This walnut and spruce tenor ‘ukuele was also begun in the summer of 2006 along with ‘Ukulele #3. My daughter and I weare making these almost matching ‘ukes together. These ‘ukes were made with mahogany necks, spruce tops and walnut sides and backs.
The inlay in the headstock of #4 is a character from South Park, which at the time was a favorite show of her’s, not mine.
We used Gotoh mini tuners that I had been getting from Hana Lima Ia. The bridges are made from Bolivian rosewood and are based on a classical guitar bridge shown in William Cumpiano’s guitarmaking book, Guitarmaking Tradition and Technology (See the Library tab).
It was fun for the two of us to work on this project together. Like #3 this ‘ukulele is a bit on the heavy side (for a ‘uke). I finally figured out what the problem was. I was building them like small guitars instead of like ‘ukuleles. Up until them I didn’t have much reference for what a real ‘ukuele should be like. So I went to a local, high-end instrument store (The Music Emporium in Lexington, Massachusetts) and spent a lot of time looking at the beautiful ‘ukuleles they had, especially the Kamakas. I was beginning to understand just how light an ‘ukulele needed to be, and just how thin!
I do have plans to strip this instrument down, like I did with #3, and rebuild it. It also has developed a couple of cracks in the top which need to be repaired. All in due time . . .
Confessions of an Amateur Luthier 