Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi Folks,

I've been working on a batch of new ukes and an octave guitar lately. I posted a pic of one on the ukulele board, but I thought I'd post over here, too. Three of the four ukes are done -- two tenor scale and one concert scale. Here are two pics of the concert scale one. Curly maple/Honduras rosewood (including tuner buttons made by Burton LeGeyt). You can see more pics of this one and the other two completed ones, as well as a photo album with lots of construction pics, on my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/luthipoeticmus ... bytoddrose





I'll get a sound clip of one of these up on my soundcloud page soon. I'll also post again when the octave guitar is done.

Thanks for looking!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

What can I say Todd, but awesome creativity!

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https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008907949110

Very cool design....and some very tasty wood selections

Nice design and great craftsmanship.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

I really like them Todd - great design and excellent craftsmanship as well - good going!

Me likee!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Imaginative and beautifully executed. But I have to say, I am not taken with the idea of having to tune with my plucking hand. I do think there is a reason why virtually every stringed instrument is designed so that you pluck (or bow) with one hand and adjust the pegs or tuners with the other. Or have I missed something?

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Kevin Mason
Mason Guitars and Ukuleles on Facebook
http://masonguitars.net

Thanks!



I just spent 15 minutes typing a reply to this, and somehow it just disappeared.

Abridged version: If you tune by ear and fret while tuning, comparing intervals from string to string, tuning with your non-fretting hand is actually an advantage. The bottom line IMO, though, is that it's really not a big deal either way. You get used to it.

The real reason I did it like this is that I found it to be an elegant way to achieve a key part of the design: to have the strings pass through the bridge and continue along very nearly the same plane to their anchor points at the butt end, so that there is virtually no stress exerted on the top by string tension (an essential part of the whole design concept and the resulting sound). The string holes are drilled through the "tie block" portion of the bridge at an angle, so that the strings break downward over the saddle, but then emerge from the back of the bridge at the same elevation at which they cross the saddle. Thus, there's no torque on the bridge. Behind the bridge, the strings then continue with only a *very* slight downward slope to the tuning posts, so there's only a very slight downward load on the bridge.

I could have done this with an appropriately designed tailpiece, but I like the way this solution works both functionally and aesthetically.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Thanks, everybody, for your kind words!

Hesh, I love your Spock quote.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Here's a sound clip I just made of one of these ukes. A sweet lullaby written many years ago by my friend John Shaw. Recorded in my bedroom on a Zoom H2, no fancy mics, no signal processing, just a bare-bones recording full of all the flaws of my singing and playing. I hope it gives you some idea of the sound of the uke.

https://soundcloud.com/todd-rose/sleep-new-uke-recording

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Your design seems to combine the artistic and practical in a very impressive way Todd.
Not only that, it sounds great!
Thanks for sharing.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Thanks, Colin!

One other thing I wanted to mention about the tuners on the "tailstock": several players have commented that this makes the instrument balance very nicely for playing, and I agree.

The recording I posted, by the way, was made on one with a tenor scale. There's not really a big difference in the sound between the two. You can hear the longer scale length in what I would describe as more "definition" in the notes, which is nice, but the "softer" (I don't mean quieter, but "softer") quality of the concert scale uke is very nice in its own way, too. I prefer the longer scale for playability.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

I've never had any great motivation to make a uke, but I could get behind something like this...if I ever got around to making a uke!

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

Thanks for sharing the sound clip Todd. The uke and your voice sound great.
Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

That is a sweet sounding uke! Nice recording as well. Makes me wonder what are the elements that make a ukulele sound like a ukulele. The design is an amazing deconstruction of a ukulele.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Thanks, guys!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

That's a way cool uke, Todd! Outstanding design. And the truth is that most violin players have a fine tuner at the tail, anyway, in addition to the pegs in the headstock.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Well that's just crazy Todd. What were you thinking. It doesn't look anything like a uke.

Of course I'm kidding buddy. I don't know where to begin with the many subtle and not so subtle design details. Curious about a couple of things. How did you bend the rims and keep them so evenly round? It looks like it's been turned! I guess that big sound hole in the back is to make for a big sound for the player? Very cool!

I'm not a big fan of headless instruments (how the heck do you hang them up?) but I appreciate the design and excellent build quality of this one. If you add two little holes to the soundboard it would be a great smiley face. Pretty darn cool Todd.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks again, everyone!

Danny, I have a very clever trick for the rims. I buy laminated maple tubes. They're mostly used by drum makers. I did glue the rosewood veneer on. That turned out to be challenging and problematic. I plan to avoid doing that in the future, even though these came out looking pretty good.

The hole in the back is covered by the player's body. It's really just an access hole for attaching, removing, and adjusting the neck, as well as installing a pickup or whatever else you might want to do in there. The side holes are the sound holes. However, it is possible to get some cool wah effects by moving the uke in and out a bit from your body while playing -- not something most players will likely make much use of, though.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Thanks, Steve! These ukes, admittedly, do not lend themselves to being hung or put on a stand. But, as you can see, I put strap buttons on them. Using a strap frees up your right arm for less encumbered playing, rather than using it to hold the uke to your body, as uke players usually do (ukes are really too small to let them rest all the way down on the lap; it's possible, but that makes for an awkward playing position). With a strap on there, you can hang the uke by the strap, on a stand or on the wall or wherever. Not the most elegant solution, I suppose, but it works.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

The main thing, of course, is how do they sound? And the one on your recording sounds very nice!

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"