NBUD Mock Singlecut Narwhalele.

KohanMike

Los Angeles, Beverly Grove West
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Just finished up my new Rondo Hadean bass uke to look like a singlecut/whale hump, which I decided to call a Narwhalele, not only because of the body shape, but also because of the neck sticking out like a narwhal tusk.

I gave Eric's Guitar a sheet of burl veneer to put on a pickguard blank, then shape it to cover the entire top and upper horn space, came out very well. The rear shot shows the back of the pickguard in the horn space. Eric replaced the rear knob with a push/pull on off so I would not kill the battery of the active pre-amp when the output cable is plugged in (which I'm going to do on my other Rondo bass ukes). He also made a thumb rest from the same burl veneer. I added Fender Jaguar knobs and also made the headstock decal. I used Road Toad Pahoehoe black strings (man are they difficult to get on).

Rondo Narwhalele 1024.jpg
 
Stunning bass!

Your collection of basses makes me green with envy. You really like your Rondo Hedeans, huh?
 
Stunning bass! Your collection of basses makes me green with envy. You really like your Rondo Hedeans, huh?

Thanks all. Yes, the Rondos lend themselves to modifications very well, and you can't beat the price with modifications in mind.
 
Congrats, what a beautiful bass. I'd show it to Tammy (our bassist and my spouse), but then I'd be shelling out.....wait....how much?
 
Congrats, what a beautiful bass. I'd show it to Tammy (our bassist and my spouse), but then I'd be shelling out.....wait....how much?

Thanks Nickie. The Rondo UKBE 22-33 shipped was $200.30, the burl veneer was $50.82 shipped for 2 sheets, the black Road Toad Pahoehoe strings were $29.40 from my local Sam Ash, the knobs were from a previous buy, so about $4, the work by Eric's Guitar local to me was $325.86, total of $610.38.
 
That is wonderful to look at Mike!

You sure have an eye for good taste with these basses :)

I am continually impressed with the creativity in your customization of these more pedestrian Rondo uke basses...

Not to give you another project (ha ha) but if I were to customize one of these, I'd want to make it look like one of the Ned Steinberger headless basses that were so popular in the 1980's, but given how much these poly-type U-Bass strings stretch and the constant tuning required to get them to hold pitch, I dont think that the adapted Portuguese-guitar style tuners would work very well unless you had different, pre-stretched 'double-ball-end' strings like the custom strings they sell for the Steinberger basses.

example of the Portuguese-guitar style tuners:
AlfamaL7head.jpg


example of the Steinberger headless bass bridge [from the iconic trapezoid-shaped body model]:
130508-Bass-Mag-Steinberger-Spirit-002.jpg
 
That is wonderful to look at Mike! You sure have an eye for good taste with these basses :) I am continually impressed with the creativity in your customization of these more pedestrian Rondo uke basses...

Not to give you another project (ha ha) but if I were to customize one of these, I'd want to make it look like one of the Ned Steinberger headless basses that were so popular in the 1980's, but given how much these poly-type U-Bass strings stretch and the constant tuning required to get them to hold pitch, I dont think that the adapted Portuguese-guitar style tuners would work very well unless you had different, pre-stretched 'double-ball-end' strings like the custom strings they sell for the Steinberger basses. Example of the Portuguese-guitar style tuners:

Thanks very much Booli. Yesterday I sent Kurt at Rondo the image and replied asking if he could include it in his next email blast, that's a surprise, of course I told him yes. I have a couple more mods in line, but rather than tip my hand, I'll post them when they're ready.
 
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