Head to Tail of the Kepasa Ukulele

Each of my Kepasa Ukulele models was born out of a customer asking "Can you build a ukulele that looks like...?" Most of the influences have come from early mainland ukuleles, as well as the Dias soprano that represents the very early ukulele that migrated from Madeira, Portugal in the late 1800s, and the Gypsy style ukes are influenced by the Selmer-Maccaferri gypsy guitars.

My inventory of ukulele wood for back and sides generally includes sapele (also known as African mahogany), Honduras mahogany, various maples including New England red curly maple, caramelized maple, koa in various grades, zebrawood, pao ferro and East Indian rosewood.

In-stock soundboard woods generally include Sitka spruce, Engleman spruce, Adirondack red spruce, cedar, redwood and in the case of an all-koa or all-mahogany ukulele, of course, matching koa or mahogany.

Let's examine Kepasa Ukuleles head to toe, or head to tail as it is with the uke. We'll be talking about the inside of the uke, too. This discussion exposes my preferences, opinions and building style regarding the details and components that are typical of most ukuleles.

Headstock- The shape of Kepasa headstocks vary between models, and sometimes the same model is built with a choice of headstock styles. I'm quite fond of the headstock shapes of the old Harmony ukuleles. My standard headstocks are built to 1/2" in thickness, with the exception of slotted headstocks, such as my gypsy ukuleles have, which are 3/4" in thickness. I build a scarfed headstock, along with a stacked heel.

Headplate- The headplate is a thin sheet of solid wood glued to the face of the headstock. Headplates may be up to 1/8" thick and are sometimes matched to the same wood as the back and sides of the ukulele. Ebony also makes a nice headplate, which often matches the fingerboard, instead of matching the back and sides. In addition to being cosmetically appealing, headplates lend extra strength to the headstock. Headplates are not absolutely essential but I like using them. I have also installed backplates on the headstock on a few ukuleles, mostly on slotted headstocks.

Tuners- The majority of Kepasa Ukuleles are fitted with Grover Sta-Tite friction tuners. They're a good quality friction peg and are available with black plastic buttons (Grover 4B) or white plastic buttons (Grover 4W). I also have a limited supply of faux-ivory buttons that are made to fit on the Grover tuners as an upgrade. I also build with Pegheds®, which are a 4:1 ratio geared tuner which resembles a violin peg. Grover also makes a variety of very nice geared right-angle tuners for the ukulele, in all chrome, or gold with black buttons.

Nut- I prefer Tusq™, a manmade ivory substitute. It looks and acts like bone and has a very clear, bell-like tone when you drop a piece on a hard surface. I've also used black buffalo horn, which can be polished to a very shiny surface or left with a flat black sheen. Ebony also makes a great nut, as well as bone.

Neck- Kepasa Ukuleles are usually built of Spanish cedar. Martin used Spanish cedar for the neck on their early ukes, and it's also used as a neck wood for many high-end classical guitars. Spanish cedar is about 30% lighter weight than mahogany, another popular neck wood. I have also used Honduras mahogany, koa, and maple for neck woods. Some of my necks have been three or five piece necks of mahogany and maple. The neck thickness on most of my ukuleles is 5/8" thick at the first fret, 3/4" thick at the seventh fret, and then sloping into the heel. A typical nut width on Kepasa tenors is 1 1/2". Concert ukuleles will also generally have a 1 14/32" nut width. Kepasa soprano ukuleles can have a nut width of 1 14/32", 1 3/8", or even less on certain models.

Volute- To volute or not to volute? Some stringed instrument builders shape a diamond or bullet or "V" at the transition between the neck and the bottom of the headstock, right where the thumb sits. I don't.

Carbon Fiber Rod- I've started building all of my ukulele necks with carbon fiber reinforcement rods. The rods are non-adjustable, but make the neck stiffer and lighter. I previously installed carbon fiber reinforcement in just my tenor ukuleles, but as of 2010, I install carbon fiber rods in all sizes. The shorter neck scales don't actually require extra support, but it's easy to include,and as we say, "It can't hurt".

Fingerboard- Most of my Kepasa Ukuleles have either ebony or rosewood fingerboards. I've also used cocobolo rosewood, koa and maple.

Frets- I use two sizes of fretwire; a narrow vintage style fretwire and a medium small fretwire for some larger ukes. Lately, I've been installing the narrower fretwire on all ukes unless medium wire is requested.

Inlay- I'm not a big fan of inlay, above and beyond the standard round MOP (mother of pearl) dots as position markers on the fingerboard. That's usually enough shiny stuff for me. But I'm very happy to outsource your inlay needs, usually to David Nichols at Custom Pearl Inlay in upstate New York.

Side markers- All Kepasa Ukuleles have side markers positioned at the same frets as the fretboard inlay markers, usually at the 5th fret, 7th fret, 10th fret and 12th fret. I'd be willing to skip them if you asked, but I can't guarantee you'll play the right notes...

Heel- The heel, which is the part of the neck that joins the body, is a good example of form and function. The heel has an important job in helping to hold the neck onto the body at the right angle and with the right amount of mass. The heel can also be a beautiful part of the ukulele. I usually style my ukes with a triangular shaped heel that resembles the old Harmony and Regal ukuleles. Kepasa gypsy ukuleles have a heel that is square in shape, styled after the Selmer-Maccaferri gypsy guitars.

Bolt-on Neck- There are several effective ways to attach a ukulele neck to the body. I prefer a single bolt system that includes a threaded brass insert that is installed into the heel of the neck. A hole is drilled into the heel area of the body to accommodate a ¼" thick hex bolt. The bolt is inserted through the soundhole and tightened into the insert mounted in the heel.

Body- The body consists of the soundboard, back and sides, also referred to as rims. Different wood types will offer very different sounds, as discussed more thoroughly under "Soundboard".

Sides- Sometimes referred to as rims. The wood type of the sides matches the wood type of the ukulele back.

Back- Usually the same wood type as the sides, as above.

Soundboard- Up to 95% of the sound quality comes from the soundboard. Different woods have different tonal properties. Spruce tends to be quite full-toned, with clear highs. Mahogany has a warmer and more midrange type sound. Cedar generally has less volume but has a great tone and is well balanced from highs to lows. (Most classical guitars have cedar tops).

Soundhole- The soundhole is usually round, except on the gypsy ukulele and the KeVita uke, which both have a D-shaped soundhole. The thinline hollowbody Comet often has double pukas, which are two smaller sized soundholes positioned on both sides of the soundboard at the upper bout.

Binding- I use both wood and plastic binding. Wood binding can be maple, rosewood, cocobolo or other, while plastic can be tortoise-shell, black, white, creme, ivoroid, and others. Combinations of colors and even combinations of wood and plastic binding can achieve an almost limitless choice of looks. I generally bind the top and back of the ukulele unless you ask me to bind only the top. The headstock can also be bound, although I typically don't unless you request it.

Soundhole Trim- Instead of the more conventional soundhole rosette, I like to use a ring of binding inside the soundhole that matches the body binding.

Tailpiece Trim- This type of trim is not present on all ukuleles. It can be requested on any uke and or left off any uke. The material used for the tailpiece trim usually matches the binding, but often may be a complimentary color or material.

Bracing- The bracing is one of the most beautiful parts of the ukulele, yet we rarely get to see it again after the uke is fully built. The internal braces, under the soundboard and visible on the the inside back of the uke, help to stiffen the top and back plate. The top and back plates on a quality ukulele are generally pretty thin and would collapse under the tension of the strings if not for the reinforcement of the bracing.

Kepasa soprano and concert ukuleles generally have a brace just above and below the soundhole, and a bridgeplate. Larger body ukuleles like the Gypsy Rose concert, and all of the tenors, employ additional support braces for the soundboard. I alternate between using three fan braces or one additional ladder brace, depending on other building factors of the specific ukulele. Kepasa ukes have either two or three braces on the back, depending on the size of the ukulele.

Bridge- My bridge shapes vary from model to model. Most of my soprano and concert ukuleles have a bridge that is rather squarish with the bottom ends tapering inward. The wood type will match the fingerboard, usually ebony or rosewood. Tenor ukes may also have the same bridge, or they may have a bridge shaped like the Gypsy Rose tenor ukulele.

Bridgeplate- The bridgeplate is another component that you should never need to see, at least not without a mirror inside the ukulele. The purpose of the bridgeplate is to reinforce the area of the soundboard that the bridge is glued onto. Materials used for the bridgeplate can be rosewood, mahogany, maple or koa. I select the bridgeplate material based on the stiffness and thickness of the soundboard.

Pickups- Currently, when I install a pickup in a ukulele, it's usually a Mi-Si Acoustic Trio. The thinline hollowbody Comet usually gets a Shadow pickup with controls for volume and tone.

Bling- I'm not much into excessive ornamentation on ukuleles. I can outsource inlay artwork for your needs.

Tone- It's all about the tone, baby! Ukuleles have sometimes gotten a bad rap for their sound. There are too many mediocre sounding ukuleles in the world, and it's my mission to bring the average way up. A customer and friend of mine wrote "Kevin is one of the few builders who makes ukuleles that actually sound good..." I consider that one of my highest praises.