Sexauer's guitars for HGF/13 - Page 20

Bruce Sexauer · #**286** 03-17-2014, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecguitar44

I've intentionally avoided playing the Collings ukulele's that I see. I'm afraid I'd want one!

Colling's Ukes are very nice and definitely worth avoiding if you don't want one to go home with you . . . as you know you do.

I took my first Uke to NAMM just for fun a few years back and Bill had his first Ukes there as well, pre-production. We spent somewhat more than an hour playing them back and forth and discussing their subtleties; they were new territory for both of us. That is a luthier's idea of fun!

I'm a big fan of what I call "traditional" Ukes, as opposed to what I call "Guitar Ukes", which are much heavier and usually over-appointed from my perspective. The Ukes Bill had fell into my "traditional" category, which most modern Ukes do not.

Good news: The Baritone potential client got back to me, and he is interested in the JB-BariUke!

I sealed the new JB-Uke today, and though my finish room is a lousy photo booth, what a transformation:

Mary · #**287** 03-17-2014, 06:23 PM

Hey Bruce, ole buddy.

You belong here with the rest of us. C'mon back often.

kirkham13 · #**288** 03-17-2014, 06:53 PM

Those are beautiful ukues, and sorry to hear about the tuner drama, gold is by far my favorite...!

cpabolting · #**289** 03-17-2014, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecguitar44

Whatever issues/history/beef you have with Bruce...I don't see your need to constantly air them on the forum.

The hypocrisy of your post is rather interesting.

We are all entitled to our opinions.....and in mine, Joe's thoughts were well stated, and properly grounded in a well laid out foundation and set of circumstances, including articulated examples. To each his own.

stringjunky · #**290** 03-18-2014, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cpabolting

We are all entitled to our opinions.....and in mine, Joe's thoughts were well stated, and properly grounded in a well laid out foundation and set of circumstances, including articulated examples. To each his own.

Has Bruce's remarks to Joe had a detrimental effect on Joe's subsequent presentations and performances? Methinks such a critique spurs on a person like Joe as evidenced by his performances since.

Bruce Sexauer · #**291** 03-18-2014, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cpabolting

Well have a happy birthday! Nice work on the Uke! Am I understanding that a regular uke is strung a certain way but a tenor uke is strung like the first 4 strings of a guitar?

Somehow I missed this one yesterday. Standard tuning on a Uke is a really odd thing in that Soprano, Concert, and Tenor, while all being different body sizes and string lengths, are all tuned the same. The pitch relationships are exactly the same as the top four strings of a guitar but starting on "g" instead of "d", except that the lowest pitch is traditionally (but not necessarily) an octave higher. If it is not raised an octave, it is called "low g tuning". Like guitars, there are actually a number of other popular alternative tunings, and some automatically tune a soprano slightly higher.

To restate, the pitches, lowest to highest, are g, c, e, and a. This means that when a guitar player picks up a Uke in standard tuning it can be played exactly like the top 4 strings of a guitar, though that octave higher low note, if it is tuned that way, will cause your runs to fail. That is why I tune my JB-Uke as a low g. I can then casually play chords and melody (but not bass) very successfully on the hundreds of tunes I already know. Every thing modulated up a fourth, of course.

jmat · #**292** 03-18-2014, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

except that the lowest pitch is traditionally (but not necessarily) an octave higher.

Why led to the traditional approach? I play my wife's Collings uke and it is fun to experiment with different voicing enabled, in part, by the octave sting. Any idea what what the rational was? A errant cross-pollinated 5 string Banjo tech?

Bruce Sexauer · #**293** 03-18-2014, 08:27 PM

The Ukeulele is said to have to come to Hawaii with the Portuguese sailors, who also brought its close relative, the Cavaquinho, to South America. Portuguese instruments often have more strings than we're used to, and those strings are often arranged in octaves and other interseting intervals. I am not an expert, but I do have an interesting instrument here in the shop, allegedly Portuguese, that my sister found at a yard sale years ago. It is/was a serious whatever it is (?) and was made in San Francisco in the late 1800's from H. Mahogany, Spruce, and Brazilian Rosewood (IMO).

Nort · #**294** 03-19-2014, 11:21 AM

That's a interesting looking instrument.

Thanks for the pics Bruce.

Coffeeaddict · #**295** 03-19-2014, 02:56 PM

Bruce,

Love the uke, love that it is free of tons of ornamentation, makes it all the more beautiful.

Would love to see what the other one would have looked like all strung up and it would be interesting to know what it would have sounded like.

That for posting that little curiosity.

Colin

Bruce Sexauer · #**296** 03-19-2014, 03:40 PM

What is remarkable to me about this instrument is that the construction is much as I would have done it, both structurally and aesthetically. Central heating seems to have taken a dire toll, however, and I think I could have managed that better. I have absolutely no idea how it was strung or tuned. Also, though I have been told it is Portuguese conceptually, I notice the name on the label doesn't seem to be, but is possibly Slavic. If anyone recognizes anything about it I 'd love to hear of it. Repairing this gem looks like a difficult and tedious task to me, but replicating it is something I may one day do.

Coffeeaddict · #**297** 03-19-2014, 04:32 PM

Bruce, after a little research I think what you have there is a bandurria. Here is a blog entry on a repair done to one.

http://antebelluminstruments.blogspo...ts-part-1.html

Colin

Bruce Sexauer · #**298** 03-19-2014, 05:30 PM

Indeed, It appears to be a Bandurria. Spanish rather that Portuguese. That is good because "Spanish" is way easier to type. The "Portuguese guitar", according to Wikipedia, is a close relative, but it really appears quite different to me with a longer strings and mostly has fanned sliding tuners rather than friction pegs. Some interesting music on YouTube. Thanks.

MikeD · #**299** 03-21-2014, 11:46 AM

Any updated pics of that violin now that the finish should be about done being put applied?

Bruce Sexauer · #**300** 03-21-2014, 02:06 PM

I've been playing the new violin for a couple of months. I cannot explain how it was done, but I seem to have hit my tonal targets beyond any reasonable expectation. I do not know enough about violins to have accomplished the deed, and must attribute it to luck and/or divine intervention. Rather that make this instrument look perfect, I intentionally took it to maybe 80% as I was going for the look I see on true Joseph Guarnari fiddles, plus there's the unscraped carved scroll, which I was on my own with to the best of my knowledge.

And, thanks for the nudge, MikeD!