Official Luthiers Forum!

Beautiful!

Mike
White Oak, Texas

Everyone else has said it, but I agree. It's beautiful!

[QUOTE=rich altieri]
Anthony has me thinking about that archtop he showed us in Ft Erie. Awesome - think I am hooked. Too many ideas and not enough hours in the day.

[/QUOTE]

Rich - the sound comparison of an archtop vs. a flattop is akin to the desireability of some of the trophy spouses I met recently at a charity function....they look good, feel nice (I suspect)are high maintenance and best if they stay quiet (not strummed)    

Thanks Phillip, I will check this out. SOunds like a good head start for me.

Well ran into a major problem today. Will post some ugly pictures. Was playing the heck out of this build when I noticed the neck felt funny right where my thumb was up around the 3rd and 4th frets. Litte more investigation and I noticed the laminated center was flexing and as it turned out I must have thinned the neck just a wee bit too much leaving the center at the peak weak - tore out some of the wood and it was probably around .06. Ahhhhhh darn!!!! Not what I really said but being polite.

Sooooooooooooo. I ended up yanking the neck off tonight and started on a replacement. I hate when that happens

Well good news is I am aparantly getting better at removing necks and fretboards from soundboard. This is not my first. Pulled off cleanly and had another neck on hand that I was planning to use for another project. Not going to redo the laminated style - just no patience.

I hate having to redo anything. My mind was all set on this project being done and now I have to spend another day replacing the neck when I was hoping to finish up a bunch of other half done builds. Oh Well - back to work in the morning.

Will post pictures of the ugly neck as warning for others like me who might not be paying attention and thinking there is more wood to work with than seems to be from intuition.

Every build brings new challenges to overcome and I guess that is the learninng opportunity

That's so true. Every build DOES bring something new and challenging. Just when you've learned not to make some type of mistake twice (fool me twice...err...hmmm...fool... can't get fooled again, is what I'm trying to say... ) we seem to be able to invent a totally new and frustrating fib!!! Aren't we great that way?

Keep at it my friend. I'm glad you had another neck handy...

_________________
I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Sorry to hear about your neck Rich, hopefully, you'll be able to fix this, keep us informed on how it goes!

A picture of my thin neck. There is no repairing this one. I am replacing. Will hang this on in the workshop as a reminder.

Well Rich, if you're not a patient man like you say you aren't, let me say that you have the right attitude now, you'll be playing in no time with your new neck installed...

Rich,

Sorry I couldn’t post these photos sooner but my computer was ill. Here is a photo of a basic Hana Lima ‘Ia tenor ukulele kit that is made of Honduran Mahogany and rosewood.
That is my unfinished first uke next to it.




This is a photo my wife took in our hotel room. The ukulele was not finish sanded as much as I would have liked. It was roughly finished up to 220 grit and then got a scrape job. The finish is one thin coat of tru-oil and then right into stringing and setup. My only opportunity to take the class was in a condensed form. I learned a lot but due to time constraints I was unable to be a thorough as I would have liked. But I have a much better idea of what I am looking for now and can move forward. Sorry to be boring. Anyway this is a photo to show the quilted mahogany that Hana Lima ‘Ia can provide in a custom kit.



Best of Luck

Philip

_________________
aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

Great job Rich!! The finish turned out exceptionally well, and the overall combination of woods is fantastic!

I really love the rosette, and I'll be doing something very similar on my little Uke that I'll be building soon. I found someone locally here who has the plans for a little 1930's martin 5k concert uke. He even let me borrow the mold and heating blanket! Come to find out that a martin 5k from 1930 goes for about $15,000! I'll be making one for a friend and one for me. Good luck on your next project!
Tracy

_________________
Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

That guitar is a beauty Rich! I really like that redwood top, stunning!

_________________
Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice