Ukulele Complete

Ukulele Making is complete. I made this ukulele as a gift for my closed friends they recently moved to Maui Hawaii. This ukulele has the balsa and graphite epoxy composite top with A-frame bracing. This design created a very successful result. This ukulele showed super crispy sound. I also used super thin top thickness. I also installed a graphite rod in the neck. For the finishing, I used water based acrylic lacquer spraying. So, the ukulele has enough robustness for daily use. I hope, this ukulele becomes a nice music companion for the happy couple in Maui.   

Ukulele making

     I have been working on a Ukulele making. This is a concert size Ukulele using a lattice bracing.
Mahogany top, back, and side. This Ukulele has a high technology balsa lattice bracing with Carbon fiber Epoxy lamination for the top. This technique has been using my classical guitar model with super nice tone. Back also has my signature design using the lattice bracing. So, this Ukulele is my original lattice bracing design. Top has only 1mm thickness to obtain super nice response. To make a strong enough top from only 1mm thickness, I designed an A-frame configuration near the sound hole. You may see the brace looks like the A character. This A-frame configuration enables to distribute the neck tension evenly to the entire top.
     Body construction is already completed. I installed premium quality Hawaiian Koa binding for top and back. I will work the neck making next week.

Classical Project Complete

     I completed the classical guitar making project. I installed strings in 11/23/2019 first time. Strings action over the 12-fret wire is 3.4mm for the low-E and 3mm for the high-E. This is quite low action setting. I installed the D'Addario EJ45 normal tension strings. This guitar has been improving the sound quality day-by-day. Now, I have good confidence that this guitar has very nice bright sound character. Low-E string has very power full sound. I feel strong vibration in my stomach, when I hit the low-E string. This result is due to the graphite rod reinforcement in the last photo. Those carbon rods braces hold the neck very tight. Also, those braces are able to avoid future deformation issue for the neck angle change. Carbon braces are super light weight; therefore, the additional weight penalty is very minimum. I am very happy with this results.
     Please enjoy posted photos for the completed Classical guitar. The guitar specifications are shown in below.

Strings Scale: 650 mm with African Black wood fingerboard
Neck profile: 52 mm at nut and 62 mm at 12 Fret
Neck: Cedro-Black Dyed Maple-Maple-Ebony-Maple-Black-dyed Maple-Cedro (7-play) with a Graphite rod reinforcement
Top: European Spruce with Balsa and Graphite with Epoxy composite
Back: Curly Maple from West coast USA
Sides: Curly maple and Yellow Cedar laminate
Bridge: Brazilian Rosewood
Binding: Ebony
Tuning machines: Gilbert
Head plate veneer: Ebony (top and back)
Armrest: Black dyed maple
Nut and saddle: Bone
Finishing: Shellac (top) and Water based acrylic

Final Assembly

     Classical guitar project is completed. I installed a bridge, an armrest, and tuning machines. My bridge has 12-holes for the string install. The 12-hole bridge is able to make the highest possible strings angle to the saddle. This makes the brightest possible sound character due to the highest possible tension. The bridge has couple of Shellac coatings with steel wool mat finish. The bridge was installed using the vacuum clamping system for the best result. Tuning machines are Gilbert tuners. For me, the Gilbert tuners are the best on the market.
     This guitar has the Shellac finish on the top. Rest of surfaces are water based Acrylic finish. Shellac finish on the top makes brighter sound character. I installed D'Addario EJ45 normal tension strings.

Neck Shaping

I have been working on the neck shaping. First, I make the thickness profiling. This neck has 22 mm thickness at 0-fret and 24 mm thickness at 9th fret. The top of the neck profile becomes the reference plane. Second step is partially tapering the cross section. This shape becomes the other reference plane for my neck. I will never touch those two reference plane. This technique is able to make precisely straight neck. I already installed the finger board and the neck heal cap. The heal cap is Ebony and the Ebony heal cap matches to the ebony neck center laminate.

Neck Joint

Neck joint is complete. Neck heel shape was done before the neck joint. I selected Spanish style heel shape. This guitar is a traditional classical guitar. So, I selected the classical design. My neck joint is the mortise joint. After complete the mortise joint, I adds two wooden dowels to avoid neck dislocation issue. This method is the best for me to precisely align neck angle and precise fitting. Also, I installed a square carbon rod from the neck top to the body at the finger board end. You may see the maple cover over the carbon rod at the center of the neck. This rod improved neck robustness against strings pull. I will have the neck shaping work and the fingerboard install next week.

Binding install and Neck Joint

Ebony binding install is complete. Ebony binding makes beautiful contrast to the Maple body. This body also has an Ebony center strip in the back. After, install the neck. Laminated neck and the back center strip match very well. At this moment, the neck joint is temporary. It requires a lot of time to accomplish precise alignment for the angle and fitting. Also, before the final neck installation, the neck requires the shaping work. It still requires a long way to complete this guitar making project.