Ladies and Gents. As of now I have done all of my un-electrified cb Ukes by attaching the neck. They are plenty loud and sound great. Has anyone heard a comparison of a uke with a through body neck vs attached? I find through-neck easier to build, but I don't want to substitute simplicity for lack of volume. Thoughts? experiences?
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I've never made a uke before, but have made about a dozen 3 string cbg. I've also never done a box that didn't have a neck thru. As long as the neck on a neck thru doesn't touch the sound board I don't think there should be much difference in volume. I assume with an attached neck there will be some extra bracing to help support the neck? But would said bracing touch sound board? If it does maybe that could negatively effect tone and volume. There was plenty of discussion on the difference between wood verses paper boxes till uncle John did a video featuring both. Till someone does the same with neck thru verses attached I really don't know if I can offer any positive input. But would definitely be interested in the results though.
My feeling (not backed by scientific testing or evidence) is that the difference will be less in volume, but more about sustain where a through neck, properly done, should have greater sustain compared with a bolt on or attached neck. Volume has too many other variables for me to say with confidence that one would be better or different from the other. Both have their advantages and weaknesses for construction and performance.
I have done something similar to what you mention richey. I actually found an older example that I had done similar to that one. I strung it up yesterday with uke strings and it was pretty weak compared to my other attached neck builds. The reason in my mind wasn't because of the through neck (because much like the example above, much of the neck isn't touching), but because when I attach the neck I use the bottom of the box as my soundboard, whereas with the through neck I use the top of the box. Depending on the cigar box you are using, often the top is thicker, different material and doesn't resonate as well (to hear the difference try tapping the two with your knuckle. You can tell a difference). I find the thinner "Woodier" boxes to work better for Ukes
Take a look at this discussion. It's kind of a middle ground between both methods. I'm very close to finishing my first guitar using this technique and so far the neck seems very strong.
Through the body is so much easier, but a bolt on would certainly allow the lid to vibrate more, plus there would be more room in the box for resonance to occur.
i thought this was a good post, but I've only done through body construction. I"m sure you're right though otherwise the professional acoustic guitars would be through body. I'm going to do an attached neck for my next build, a reso and I'll try to respond. Will take me a couple weeks. Ok likely months, and multiple attempts, but I will eventually have feedback.
Replies
Stick with the attached necks,it is more difficult but you do get a better sound
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/turkeychicken-ukulele-demo
Here ya go....
20140403_193946.jpg
My feeling (not backed by scientific testing or evidence) is that the difference will be less in volume, but more about sustain where a through neck, properly done, should have greater sustain compared with a bolt on or attached neck. Volume has too many other variables for me to say with confidence that one would be better or different from the other. Both have their advantages and weaknesses for construction and performance.
Agreed - although nowadays my builds all have mag pups - so the acoustic properties of the ply box lid become moot! :)
Take a look at this discussion. It's kind of a middle ground between both methods. I'm very close to finishing my first guitar using this technique and so far the neck seems very strong.
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/working-on-a-new-neck-de...
Through the body is so much easier, but a bolt on would certainly allow the lid to vibrate more, plus there would be more room in the box for resonance to occur.
Kind of a tradeoff.
i thought this was a good post, but I've only done through body construction. I"m sure you're right though otherwise the professional acoustic guitars would be through body. I'm going to do an attached neck for my next build, a reso and I'll try to respond. Will take me a couple weeks. Ok likely months, and multiple attempts, but I will eventually have feedback.