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I've just been wrapping up my first couple of ukes and thought that I would share my experiences a bit. First, a few pics:









This one has a red spruce top, koa back and sides, EIRW binding & fingerboard, and a mother of pearl palm tree. The rosette is 3 pieces of koa with a b-w-b border. I got a whole pile of red spruce uke tops when I worked at PRS - they were too small for guitars, and fortunately for me, Paul had not been bitten by the uke bug ! The neck is honduran mahogany (scarfed construction). I've got another one right behind this one that is pretty much a twin, with the exception that I'm using mesquite for the fingerboard & bridge. I pore filled using LMI's microspheres (super easy application), sealed it up with a couple coats of shellac, and did about 20 coats of EM6000 for the finish. EM6000 lays on pretty thin - 20 coats is about .008 to .010" thick before leveling and sanding (after buffing, I believe I'm down around .004). I started sanding with 600 and went to 2000 before buffing (I use a Caldwell buffer).

The plan is one that I drew. I initially intended it to be a tenor uke, but I've apparently made the body more of a concert size (although it is a tenor scale). I found some info that said that tenor bodies were typically 8.25" wide and it turns out that is a bit smaller than normal. This one fit best in a concert uke case (lanikai makes some decent cases). Best practice for new body shapes seems to be to buy a case first, and then to design the instrument to fit a standard case...(duh)!

I'm a big proponent of voicing guitars, but on a body this small, I can't really say that I feel the builder has much latitude to really tune the top. I think this would have been another advantage of building to a wider/longer body shape - increased "voiceability".

The necks were set pretty similarly to how I would set a guitar neck, with approximately 1/16" to 1/8" of clearance between a straight edge on the frets and the top of the bridge.

It sounds nice and is a ton of fun to play! Guitars feel huge after playing these little things so much...!

Thanks,
Trev

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

That's some serious instruments you got there, thanks for sharing.
Got to love Koa!

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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.

Nice Ukes,
I did 2 last year and hae another for this year...
Where did you get the case??

Gary

trev what joint did you use ?? bolt on butt glue ?? and what is em 6000, finish ??

Hey Gary - the case is a Lanikai concert uke case - you can buy these from a lot of places online. It's a hard shell with a cloth exterior - they run about $35.

Ernie - I screwed and glued with a mortise & tenon joint. One of them has a threaded insert and for the other, I just used a quality wood screw. These things are so small that they are the one instrument on which I think it *may be* practical to do a compound dovetail...it's hard to get your fingers plus a tool in those little tiny soundholes...!

Trev

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

Looks great!
What fret wire size did you use?

Nice Uke. I like that bridge design

I used the standard fretwire from LMI...the bridge is also from LMI. I duplicated this bridge design for the mesquite one that I'm completing now.

Trev

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

Hey Parser beautiful looking uke. Make sure you come and join us guys that hang out at ukulele undergound as well.

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http://goatrockukulele.com

The standard fretwire that Hana Lima use is size # 147. It is a little smaller but larger than mandolin fretwire.

Bob

Thanks guys - I'll definitely check out ukulele underground. I'm all jigged up, so I may as well make a few more...

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com