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Permalink Reply by Don Thompson on December 3, 2010 at 2:04pm

I assume you don't want to learn new chords names but this instrument I call a ukitar uses the same same chord shapes but like a regular guitar being capoed at the five fret. A D chord becomes a G chord, four full steps. The scale is 14.75 " Twenty inches is a good length for a travel size if you use very heavy guage guitar strings. .011 to.048 Heavier the better for tension feel. http://www.palmguitar.com/html/models.php

Don

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Permalink Reply by Don Thompson on December 3, 2010 at 2:28pm

Why the piano wire???? Get a set of heavy guage guitar strings and be done with it.



Don Thompson said:

I assume you don't want to learn new chords names but this instrument I call a ukitar uses the same same chord shapes but like a regular guitar being capoed at the five fret. A D chord becomes a G chord, four full steps. The scale is 14.75 " Twenty inches is a good length for a travel size if you use very heavy guage guitar strings. .011 to.048 Heavier the better for tension feel. http://www.palmguitar.com/html/models.php

Don

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on December 3, 2010 at 5:33pm

Would this help? You can trial-and-error your low E. I got 44 gauge for a low E at 19". That is one fat string!

http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.htm

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Permalink Reply by Don Thompson on December 4, 2010 at 1:15pm

Oh I forgot, David the cymbala is a plucked instrument, not fretted. Trying to use the same guage of string for two notes a fifth apart is well, how do I say this........a very bad idea. Hammer dulcimer ok, fretted instrument horrible idea.

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Permalink Reply by Don Thompson on December 4, 2010 at 1:24pm

Diane, I use .048s on all my short scales, they play like butter. It's all relative.
Don



Diane in Chicago said:

Would this help? You can trial-and-error your low E. I got 44 gauge for a low E at 19". That is one fat string!

http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.htm

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Permalink Reply by David L. on December 4, 2010 at 10:58pm

Thank you Diane for the link to the strothers.com - I have had a play around with it.

...And a big thank you to Don for the helpful information.

What set me off on the idea of a ultra small scaled guitar was a video Roosterman posted a while ago of a mini 4 string guitar http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/the-totally-awesome-mini made by Gakken http://www.japantrendshop.com/gakken-mini-electric-guitar-p-834.htm...
so I was thinking about what is actually possible with regards to playable size (basically with a fretboard below 14inches the frets get too close together for me to play easily) and thickness of string needed for the smaller scale. It looks like to get the full 6 strings EADGBE a 16inch scale may be a more workable option.

Don - am I right in thinking the cymbala idea fretted doesn't work because the strings are too rigid to fret easily and/or at such a small scale you would get major intonation problems?

The idea behind piano wire was a really cheap material to work with - although looking at the available guitar string sets with nice fat strings I realise there is cheap and then there is fit for purpose :O) I must admit though I like the idea on the cymbala where one string is used to tune to 2 different notes using a zither pin-string anchor-zither pin arrangement.

Regards,
David

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Permalink Reply by David L. on December 5, 2010 at 1:28am

Hi Swampapple,

There is a recent post here where someone had a similar problem http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/how-to-get-more-sustain which might give some ideas. If this is no help you might be better adding a new post to the forum giving more information - strings used, type of box, material used for nut and bridge and photos - everyone loves photos. A new thread would open the discussion up to everyone as those with no interest in small scale instuments are likely to read it here.

Regards,
David


swampapple slim said:

i have a 19 in 3 string sounds dead any sugestions?

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Permalink Reply by Don Thompson on December 5, 2010 at 5:23am

How anyone can call that electric ukulele a guitar is beyound me. But people misname things all the time. bleh.......Good luck building a 16" scale guitar using only three gauges of strings. One string will be floppy the next very taunt. Not the kind of guitar I'd be interested in playing. Difficult to play, why? Save a couple of bucks? Guitar strings sets are designed to have close to the same "feel" sheesh, why mess with centuries of evolution of the musical instrument. I'm all for inovation but to me playability comes first. Don


David Lloyd said:

Thank you Diane for the link to the strothers.com - I have had a play around with it.

...And a big thank you to Don for the helpful information.

What set me off on the idea of a ultra small scaled guitar was a video Roosterman posted a while ago of a mini 4 string guitar http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/the-totally-awesome-mini made by Gakken http://www.japantrendshop.com/gakken-mini-electric-guitar-p-834.htm...
so I was thinking about what is actually possible with regards to playable size (basically with a fretboard below 14inches the frets get too close together for me to play easily) and thickness of string needed for the smaller scale. It looks like to get the full 6 strings EADGBE a 16inch scale may be a more workable option.

Don - am I right in thinking the cymbala idea fretted doesn't work because the strings are too rigid to fret easily and/or at such a small scale you would get major intonation problems?

The idea behind piano wire was a really cheap material to work with - although looking at the available guitar string sets with nice fat strings I realise there is cheap and then there is fit for purpose :O) I must admit though I like the idea on the cymbala where one string is used to tune to 2 different notes using a zither pin-string anchor-zither pin arrangement.

Regards,
David

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Permalink Reply by David L. on December 5, 2010 at 5:37am

A good point well made Don.

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Permalink Reply by Don Thompson on December 5, 2010 at 5:55am

Ha, Found a picture of of another acoustic ukitar I built. Notice how steep the saddle slant is? Needed for intonation as the shorter the scale the more critical fret placement and bridge placement becomes. Plenty of room for inovation in building. Inovation? Check out my pop bottle ukulele. Both bottles have tire valve stems and are blown up with air. Kind of a banjo uke sound. I know I've never seen anything like it.
David, before I forget, I measured a regular guitar neck at the fifth fret and made that my nut width for a wider fingerboard. Pretty cool, huh?

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Permalink Reply by Don Thompson on December 5, 2010 at 8:13am

http://ukulelereview.com/2008/11/15/risa-uke-solid-ukulele-review/

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Permalink Reply by David L. on December 5, 2010 at 8:42am

Thank you for sharing this Don - it is the first time I have seen a uke like this!.
It puts the Gakken "miniguitar" to shame. I have seen a few larger sized travel guitars with a similar design and have wondered why they run the strings around a bar and have the tuners part way up the body? Is it simply to save a couple of inches that the machineheads would add or does the extra bit of string mean less string tension overall?


Don Thompson said:

http://ukulelereview.com/2008/11/15/risa-uke-solid-ukulele-review/

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