First Uke done! Carbon fiber unibody.

P

Psychsurf

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Ok, I've used this site as a guest a LOT during the creation of this instrument, so I figured I'd register and show the fruits of my labors now that it's done.

I make surfboards in my spare time (http://psychsurf.blogspot.com), and I'm a dedicated tinkerer, but this is my first experience with building and using a negative mold on carbon fiber. Usually I mold CF (and other stuff) over a finished surfboard via vacuum bagging. That was an experience in itself, let me tell you. Once the body was molded, the rest came together relatively easily and conventionally.

The extended neck cutaway was my big innovation (although I'm betting it's been done before by others), and while it ostensibly to make it easier to play higher frets (which I probably never will), I think setting it up like that will make for a stiffer neck to body joint. It seems plenty stiff, that's for sure! The neck is hollow all the way through to the headstock.

The finish is only about 80% of what I wanted, some bubbles and wiggles in the weave, and the Upol #1 from a spray can was a disappointment for a final gloss, but overall I'm happy with it. Most importantly, it sounds GREAT! Now I just need to get my guitar-centric fingers to get used to some uke chords!


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More photos:
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BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTES HERE AND MAKES THIS SUCH AN AMAZING RESOURCE!
 
wow, that looks fantastic!
but how does it sound?
 
Excellent question! I think it sounds great, but I don't have a whole lot of experience with Ukes, mostly guitars and basses. I have a 10-string charango from Ecuador, and this is definitely louder, but that could be expected from the larger body of a tenor uke.

My initial inspiration to do this was an episode of "how it's made" I saw where they were molding high-end cellos from CF, and extolling the resonance virtues of the material. I have a couple of friends who are Uke aficionados, so I'm going to get it in their hands for a more objective review. I'd love to upload some sound clips, but what's the minimum quality considered adequate to convey an instrument's tone? All I really have to record with is my cell phone.
 
LOL, busted! Good eye, Aldrine! Yeah, I miscalculated when figuring the thickness of the headstock and since it's slightly tapered in thickness I had to make the holes as far out as possible, that made the tuning pegs look funny so I just swapped sides. I could have trimmed and reskinned the headstock, but I didn't want to mess with it at that point. I'll tell you though, I turn the tuners the wrong way EVERY single time!

Going to try to upload a vid for sound. My camera does take video, but the sound isn't wonderful (neither is my playing). So, as long as everyone promises to make allowances for the crappy audio and my playing of three simple chords, I'll give it a shot!
 
Ok, here's some sound. And no fear, I'm learning more uke chords by the moment! My goal is to play "Sweet Pea" for my wife by the weekend. :)
 
Great job - love the concept and it appears to have a decent sound. Have often thought I'd like to do this... any chance of a description of the process for non-vacuum process?
 
Next Step: Learn to play while surfing! Just shake out the sand and wipe it dry before putting it back in the case :)

BTW that uke is beautiful. I wish that I could do work like that.
 
Pete, I wish there was a way to do it without the vacuum bagging process, but it really needs that pressing action to get a good carbon to resin ratio. The less resin the better. Some makers of carbon fiber parts use presses to accomplish the same thing, but that would be even more technical and involved than what I did. When I ordered all the stuff like bridges, fretboard, etc, I got enough for three ukes (didn't figure I'd spend all those hours on the mold and only make one!), so when I do another I'll try to document the entire build. If I get it to where I'm 100% happy with the bodies coming out of my mold, I could be talked into selling some moldings for others to use.

Allan, funny you should mention that! I'm not necessarily going to take it in the water, but being able to take it to the beach, leave it in the car, etc without worrying about damage from heat/humidity/environment was definitely a driving force behind making it this way. As for wishing you could do work like this, I think the very same thing when I see the amazing woodwork being turned out here! Working with resin and fibers is kind of my comfort zone, I go into a full scale panic attack when I start to think about all the jigs and specialized tools involved in making an uke from flat pieces of wood!
 
Simply beautiful. If your camera has bad audio, then I couldn't imagine how the uke sounds live.

You probably just found a niche for yourself. Can't wait to follow your next build.
 
Very cool. I like how it sounds....bright sound with big sustain
How does the carbon fiber neck feel? Any worries about rubbing through the finish into the carbon fiber?
 
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