Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Well at long last my first uke is finished.

Back and sides: Tiger Myrtle from Tim.
Top: Bearclaw sitka from Tim
Neck: Honduras mahogany
Headstock backstrap: Indian Rosewood.
Bridge: Indian Rosewood.
Finish: French Polish (LMI blonde)
Tuners: Waverlies
Strings: La Bella.

Construction was using the spanish method.

Nice job Martin, very clean & tidy Your Sister's going to be one happy plonker
Forgive me but is that the grain of the binding near the tail of the rear or a splice? & how did you get your hands on a bit of Honduran Mahogany? Was that purchased pre restrictions? Seems Sapele is about the only mahogany-ish style timber you can buy nowadays!

Nick wrote:Nice job Martin, very clean & tidy Your Sister's going to be one happy plonker
Forgive me but is that the grain of the binding near the tail of the rear or a splice? & how did you get your hands on a bit of Honduran Mahogany? Was that purchased pre restrictions? Seems Sapele is about the only mahogany-ish style timber you can buy nowadays!

That's the splice you can see in the binding.....it shouldn't be so visible. Not sure what the binding is..its been sitting around the shop for years.

The hog I bought off Gerard Gilet when I first started stocking the shelves with wood. I had a steel string neck Id stuffed up so recycled it for the uke.

That looks lovely Martin - I bet it sounds good too - any chance of a sample???
Cheers
Richard

seeaxe wrote:That looks lovely Martin - I bet it sounds good too - any chance of a sample???
Cheers
Richard

Hi Richard,

Unfortunately Im not set up for recording sounds on my Mac. Im in the process of getting setup so maybe sometime in the near future Ill put up a sound clip. The other problem is Im not exactly a maestro on the uke.

Im taking the instrument over to NZ this month to hand over to my sister who plays so Ill try and catch some clips of her playing the instrument.

This one ended up to be a really nice ukulele.

Is the body outline your own design or did you scale down a guitar shape? To me it looks very pleasing and a bit uncommon for a ukulele. The bridge position seems to be somewhere between the ones on classical and steel string guitars.

All in all, well done!

Cheers,

charangohabsburg wrote:This one ended up to be a really nice ukulele.

Is the body outline your own design or did you scale down a guitar shape? To me it looks very pleasing and a bit uncommon for a ukulele. The bridge position seems to be somewhere between the ones on classical and steel string guitars.

All in all, well done!

Cheers,

I worked off a Hana Lima plan but worked up my own bridge based on the bridges I use on my classicals and some of Jeremy's instruments.

Looks very nice Martin . The Tiger Myrtle has a rare look about it.

Lovely work Martin. She'll be rapt with that.

Regards

Top string is buzzy........nut is ok so will look at top of saddle tomorrow.

Congrats, nice looker.

Hi Martin! Excellent work!
I must say that for a long time ANZLF inspires me to build my ukulele.

kiwigeo wrote: Unfortunately Im not set up for recording sounds on my Mac. Im in the process of getting setup so maybe sometime in the near future Ill put up a sound clip.

My friend highly recommended me this recorder.
For home recording it's just a great thing.

Sergy wrote:Hi Martin! Excellent work!
I must say that for a long time ANZLF inspires me to build my ukulele.

kiwigeo wrote: Unfortunately Im not set up for recording sounds on my Mac. Im in the process of getting setup so maybe sometime in the near future Ill put up a sound clip.

My friend highly recommended me this recorder.
For home recording it's just a great thing.

Hi there Sergy,

Yes the zoom is a nice piece of equipment. Im on a tight budget at the moment as Im semi-retired so have had to cut back on buying new toys.

If you can build an archlute then a uke should be well within your capabilities

Late pickup on this thread Martin and I've been waiting to see it too

Congrats nevertheless. It's all been said, but that's a great looking little uke and a good job with the French Polish.

Were you happy with the sound for a first effort?

Oh and if your sister's not happy, disown her...

Jeremy.

J.F. Custom wrote:Late pickup on this thread Martin and I've been waiting to see it too

Congrats nevertheless. It's all been said, but that's a great looking little uke and a good job with the French Polish.

Were you happy with the sound for a first effort?

Oh and if your sister's not happy, disown her...

Jeremy.

Hi Jeremy,

This is the first uke Ive made....and also the first time Ive ever sat down and played a uke for any length of time. At this stage all I can say is...it sounds like a uke. Volume is ok but I suspect the back and sides could have been made a bit thinner and more "live".

Off to New Zealand tomorrow. Will be toting the uke across the Tasman to its new owner.

Sis' likes the uke. I took it into town yesterday to show to a friend/owner of a local music shop. Had two customers offer to buy the thing off me.....found that a bit daunting

kiwigeo wrote:Sis' likes the uke. I took it into town yesterday to show to a friend/owner of a local music shop. Had two customers offer to buy the thing off me.....found that a bit daunting

Was that Charlie?
Hopefully I'll get the same reaction when I take the toy guitar ( ) in that I'm making at the moment, got plenty of business cards I can hand out .

kiwigeo wrote:Sis' likes the uke. I took it into town yesterday to show to a friend/owner of a local music shop. Had two customers offer to buy the thing off me.....found that a bit daunting

What's not to like about that uke.....and paying customers. Tell Sis that she can have the next one.

Nick wrote:

kiwigeo wrote:Sis' likes the uke. I took it into town yesterday to show to a friend/owner of a local music shop. Had two customers offer to buy the thing off me.....found that a bit daunting

Was that Charlie?
Hopefully I'll get the same reaction when I take the toy guitar ( ) in that I'm making at the moment, got plenty of business cards I can hand out .

Yep it was Charlie...I try and pop in him on every visit. He still looks like hes 21 with that wrinke-less alfine face.