small project.

kalmario

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no idea if the photo's will show but its a toy ukulele from a discount store here in Nz thats been done over in an attempt to get more sound out of it. its got new tuners, had to refret the thing as the placement was shocking, and as a sound board have used solid pine (as funny as it sounds its not too bad and way better than the laminate ply that was there prior)

excuse the messy finish its kind of a test run

cheers

Cliff
 
It might be photographic distortion, but the distance from the 12th fret to the saddle looks way more than from the nut to the 12th fret. How does it sound?

If you want to get into building, I can recommend the Stewart MacDonald soprano uke kit. They are good value, you will learn a lot, and the finished uke can be very good indeed.

Beware, though - it is highly addictive!

Ukantor.
 
It might be photographic distortion, but the distance from the 12th fret to the saddle looks way more than from the nut to the 12th fret.

Look closer - there aren't 12 frets! :D Just 10. :p

This looks like it would be a frustrating but very learning experience! Thanks for sharing.

john
 
Good job. But also, your dog is adorable.
 
Ha! I can't count! You've used a longer scale length than the original then. That's why the bridge is closer to the bottom of the body than usual. Never mind, it's always fun messing about with ukes, and your workmanship looks pretty good.

I agree with Chuck. Treat it as a learning experience and don't expect too much from the little uke. You are ready for a good kit. Go for it!

Ukantor.
 
On the other hand, you have successfully performed a belly transplant, a neck lift, and experienced the joy of fretting. Things that you now won't be doing for the first time on a kit or scratch project, should you choose to go that route. Given what you have in the project (which I am assuming is pretty much the tuners - which could be reused if you needed to) I would wager you've gotten back your money's worth and then some in experience and knowledge and fun.

I always go into my builds not expecting to much, so I am almost always pleasantly surprised.
 
no offense taken at all

basically its a toy uke which i paid about $9 US for.

played like mud so its an attempt to fix to a somewhat playable level

the bridge is about 5mil too short, which is really annoying as i measured plenty of times, before setting it. playing barred chords sound slightly off but the strings are still stretching so its hard to tell if its the bridge placement of not.

open cords sound fine though. its for my 7 year old son as he currently plays a baritone cigar box uke i made a while back, while he waits for his birthday, to get one of his own.

you may get a video if i can the strings to settle enough to play a tune.

the next plan is to get a black Makala and add a cedar top, but that could be a little ways away.

anyway its a fun distraction

cheers

Cliff
 
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