joejeweler
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Just wanted to alert anyone who's been looking for "Jazz Uke" by T. Hank Robinson, there is one now available on Elderly Instruments website. I almost bought it,......but i've got enough going on already, and already own one.
The back and sides are solid maple, and what looks to be a hand carved spruce top. The maple back is flat, hovever, unlike a steel string archtop. He didn't make a lot of them,.....this one is "Maple #4", i own Maple #2.
He was an amature luthier, so keep that in mind. But overall i think a good value for what's there.
The one for sale now appears to have the friction tuners better placed. On mine, one of the tuners is noticably positioned more inward than the tuner opposite. Cosmetic only, but the guy looks to have put his heart into these.
http://elderly.com/vintage/items/180U-1604.htm
I bought the last one they had listed there, and mine was $100 pricier. This one is priced at $1650.00
Sounds like a lot,....but compare that to anyone using solid woods and carving a spruce top on a quality
guitar archtop.
I know,....because last year i commissioned a Bill Gagnon quilt maple/spruce archtop and his price was "reasonable" for that type of custom guitar,....at $7500.00! It sounds wonderful, and the only change i made to it was replacing the knurled bridge height adjusters with some solid ebony washers of a thickness that was perfect to my action wishes. The ebony provides a more direct connection between the upper and lower bridge sections, and sounds a bit "woodier" to my ears also. It is strictly "acoustic", so it now wears D'Addario phospher/bronze lights on it. (easy to go back to the adjustable metal ones also)
Just a little more info on the Jazz Uke,.....when mine arrived, i couldn't help but notice the fretboard is set with wider than necessary guitar type frets, and a lot of ends stick up a bit. Common with some guitar builders delving into other
areas sometimes.
My fretboard is flat with just a touch of relief, and i just got in from Stew-Mac some thinner Mandolin style fretwire,.....for another refret project down the line!
The neck is beefy, which i like for a tenor sized uke anyway. The scale is a bit longer at 18-1/8" or so, i presume to allow higher string tension drive the top a bit more..
As is typical on a carved top archtop ukulele, the notes are a bit more muted than on a usual flatop tenor. I imagine the overall softer tension of the ukulele strings don't help here, compared to on a steel strung guitar. I'm also thinking of
making a little wider bridge than the banjo stye he used,....to try to get more of the top involved. (i'll keep the original intact) But you do get a different sounding tenor with one of these.
It is set up with a transducer pickup,......but i don't play thru an amp. Mine worked, but it's not like what is currently
available.
There is a guy on the web that talks about taking the back off of one of these ukes, and lightening the braces. He plays gigs with his now, and says it's the best sounding tenor he's heard! (can't think of his name right now) He's experimented with various pickups befrore settleing on some miking setup, maybe with a transducer also.
He did say it helped a LOT to bring out more volumn and tone,......so at some point i may tackle that! (i've done it before on an old Kays archtop, big improvement!)
I guess what i'm saying, expect to want to refret it, and consider it a "base" to work on from there! :cheers:
The back and sides are solid maple, and what looks to be a hand carved spruce top. The maple back is flat, hovever, unlike a steel string archtop. He didn't make a lot of them,.....this one is "Maple #4", i own Maple #2.
He was an amature luthier, so keep that in mind. But overall i think a good value for what's there.
The one for sale now appears to have the friction tuners better placed. On mine, one of the tuners is noticably positioned more inward than the tuner opposite. Cosmetic only, but the guy looks to have put his heart into these.
http://elderly.com/vintage/items/180U-1604.htm
I bought the last one they had listed there, and mine was $100 pricier. This one is priced at $1650.00
Sounds like a lot,....but compare that to anyone using solid woods and carving a spruce top on a quality
guitar archtop.
I know,....because last year i commissioned a Bill Gagnon quilt maple/spruce archtop and his price was "reasonable" for that type of custom guitar,....at $7500.00! It sounds wonderful, and the only change i made to it was replacing the knurled bridge height adjusters with some solid ebony washers of a thickness that was perfect to my action wishes. The ebony provides a more direct connection between the upper and lower bridge sections, and sounds a bit "woodier" to my ears also. It is strictly "acoustic", so it now wears D'Addario phospher/bronze lights on it. (easy to go back to the adjustable metal ones also)
Just a little more info on the Jazz Uke,.....when mine arrived, i couldn't help but notice the fretboard is set with wider than necessary guitar type frets, and a lot of ends stick up a bit. Common with some guitar builders delving into other
areas sometimes.
My fretboard is flat with just a touch of relief, and i just got in from Stew-Mac some thinner Mandolin style fretwire,.....for another refret project down the line!
The neck is beefy, which i like for a tenor sized uke anyway. The scale is a bit longer at 18-1/8" or so, i presume to allow higher string tension drive the top a bit more..
As is typical on a carved top archtop ukulele, the notes are a bit more muted than on a usual flatop tenor. I imagine the overall softer tension of the ukulele strings don't help here, compared to on a steel strung guitar. I'm also thinking of
making a little wider bridge than the banjo stye he used,....to try to get more of the top involved. (i'll keep the original intact) But you do get a different sounding tenor with one of these.
It is set up with a transducer pickup,......but i don't play thru an amp. Mine worked, but it's not like what is currently
available.
There is a guy on the web that talks about taking the back off of one of these ukes, and lightening the braces. He plays gigs with his now, and says it's the best sounding tenor he's heard! (can't think of his name right now) He's experimented with various pickups befrore settleing on some miking setup, maybe with a transducer also.
He did say it helped a LOT to bring out more volumn and tone,......so at some point i may tackle that! (i've done it before on an old Kays archtop, big improvement!)
I guess what i'm saying, expect to want to refret it, and consider it a "base" to work on from there! :cheers:
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