Carved Arch Top Ukulele Design
Discovering Binford Luthiery in Onehunga, Auckland, has allowed me to get even closer to the true craft of guitar and ukulele building. Trevor Binford is a well regarded luthier and has worked and studied instrument building at Benedetto Guitars in Savannah, Georgia, the worlds leading builder of carved arch top guitars. All of Trevor's instruments are handmade and crafted to perfection. When I first met Trevor I convinced him that the ukulele has a special place in the hearts of New Zealanders and Binford Luthiery should associate with this aspect of kiwi culture.
Thus we soon set about prototyping a carved arch top tenor ukulele design from some original plans I had previously drafted. We soon realized that there was a natural synergy between us with Trevor contributing his building skills while I was able to bring instrument design and aesthetics to the table, all the while learning the craft of instrument building.
We now have two successful prototypes constructed from a variety of tone woods used across them. And we have completed production of a third instrument that can be amplified using a high quality violin pickup. Indeed the form of such a small scale instrument with a carved front and back is very much like a violin. Acoustically, an arch top instrument is superior to its flat top rivals due to the carved top reverberating or "singing" more freely. It has a characteristically strong attack not unlike a banjo while volume and sustain are also enhanced. A video demonstration of both instruments is included below.