Machete

[Tom Owen]

So this is a machete, the forerunner of the ukulele. Originally made in Hawaii in the late 1800's by three Portuguese luthiers. As they became popular in the islands the shape changed a bit, the tunings changed and well as the scale length and it became the ukulele. This one has Koa back and sides, Sitka spruce top and a cherry neck.

[Tom Snape]

Very nice! A machete is on my list of things to try sometime. Are those steel strings? What is the scale length?

[Tom Owen]

It's a 15" scale, and uses nylon strings.

[Clay Schaeffer]

How is it different from a concert uke?

[Tom Owen]

It has a soprano sized body. Here is a comparison shot with a concert banjolele, concert resonator and the machete

[Clay Schaeffer]

Hi Tom,
Thanks for the information - does it sound any different than a soprano uke?
Nice looking instrument. I like the rope binding.

[Tom Owen]

A little different... with the longer scale there seems to be more sustain and depth.. I have not used it but the original tuning would probably change things also. It was a non reentrant open G tuning.

[Jo Dusepo]

Beautiful work!

[Tom Owen]

Mahalo!

[Jo Dusepo]

Beautiful work!