Official Luthiers Forum!

Owned and operated by Lance Kragenbrink
It is currently Thu Oct 31, 2024 6:15 pm


All times are UTC - 5 hours


Forum rules


Same rules apply to all forums at the Luthiers Forum.




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 12 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: newbie uker
PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2013 7:33 am 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member

Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2011 10:29 am
Posts: 502
First name: joseph
Last Name: sallis
City: newcastle-upon-tyne
State: tyne and wear
Zip/Postal Code: ne46xe
Country: UK
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Hi Everyone.
I've never been in this part of the forum before but I'm now building a tenor uke for a friend and have several questions. I apologize if these questions have been asked many times before but would really appreciate some short answers.

1. I've downloaded plans (14th fret to body, Tenor) from Ultimate Guitar Online. Anyone used these? Are there any improvements people have made?
2. The plans are obviously lacking because I can't find the answer to the next questions: what is the neck angle on a uke? Like a guitar should the line of neck plus fret board and frets just kiss the top of bridge?
3. Is the bridge moved back for compensation? By how much?
4. Does anyone shoten the fretboard for nut compensation? How much?
5. Is the finger board flat or radiused?
6. I've read about Tony from NYC's method of punching the Uke in the face. How much force should I use for this? Does anyone have any equations for how the force of punch affects monopole mobility?

Thanks in advance!

_________________
We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at guitars.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: newbie uker
PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2013 7:55 am 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 9:01 pm
Posts: 3031
First name: Tony
Last Name: C
City: Brooklyn
State: NY
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Joe Sallis wrote:
Hi Everyone.
I've never been in this part of the forum before but I'm now building a tenor uke for a friend and have several questions. I apologize if these questions have been asked many times before but would really appreciate some short answers.

1. I've downloaded plans (14th fret to body, Tenor) from Ultimate Guitar Online. Anyone used these? Are there any improvements people have made?
2. The plans are obviously lacking because I can't find the answer to the next questions: what is the neck angle on a uke? Like a guitar should the line of neck plus fret board and frets just kiss the top of bridge?
3. Is the bridge moved back for compensation? By how much?
4. Does anyone shoten the fretboard for nut compensation? How much?
5. Is the finger board flat or radiused?
6. I've read about Tony from NYC's method of punching the Uke in the face. How much force should I use for this? Does anyone have any equations for how the force of punch affects monopole mobility?

Thanks in advance!


I think I can help with some of these questions:
1. I have not used them. Sorry. Can't help you with this one. I'm not off to a good start.
2. Yes. There is a neck angle. I don't recall what mine worked out to, but you want the same "kiss the bridge" type of set up as a guitar.
3. On a tenor, the scale length is so short, Compensation is not really needed, but if it makes you more comfortable, you can add some. Like a really small amount.
4.No, so shorten it by zero inches, or zero mm, whichever unit you are more comfortable with.
5. Mine was flat, but some folks might prefer a radius. Flat worked well for my concert uke.
6. You are my hero. I think we all know that Force= mass x acceleration due to gravity, right? I mean, that's basic kindergarten physics, right? Anyway, what worked for me was to use about half of my weight. I am 180lbs, or to put it in your terms, 81.6466 kg. Thus, 90lbs, or 40.8233kg was applied to the soundboard. This works out, using our kindergarten formula above, to 40.8233kg x 9.80665 m/s2(obviously, everyone knows that this is the standard acceleration due to gravity) = 400.33981newtons. There you have it. 400.33981N applied to the face will completely remove the monopole, dipole, and cross dipole frequencies. A new face will restore them, though not to exactly their original values.

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: newbie uker
PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2013 8:50 am 
Offline
Koa
Koa
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:46 pm
Posts: 667
First name: Robert
Last Name: Renick
City: Mount Shasta
State: ca
Zip/Postal Code: 96067
Country: us
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Joe,
I have only done 1 tenor from the Hana lima plans, but no neck angle, yes compensate saddle, yes you can compensate nut, flat is common, but radius has been gaining popularity.
This will be helpful from David Hurd:
http://www.ukuleles.com/Technology/compensate.html

_________________
http://shastaguitar.com/
http://www.kalimbakit.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/comfyfootgr ... ature=mhee
http://www.facebook.com/robert.renick.7


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: newbie uker
PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2013 12:59 pm 
Offline
Koa
Koa
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:42 am
Posts: 1135
Location: Hudson, MA
First name: Kevin
Last Name: Quine
City: Hudson
State: MA
Country: Usa
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Joe Sallis wrote:
Hi Everyone.
I've never been in this part of the forum before but I'm now building a tenor uke for a friend and have several questions. I apologize if these questions have been asked many times before but would really appreciate some short answers.

1. I've downloaded plans (14th fret to body, Tenor) from Ultimate Guitar Online. Anyone used these? Are there any improvements people have made?
2. The plans are obviously lacking because I can't find the answer to the next questions: what is the neck angle on a uke? Like a guitar should the line of neck plus fret board and frets just kiss the top of bridge?
3. Is the bridge moved back for compensation? By how much?
4. Does anyone shoten the fretboard for nut compensation? How much?
5. Is the finger board flat or radiused?
6. I've read about Tony from NYC's method of punching the Uke in the face. How much force should I use for this? Does anyone have any equations for how the force of punch affects monopole mobility?

Thanks in advance!


I've made a few tenor ukes so here's my input....
1. Never used them. I like the Hana Lima plans
2. I do about 1 to 1.5 degree neck angle. (can't really measure it that accurately)
3. Yes. I use the calculator at Stew Mac to get the compensation. http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Frettin ... tcalc.html
4. Nope I don't do that on guitars either
5. Mine are flat. Most ukes are flat but radius fingerboards are becoming more "in"
6. HUH??

I recommend the Ukulele Underground forum for more info. Lots of more fanatical builders on there


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: newbie uker
PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2013 3:55 pm 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
User avatar

Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:12 pm
Posts: 3293
First name: Bryan
Last Name: Bear
City: St. Louis
State: Mo
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
I'm doing my first uke right now and making it up as I go, so I won't be able to help you from any foundation of experience. I will say that I am disappointed in our resident uke face punching expert (Tony). His response was incomplete and his physics mis-applied.

First he neglected to point out that his numbers were based on a hardwood top and that, if you are using a softwood top, you should decrease your final force applied by a factor of negative eleventeen percent. I know it has been a long time since Tony has been in kindergarten (though it was, by all accounts, 5 of the best years of his life) but that does not excuse his confusion on basic kindergarten physics. He is calculating force based on the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 meters per second per second) but I know for a fact that he did not drop his fist along with half of his body weight in a free fall. Further, he doesn't provide the time his fist would have been falling. . . I have seen him in lederhosen, I think 180 pounds is a conservative number anyway. All of this is to say that I'm pretty sure he made up the math and actually struck his top with the weight of 400.33981 FIG Newtons.

_________________
Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: newbie uker
PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2013 5:02 pm 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member

Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2004 11:25 pm
Posts: 7202
Location: United States
6. This is good stuff!

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: newbie uker
PostPosted: Sat May 25, 2013 7:43 am 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 9:01 pm
Posts: 3031
First name: Tony
Last Name: C
City: Brooklyn
State: NY
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
I literally laughed out loud at Bryan's post. llol

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: newbie uker
PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2013 5:19 pm 
Offline
Koa
Koa

Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:34 pm
Posts: 552
City: winnipeg
State: manitoba
Country: canada
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
What Ernie said except I use 15 foot radius front and back.

Bob :ugeek:


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: newbie uker
PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2013 4:09 pm 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:46 am
Posts: 1247
First name: Beth
Last Name: Mayer
City: Tucson
State: AZ
Country: United States
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
I do my tops flat and the backs with 15' radius.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: newbie uker
PostPosted: Wed May 29, 2013 8:08 am 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member

Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2011 10:29 am
Posts: 502
First name: joseph
Last Name: sallis
City: newcastle-upon-tyne
State: tyne and wear
Zip/Postal Code: ne46xe
Country: UK
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Thanks for the replies everyone.
I now have all the information I need for my new book, "Building the Subservient Uke, Feary and Mis-practise", retailing at $200,000.
So, neck angle to fit bridge, check out Stew Mac for saddle compensation, sod nut compensation, flat finger board and when the laquer is dry get out the Mike Tyson jig for a right hand hook to it's chops to teach the little blighter who is the master.
I'll post some pics when finished.

_________________
We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at guitars.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: newbie uker
PostPosted: Wed May 29, 2013 8:51 am 
Offline
Koa
Koa
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:46 pm
Posts: 667
First name: Robert
Last Name: Renick
City: Mount Shasta
State: ca
Zip/Postal Code: 96067
Country: us
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Joe,
Neck angle is really a function of the dome or shape of the top, then fit the bridge. If the FB is to lie on the upper bout the way most guitars and ukes are built, then that determines the angle. If you were using an elevated FB like an archtop instrument, then aim toward your desired bridge height. The Stew mac calculator is only dialed in for high G tuning, info for low G is not part of the calculator, too bad for me since that is what I am working on.

_________________
http://shastaguitar.com/
http://www.kalimbakit.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/comfyfootgr ... ature=mhee
http://www.facebook.com/robert.renick.7


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: newbie uker
PostPosted: Fri May 31, 2013 7:26 am 
Offline
Cocobolo
Cocobolo

Joined: Tue May 15, 2012 7:34 am
Posts: 135
First name: David
Last Name: Ingalls
City: Ashland
State: OR
Zip/Postal Code: 97520
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Semi-pro
Here's a cookbook approach that avoids the principles of physics that others would bring to bear. Unfortunately, I do not have a calibrated fist, so I am forced to do things the hard way.

The neck angle is 90 degrees. The top rim is first sanded flat. Then put the top rim in a 25' radius dish and radius the rim, but only from about the bottom of the sound hole to the bottom end of the body. In other words, the upper bout stays flat and 90 degrees to the heel and the lower bout gets radiused. Don't worry about a gradual transition from flat to radius as it doesn't matter. Seen in profile, the sides slope down a bit from the sound hole to the end of the body. For the top, make the brace above the sound hole flat and the brace below radiused, as are the tone bars.

The fret board then lies flat on the upper bout all the way to the sound hole and the saddle height ends up at about .40". Works every time for me. If it doesn't work for you, whack it with your fist until things look right.


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 12 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 33 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
phpBB customization services by 2by2host.com