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Hello,

I've built two ukes from scratch so far. The first was a bocote and spruce tenor that went to my sons guitar teacher. He is also an excellent uke player (along with lute as well ). I recently finished my second uke, an African mahogany tenor. He was kind enough to play four pieces of music on both ukes and shoot videos.

Uke details:

Both were build from the same plan. The fan braces on the spruce top were 1mm taller than the plan to add stiffness. The spruce top at 2mm felt floppy.

Bocote uke built from GLS tenor plan:
Bocote back and sides
Bearclaw sitka top
Sitka bracing and Kerfing
Ebony binding
Honduran mahogany neck
Pegheds tuners
Aquilla Strings

African mahogany uke built from GLS tenor plan:
African mahogany top, back and sides.
Sitka bracing and Kerfing
Ebony binding
Honduran mahogany neck
Pegheds tuners
Aquilla Strings


Videos:

Bocote
Bouree - Bach - https://1drv.ms/v/s!AqpMOPRCiq5ajJEknTlBLvOrDQI-xg
La Folia - https://1drv.ms/v/s!AqpMOPRCiq5ajJEo4wYi-flTGmCEYQ
Mr Dowlands Midnight - https://1drv.ms/v/s!AqpMOPRCiq5ajJEpKQE5L55I_r-yeQ
St James Infirmary Blues - https://1drv.ms/v/s!AqpMOPRCiq5ajJEmHVoh7Y0u-7lF0Q

Mahogany
Bouree - Bach - https://1drv.ms/v/s!AqpMOPRCiq5ajJElTOg63zeKP9PSEw
La Folia - https://1drv.ms/v/s!AqpMOPRCiq5ajJEqmiuQENjxuOOEfA
Mr Dowlands Midnight - https://1drv.ms/v/s!AqpMOPRCiq5ajJErmByRS3vyVt2cuw
St James Infirmary Blues - https://1drv.ms/v/s!AqpMOPRCiq5ajJEn_sBEo91BDVUhgw

I would be interested in any feedback on them. Of course it's hard to know much just based on the videos, but suggestions, comments, recommendations for improvements, etc... are all welcome.

Thanks!
Brad

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It really is impossible to tell much from those videos. It sounds like a Ukulele to me, but that isn't saying much. Recently I played a ukulele Pepe Romero made for Daniel Ho, and I had to keep looking at it to make sure it was real. It sounded like a fine classical guitar and I suspected a mini speaker and amp somewhere because it was so loud. My friend capture some of it on an iPhone recording and you could have thought I had picked up one of those pink ukulele's from the Tijuana border crossing!

Well, that's an exaggeration. But still you couldn't tell from the recording that it was anything special. Your best test is to play good quality ukuleles at a store and compare them. You obviously play enough to be able to tell. Are they louder than yours? Do they sound more musical? Are they more comfortable to play, does it feel more effortless to play? Is the fit and finish better than yours? If the answer is "yes", then you have specific info on where yours are falling short and what you can improve on.

The more instruments you play, the better you will be as a luthier.

I play ukulele with friends every week and I am building my second tenor and have two guitars under my belt . To me both sound terrific but the spruce over bocote is brighter and the mahogany is mellower. They sound the way they should, to me. Really like the brighter sound. It will stand out in a group I believe.
Ed, member, Free Range Ukulele Society of Oak Park ( Illinois ) .