Official Luthiers Forum!

Folks,
I returned this week from 3 week guitar building class at Vermont Instruments.
Great Class! The instructor, George Morris, was very patient and guided the 4 students to produce some really nice guitars. The guitars we built had a bolt on neck.

He recommended that we quickly start building some ukuleles to really solidify the process in our minds. His thinking, smaller body will allow us to work thru the process quicker to get a good understanding of everything we learned.

Question: Any idea where I can locate any Uke Plans w/Mortice & Tenon bolt on neck?
I want to replicate the process with a couple of ukes to start out.

Any help is appreciated......

Thanks,
Mark

I have to say, it takes me about the same amount of time to build a uke as it does a guitar. A smaller body doesn't make it go faster. Yes, the steps in the process are more or less the same--you are just using less material. If you want to build ukes, go for it. But if you want to build guitars, keep building guitars. You won't get there any faster building a bunch of ukes.

For any first-time uke builder, I recommend the Hana Lima plans. You can substitute any method of attaching the neck that you want.

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Kevin Mason
Mason Guitars and Ukuleles on Facebook
http://masonguitars.net

The Hana Lima plans are definitely a good way to go. But I agree--the amount of time it takes to build a uke isn't much different (at least for me) than the time to build a guitar. The biggest time savings on a small instrument are in sanding and finishing time. With the tighter curves on ukes, the sides are actually a bit harder to bend than guitar sides--at least they're a bit easier to crack if you're not careful. Ukes aren't really just little guitars either--they need to be built considerably lighter in order to sound like ukes instead of little guitars.

The bigger difference, which could make a difference to a new builder, is in cost of materials. Uke sized wood is a lot cheaper than guitar sized wood. I tend to build more ukes than guitars, but it's because I really like building and playing ukes, not for time or material savings.

But George's advise to go home and build another right away is good advise. When I came back from Earthworks in the 70's (with Charles Fox and George Morris as teachers), I immediately built another guitar. The experience showed me immediately where I needed to focus going forward without the benefit of an on-site teacher like I had at Earthworks. It's quite a bit different going at it alone!

Dave

Kevin & Dave,

Thanks for info on Hana Lima plans. Will definitely check it out.

Also, thanks for sharing your perspective on building UKE as a "timesaver" to learn the process. Something for me to consider. I have all of my power tools. My other tools from StewMac and LMI will be delivered over the next couple of days. Can't wait to get started.

I have guitar wood already stacked and acclimated to my area. If I bought some Uke wood, how long would you recommend that I let it acclimate to my environment (S. Texas) before using?

Thanks for your help.
Mark

Could be wrong, but the Hana Lima specify a Spanish Heel neck. That said, I modified the tenor plans very easily for a MT bolt on. This is no big deal. Also, I lessened the depth to 2.75", I did not want a Spanish uke. But the body style is beautiful. See my pics in the other uke thread below (tony_in_ny)

The Hana Lima plans are awesome. Make sure u get 3-4 professional duplicates for template making

Mike

Btw, building a uke is just as time consuming as a guitar. Also, check out RC Tonewoods (above, sponsor here) for permafrost mahogany uke necks. Think they might not be bolt on though...


Mike

Edit: Permafrost? Iphone spellchecker. "preformed"

I don't know of any plans with a bolt on mortise/tenon joint. But its a simple to modify any plan with a bolt on neck joint
The M/T probably won't work on a uke though. There just isn't enough room without a huge neck block (for a uke).
I use a butt joint with a threaded nut insert in the heel. Or look up Pete Howlett on youtube to see his joint with a dowel bolt buried in the heel. Probably how I will do it next time I get the uke bug

Ditto on ukes being about the same work time as a guitar. Don't worry about bending, the tight waist really isn't that scary. Go for it...ukes are cool

http://rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store/index. ... ts_id=2749

You can get Dovetail M/T for ukes. I like the straight M/T bolt-on. But I don't think Bob offers one.

Mike

It's really hard to do bolt on with a uke, because you just don't have as much space to work with as a guitar so mounting them would be more difficult. Plus the hardware adds considerable weight.

Next uke I build will be dovetail.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Pete Howlett uses a barrel nut inserted in a vertical hole in the top of the heel hidden by the fretboard.

Hey, Mark - it's your housemate from Vermont Instruments here! Hope your travels back home went well and you are enjoying the TX heat without the benefit of Lake Fairlee two blocks away.

I ordred the Tenor Uke plans from LMI and the uke construction book by Wickham which goes along with them. That should get me going. Not sure it's a bolt on neck or not - but I'm going to give it a whirl.

Buying lots of tools, how about you? And how's your guitar settling in?

Roberto

_________________
Registered Architect (Texas, New York)
LEED AP

I have shown this picture before on the forum. I don't think there is enough room on the neck for a M/T joint. These are tenors. I have built 6 of them and they are all doing well.



Michael

Don't have any pictures right now of tenon ukulele necks but it can be done. Here is an idea of template size.

Blessings,

Kevin

I always use a M&T joint on my tenor ukes (which are modified Hana Lima plan based). Doesn't seem to be any issue with space to me. I use two 10-32 bolts and matching steel bushings in the neck tenon. Tenon is 0.75" wide x 0.5" deep x about 2/3 of the body depth long. I made my own joint routing templates for the Luthier Tools neck jig. My neck block is 1.25" thick. AFAICT a single 1/4-20 fixing using a barrel nut would work well also - I'm in the process of making another tenor uke right now, so I may give it a try and report back.

HTH,
Dave F.

_________________
Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Might be fine with tenor ukes but for soprano ukes space is just too tight. I could only use a single 1/4" bolt... and its difficult to get any tool inside to tighten the bolt.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

A long ball end hex key will engage a neck bolt through the soundhole in a soprano uke. Plan the position of the bolt in the block to give you <20 degree angle between the neck edge of the soundhole and the neck block. SM sells long truss rod hex wrenches that will work. Wiha has nice ones that will engage at up to a 30 degree angle: http://www.wihatools.com/200seri/264inch.htm.

Yes, you do not have to use M/T with a Uke. But I'm not sure why I keep reading how a M/T will not (or may not) work. My new neck fixture from Chris at Luthier Tools includes a mini M/T template (much like above). And I am currently finishing a Tenor Uke with a bolt-on M/T. And the neck block is not large at all. Pretty much to scale with the rest of the body. I'll post an inside the box picture later.

Mike