This is the second concert ukulele I’ve made, and there were two things I wanted to accomplish with it. The first was to “lighten” the construction. The first concert I made was overbuilt. Though it sounds nice, I was a little disappointed that it did not have more volume. The second thing I wanted to try was adding binding to the top and back. The results were a mixed bag. Lighter braces and a thinner top went a long way towards improving the sound. It has good volume, sustain, and a clear, bright tone. The binding, however, was a battle almost from the start. Not made easier by the fact that the top and back have some interesting waves that were from not paying attention when I was sanding the surfaces they’re glued to. Additionally, I chose to speed up the sanding process for the sides and used a barrel sander that I applied unevenly, causing some equally interesting ripples. I recognized the many flaws well before applying the finish and could have abandoned the project, except that I wanted to find out if lightening the construction would achieve the results I desired. Hopefully I learned something from this project.
The wood used in this ukulele came from multiple sources. The Douglas fir (top and tail stripe accent), Eastern red cedar back & sides (and other elements), and Wenge (binding, fret markers, tail stripe, and heel cap) came from my favorite local source, Omaha Wood Co. What I believe may be Teak (fretboard, bridge and face plate) came from a southeast Asian shipping crate. The maple for the neck came from a friend, and the ebony for the saddle and nut came from my uncle, Gerry VanNess. When I cut the Douglas fir, I uncovered an interesting ripple in what is otherwise very straight-grained wood. I chose to feature that grain ripple across the widest part of the lower bout. However, in order to do so, I had to accept a blemish to the right of the sound hole.
The ukulele is numbered 2307-08 on the label.
The components are:
Douglas fir top (2-piece)
Eastern red cedar back (2-piece)
Eastern red cedar sides (2-piece)
Black walnut binding
Maple neck
Teak (?) and eastern red cedar face plate
Teak (?) fretboard with wenge fret markers (5th, 7th, 10th, 12th, and 15th frets)
Wenge fretboard binding with toothpick fret dots
Teak (?) bridge with wenge inlay
Ebony nut and saddle (compensated)
Wenge and douglas fir tail stripe
Wenge heel cap
Eastern red cedar sound hole rosette
Teak (?) strap buttons
Ebony dust and epoxy headstock logo
Graphtec tune-a-lele tuners
UkeLogic fluorocarbon strings (soft tension, high G, “Sandia” pink carbon)
Tru-Oil finish
Weight: 13.6 oz. (393 g) (with strap buttons)
Sound sample of E Ku’u Morning Dew (arr. Spencer Gay) and the intro & outro for Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s Over the Rainbow.
