Ren Uke front

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Comment by blair whitaker on April 9, 2011 at 14:04

This is not from a kit but a build from timbers in my shop.  The plan is also one I designed.  Big differences from a standard Uke are a better spruce soundboard and no bracing on the soundboard, the SB is left thicker around the bridge (~3mm) and thinner at the sides (~2mm), like the early guitars and few surviving vihuelas.

Comment by Mark Day on March 31, 2011 at 16:07

I've been thinking about making one of these my next project. I was looking at the StewMac tenor uke kit for $142.00

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Kits/Ukulele_Kits/Tenor_Ukulele_Kit.html

or this one:

http://www.rainydayukes.com/products.php#kits

Still waiting for things to fall into place so I can set up a small shop and do another scratch build. In the meantime, one of these kits would be a quick way to get acquainted with renaissance guitar repertoire.

Blair, was this from scratch or a kit?

Comment by Valéry Sauvage on January 26, 2011 at 7:33

Thanks for the infos. I will test pegheds on my next ukulele (Dias Glyph tenor...)

Waiting for the rose picts ;-)

Val

Comment by Scot Tremblay on January 26, 2011 at 4:36

I attended a very interesting lecture by lute maker/player Ray Nurse this past summer where he discussed lute/guitar roses (amongst many other things...don't pass up a chance to hear him talk if you get the opportunity). He believes, much like you (if I read your comment correctly) Blair, that the rose (parchment or integral) is mostly an aesthetic feature of the early instruments. It does have some effect on the sound of the instrument but he maintains that is not the primary feature of the rose. As the listener often sat very close to the player (for various reasons) "it gave them something to look at other than the players fingers."

 

And as one who often repairs/restores early instruments I can tell you that the workmanship on the inside of these historical beauties is pretty rough much of the time..."if you cannot see it who cares?"

 

I have to admit that I must be a product of the modern luthiers attitude of "super clean everywhere" because if the inside of my instruments looked anything like what I've seen...I'd want to hide as much of it as I could too.

 

 

Comment by blair whitaker on January 26, 2011 at 3:57

The acoustical change from a parchment rose is nominal, vegetable versus animal even less so.  A carved rose like that in a lute are integral into the soundboard likely having an effect.  But the lute soundboard is nothing like a  guitar soundboard, many-many small braces in many positions on the lute soundboard, none to one simple brace in early guitars/vihuelas.

 

Antonio de Torrez (one of the most important fathers of the modern guitar) played with sound hole enhancers, little to no lasting effect is the general consensus.  The source for wood of the lower bout of the soundboard, its thickness, and bracing drive the sound you get, everything else is just little changes to the brightness and other features.

 

The rose is more aesthetic/historic then a sound changer.  Beautiful they are though!

Comment by blair whitaker on January 26, 2011 at 3:47

There are a few web site that give some information (google harpsichord roses, parchment roses, or lute/guitar roses), My designs are based on photo images of roses from historic instruments  in museums (again down loaded from the web or my own photographs. The MET in NY has a few on display, and the musical instrument museum in Paris is amazing). I design using a CAD tool for layout, and make lots of cuts with small cutting tools, a Japanese screw hole cutter is essential for getting lots of small holes.  I now have a tool set of 40+ random cutting tools.  The good news is they are cheap compared to wood working tools.

Comment by Steven Winiarski on January 23, 2011 at 5:10

Beautiful roses. How did you get started cutting roses and where don you get the designs?

Comment by Tonyyyy on January 22, 2011 at 21:15

I looked up pegheds and violinists who have tried them mostly do seem to very much like them (despite the  stigma of anything modern  in a deeply conservative branch of instruments!) And a couple of flamenco guitarists liked them too.

 

Beautiful roses. Did you notice any difference in acoustic qualities between the two  materials?

Come to think of it how would a regular uke sound if it was poshed-up with a rose?

Comment by blair whitaker on January 22, 2011 at 4:09

Parchment is generally considered the goat or deer skin, this is expensive, but available, and a bit tough to work with (very tough to get glues to hold)  I borrowed the term vegetable parchment from another maker used it to describe a 100% cotton acid fee handmade watercolor paper. It looks and reacts like animal skins, but is easier to work with.

 

The Pegheds weight the same as turned plum-wood pegs, I have used both.  They weight 1/4 that of standard ukulele pegs and offer geared tuning and a historic look.  Tuning even with only a 4:1 is so very much nicer.

 

The 50cm design fits in a very lightweight baritone ukulele hard case that is available for about $40 and is easy to transport and check on planes, a nice size to travel with.  I set up the gauge of strings to give the same feel as the larger instruments.

 

I'll add a few rose close ups I have used in the past for vihuelas and guitars.  Designing these are a bit tedious but a blast to cut and assemble.

Comment by blair whitaker on January 22, 2011 at 3:57

I am making another version in a 50cm, with a less dramatic waist.  Body profile modeled on the few exant drawings of renaissance guitars.  The 43 is a bit tight on spacing, a soprano would be even tighter.

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