Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Hi,

I have just finished my first scratch build (concert uke), here are some pics. Not as good quality as most on here (both the uke and the pics!), but I'm happy.
Australian Red Cedar back (curly) and sides, Huon Pine top, Silky Oak and Myall neck, ringed Myall fretboard, bridge, nut, Danish Oil finish.
Thanks for looking.
GregL.

Looking good Greg, you learn a lot building from scratch. Can I ask what the go is with the back and the abalone dots, I've not seen that before. Also, what strings did you use and how does it sound?

Cheers

Col

Hi Col,

Thanks for the comments.

The paua dots are to hide borer holes in the Red Cedar, the timber was rather "holey" but I just loved the curl, so I did my best to maneuver around the holes and just filled the ones I could not avoid.
I think the strings are D'Addario classical guitar nylon strings.
It sounds like a uke! I play more guitar, so I haven't used the "normal" uke re-entrant tuning - just D, G, B, E like the top 4 strings on a guitar, and it sounds OK to me. And it's actually a tenor (17 1/2" scale) - I mistakenly called it a concert size before.

Thanks,
GregL.

I thought they must have been placed there because of borers or something - novel way of covering them up.

Cheers

Col

Nice Greg. That the one you had on the way when I came by yours?

Looks good. Remember, you will cring every time someone looks at one of your guitars--I do--but they will only be bewildered by the fact that yu actually made it. All of what we see as unsightly blemishes are invisible to them.

For comparison,top in to Planet Music and have a look at the $4,000 Martins etc, and see what you get from them for that kind of dosh....

Good work, mate...

Hi Nick,

Yes, that's the one - seems like I was making it forever!
Thanks for the advice re: blemishes! I might just visit Planet Music and check out the Martins!

Thanks,
GregL.

The ukulele looks great. I love the back.

Hi John,

Thanks for the comment!
I just love curly timber! Here is another shot, this time the headstock overlay, I used the same curly australian red cedar on that, and you can see a bit of the ringed (curly) western myall fretboard too:
(the timber looks much nicer "in the flesh", I'm not a very good photographer)

Thanks,
GregL.

That's a very nice ukulele Greg, not only because of the beautiful timber.

I find the photos OK, but if you want to take better ones without taking a deeper dive into photography, taking pictures of instruments on a sunny day at a shady spot generally helps a lot (not beneath a tree because green can get a bit problematic).

Hi Markus,

Thanks for the comment, and the photography tip! I have a reasonable camera, but not much photographic skill!

Thanks,
GregL.