AND THEIR SONG IS MARVELOUS !. I am so pleased, each of these new tenors has a beautiful voice, and yes, each of them is different.
They have identical Redwood tops from the NYC water tanks, The structure is as identical as I can make it. All three have identical Southcoast linear strings. The only difference between the three is the wood chosen for back and sides. I was curious to see if there would be a difference in the tone produced.
I AM HERE TO TELL YOU THAT THERE IS A DISTINCT DIFFERENCE and I love them all. I will do my best to try to describe the differences.
They have identical Redwood tops from the NYC water tanks, The structure is as identical as I can make it. All three have identical Southcoast linear strings. The only difference between the three is the wood chosen for back and sides. I was curious to see if there would be a difference in the tone produced.
I AM HERE TO TELL YOU THAT THERE IS A DISTINCT DIFFERENCE and I love them all. I will do my best to try to describe the differences.
front to back is the East Indian Rosewood # 80, the Honduran Rosewood #81, and the Brazilian Rosewood #82
Tone Notes;
East Indian; Deep, rich, mellow tones. Complex and mature sound even though just strung up. It sounds like the previous three tenors made with this wood combination. Lots of volume, lots of punch, deep dark lows and brilliant highs. It is a wonderful rich tone. If I had to compare it to a food I would think of chocolate.
Brazilian Rosewood; The wood lives up to it's reputation. The tone is rich and complex but brighter and more precise than the E. Indian. Not quite as much volume but very clear and distinct. I think this would be a great uke for a finger-picker. Each note seems to stand by itself in clarity. A great sound, I think a great uke.
Honduran Rosewood. This uke is intriguing. Wonderful volume, terrific high clear notes yet rich and warm in the lower register. This wood seems to rebound sound so that the action seems faster, I find myself going back and back to this one trying to figure out what is different about playing it. I love it I think, It might be very hard to sell this one as it seems rather unusual and has hidden potential. I need to get more of this wood and make a few more ukes with it. Hard as heck, tough to bend, I think the uke is heavier because of it.
East Indian; Deep, rich, mellow tones. Complex and mature sound even though just strung up. It sounds like the previous three tenors made with this wood combination. Lots of volume, lots of punch, deep dark lows and brilliant highs. It is a wonderful rich tone. If I had to compare it to a food I would think of chocolate.
Brazilian Rosewood; The wood lives up to it's reputation. The tone is rich and complex but brighter and more precise than the E. Indian. Not quite as much volume but very clear and distinct. I think this would be a great uke for a finger-picker. Each note seems to stand by itself in clarity. A great sound, I think a great uke.
Honduran Rosewood. This uke is intriguing. Wonderful volume, terrific high clear notes yet rich and warm in the lower register. This wood seems to rebound sound so that the action seems faster, I find myself going back and back to this one trying to figure out what is different about playing it. I love it I think, It might be very hard to sell this one as it seems rather unusual and has hidden potential. I need to get more of this wood and make a few more ukes with it. Hard as heck, tough to bend, I think the uke is heavier because of it.
Please keep in mind that I have only had a few short hours to play these new instruments and the strings are still settling in, I intend to play and compare for many hours before I part with them so my tone review may change in future and surely will become better thought out and described, but suffice it to say, I am extremely pleased that this has been a very successful build and a fascinating experiment in wood selection.
DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU THAT THE BACK AND SIDES DO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE SOUND OF A UKULELE. THIS BUILD PROVES TO ME THAT DIFFERENT WOODS BRING DIFFERENT TONE.
DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU THAT THE BACK AND SIDES DO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE SOUND OF A UKULELE. THIS BUILD PROVES TO ME THAT DIFFERENT WOODS BRING DIFFERENT TONE.
A FINAL THOUGHT: I decided to try wider fretboards on this build. Two of them have fretboards 1 1/2 inches wide at the nut. One of them is even about a 32nd wider, I LIKE EM. Just as easy to get around but far easier to avoid finger overlap. Makes the B flat chord a piece of cake. I think I will build all my ukes from now on 1 1/2 wide at the nut. seems an improvement.
