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PostPosted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 8:07 pm 
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Cocobolo
Cocobolo
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Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 6:44 pm
Posts: 471
Location: Australia
First name: Allen
Last Name: McFarlen
City: Mt. Sheridan
State: Qld.
Zip/Postal Code: 4868
Country: Australia
Focus: Build
Status: Professional
This one is another recent build in the last batch of tenors. Made from Tiger Myrtle with a Brazilian Mahogany soundboard. All the trim is Indian Rosewood. Grover Sta-Tite tuners.

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Tiger Myrtle - Mahogany Tenor-3.jpg

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Tiger Myrtle - Mahogany Tenor-4.jpg

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Tiger Myrtle - Mahogany Tenor-1.jpg

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Tiger Myrtle - Mahogany Tenor-2.jpg

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Allen R. McFarlen
Barron River Guitars & Ukuleles
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Cairns, Australia


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 10:05 pm 
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Contributing Member
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Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:42 pm
Posts: 1701
First name: John
Last Name: Parchem
City: Seattle
State: Wa
Zip/Postal Code: 98177
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Wow, very nice, gorgeous design and it shows a level of craft that I would like to achieve someday.

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 10:40 pm 
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Old Growth Brazilian Rosewood
Old Growth Brazilian Rosewood
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Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2007 9:49 am
Posts: 12971
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
First name: Hesh
Last Name: Breakstone
City: Ann Arbor
State: Michigan
Country: United States
Status: Professional
Beautiful Allen, and very classy!

No experience with that top wood but I'll bet the TM sides and back are a great match tone wise for a Uke.

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 12:20 am 
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Walnut
Walnut

Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 7:31 pm
Posts: 14
Location: Pahoa, HI
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Beautiful, as all the work you've shown. Something to shoot for for me as well. I like the heelcap design.
Bravo!!!


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:44 am 
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Cocobolo
Cocobolo
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Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 6:44 pm
Posts: 471
Location: Australia
First name: Allen
Last Name: McFarlen
City: Mt. Sheridan
State: Qld.
Zip/Postal Code: 4868
Country: Australia
Focus: Build
Status: Professional
You've never built with a mahogany soundboard Hesh? You gotta give it a go one time. They are just fantastic sounding.

The heel cap design came about from a router mishap a few years ago. Had to come up with something to hide the stuff up. Got so many comments on it that I decided to make it part of my branding. BTW, it's a pain in the arse to do, but still people seem to love it.

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Allen R. McFarlen
Barron River Guitars & Ukuleles
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Cairns, Australia



These users thanked the author Allen McFarlen for the post: Hesh (Thu Mar 12, 2015 4:31 am)
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 15, 2015 4:02 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2005 11:44 am
Posts: 2186
Location: Newark, DE
First name: Jim
Last Name: Kirby
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Sort of a follow on to Hesh's question. I'm building my first two ukes now, both tenors, one with a spruce top, and one (for aesthetic reasons having to do with the overall design) with a 1/2 spruce and 1/2 WRC top. Am I just building little guitars? What's the deal with hardwood tops? Educate me - I have no clue.

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 15, 2015 4:11 pm 
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Cocobolo
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Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2014 3:50 pm
Posts: 266
First name: Jeff
Last Name: Dillard
State: California
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Really beautiful. I love the heelcap design as well !


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2015 1:06 am 
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Cocobolo
Cocobolo
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Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 6:44 pm
Posts: 471
Location: Australia
First name: Allen
Last Name: McFarlen
City: Mt. Sheridan
State: Qld.
Zip/Postal Code: 4868
Country: Australia
Focus: Build
Status: Professional
Ukes are not little guitars. The smaller the instrument, the more difficult they are to build well. You have very little real-estate to produce sound, and those nylon strings don't have a lot of energy to drive a top. A soprano is diabolically difficult to build well.

Hardwood tops have less harmonic overtones than something like spruce or WRC. It's one of the things that differentiate the ukulele sound from the guitar sound.

But lots of people coming from a guitar background find that a tenor with a spruce top and linear tuning as opposed to the re-entrant tuning, a much easier transition for their ear.

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Barron River Guitars & Ukuleles
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Cairns, Australia


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2015 10:14 am 
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Koa
Koa

Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:08 pm
Posts: 1958
Location: Missouri
First name: Patrick
Last Name: Hanna
State: Missouri
Country: USA
Outstanding, Allen!

As has already been said, this is a level of craftsmanship to which a lot of us aspire. I've looked carefully at your tenor ukes and I believe this is the one that appeals to me most, on a visual level. That's strictly a personal reaction, not meant to be critical of the others in any way.

I'll let you have a laugh at my expense. When I first glanced at your ambrosia maple tenor, I wondered why you had put partial frets under the high string. Then I realized I was looking at your position markers. My perception was obviously a little "off" at that moment. They are very elegant!


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