A good lesson not to post at three in the morning.
Since we're showing photos, here's mine and a bass he did at the same time. I've posted them before so hope you don't mind seeing them again.
Those are really beautiful archtops. They've always been a favorite style for me and glad to see quality AT' ukes are being made. I searched for awhile looking for a luthier who made them.
I didn't realize this was the Luthiers Lounge until after I posted. I thought is was a thread on Uke Talk. I tried to delete but wouldn't do it. A good lesson not to post at three in the morning.
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I realize I am committing a thread resurrection here, but I wonder if the OP is still around or if this project might still be an option?
Was a guitar body plan ever made/released? I found Ukulele Underground when this thread popped up in a google search.
Thanks
Gerald
Was a guitar body plan ever made/released? I found Ukulele Underground when this thread popped up in a google search.
Thanks
Gerald
BuzzBD
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Aloha Gerald, yes the original OP is still around. As it happens, I just picked up a 4.5 inch angle grinder for my shop here on Kauai and am thinking of building another archtop uke. If there is any interest, I will be glad to document the process and post it here on UU. Any others would be welcome to join in.
Brad
Brad
Aloha, Thanks for the reply. My life is influenced quite a lot by Jazz music. I play trumpet and lead a community big band. We are not rehearsing now due to Corona, so we are going to take some virtual ukulele lessons as a way of having a group activity to keep some of the social/musical connections alive during this time. I stopped in at a local music shop to look at Concert scale ukes, and I kind of liked the Fender Fullerton Tele that they had there (I have un-educated uke tastes I am sure). When I got home, I noticed Fender also makes the Jazzmaster in this line, and I am drawn to that look, but then I thought, what is even more "jazzy"? Yes an archtop style with F holes would suite my tastes. That led me here. I would be interested in any plans/information re: a concert scale arch top that looks like a guitar.
Concert scale is pretty small sound from an archtop so if going that size I suggest adding a pickup. I had a K&K with a volume control wheel added to compensate for the more subdued volume of my baritone archtop. The volume control wheelmade it easier to turn up for leads. Or, could play with a mic too. I went K&K to get the natural piezo sound.
I ran across David Martinez out of Mexico who makes custom ukes, he showed me this on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/105823219514464/user/100032815878574
This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
8 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 38)
Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
Member The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
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