The Tenor Uke is finished!

The tenor uke had its strings fitted today - a set of nylgut ones from Aquila. They seem to take ages to stop stretching and to stay in tune, but I have read to expect this. It's certainly different from the usual mandolin wire.

As usual, there have been a few 'compromises' along  the way. The strings didn't quite align properly at the bridge (I think the hole was a millimeter or so out)  but I was able to adjust this by making grooves in the saddle. The kerfed lining, visible through the soundhole looks a little slapdash as I cut it by eye - next time I will have to make a jig to to this. Also I still haven't reached a satisfactory standard with the finish - I'm wondering about investing in a set of buffing wheels for my drill press.

The binding has worked really nicely, although quite a few bits snapped when bending them to the tight curves on the ukulele. With the binding around the heel I actually had to laminate in situ, as there was no way to bend binding to such a small radius.

The instrument is fairly loud and bright (which was the tone I was hoping for) and as the actions has been left quite high (3mm at the 12th fret) it's can be played 'robustly'. Here is a quick soundfile.

Overall, I think I have done a good job, and once again I have learnt a lot. I will buy a quirky gig bag for it and hope that it goes down well at birthday time.