Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi everyone,
This is my first post and its about some questions i have about the craft in general and some specifics,
Im 15, based in the uk and studying design technology at gcse level. I play Ukulele and Banjo regularly and for my final project in design technology im planning on building a ukulele. Im planning to draw inspiration from the legendary les paul style guitars .
Sadly im stuck at the first hurdle. do i go down the solid body route, and . make it authentic ( my only concern with this is i wouldnt be able to play it acoustically)? OR do i build a hollow body electro acoustic model =( my worry here is about being able to get a nice les paul style look)

Secondly ive had a look around the forum and come across something ive never heard of before,a Go bar? what is a go bar ?
many thanks,

I'll take a crack to save the regulars some time!

You won't get much acoustic volume from a solid body. I'd build a concert acoustic Uke and add a pickup. IMO a Uke is not an instrument meant to be played with distortion. It's like drinking a beer then having a massive coffee.

A go bar is part of a clamping system for attaching braces to tops and backs, and sometimes tops to bodies (on acoustics). If you build a Uke you probably should build a flat top. It's small enough you can use regular clamps.

Well, going for serious acoustic tone with an arched top generally involves a tailpiece rather than the two-part bridge that Les Pauls use. That and some form of soundhole(s) would probably be the biggest visual differences. But some LP's have those tremolo tailpieces, so that's nothing new.

Here's a cool build from Phillip Patton a while back. Les Paul style ukulele, chambered solid body with one F hole. http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10123&t=36376
I don't think it has much acoustic volume, but gives an example of how the LP shape looks with F holes.

I don't think distortion on a full solid-body steel string uke would be out of place, for solo type stuff anyway... although I've never actually heard it. But the high range of electric guitars is so cool, I can only imagine being able to play squealy notes directly, without harmonics, would be a lot of fun.

But for nylon strings and strumming, then yeah, I think distortion would sound a bit odd.

thank you guys, i think im leaning towards the hollow body at the moment, your help is . much appreciated

Go for it! I wish I could have done something like that in school. I chose engineering and thought it would involve stuff like that, but it ended up being just a health and safety course .
I've nearly finished my first guitar and I think I spent more time making tools and jigs than the actual guitar. Shouldn't be so bad with a uke though. Check out the tutorials section and the search function - it has most of the answers you'll ever need.
http://www.madinter.com/b2c/index.php is a good European luthier supplier.

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cheers everyone, i didnt realise there was a tutorials section!

tell me about it, thats basically whats kept me with electrics....

I have a workboard with a shim, a saddle slot routing jig, and a bending machine. Everything else is standard woodeorking tools and hand tools (bandsaw, tablesaw, edge sander, spindle sander, files, schisels, etc.._)

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