New Stewart MacDonald Ukulele Kit

To learn the basics about assembling ukuleles, I bought all three of the StewMac Ukulele kits while they were on sale last month. Starting with the Soprano, my plan is to build all three without making changes or adding anything to the instructions.

To date I have the Soprano finished, ready to glue the bridge onto the body, the Concert body assembled and frets installed on the fingerboard. Tapping the assembled bodies produces rich tones with some sustain (I don't really know what a good one should sound like, but believe I would know a bad one if I heard it).

This triple-build project began because I was stalled building a non-kit Baritone Ukulele (that's going to be a Bass)... not because I lack the woodworking skills or tools to do it, but because I didn't have a good understanding about what assembly is like. Without completing the first instrument I know much more -- and have greater confidence -- than when I started. The second body took me 1/2 the time of the first. The fretting the second finger board took 1/4 the time of the first.

Although speed is not my goal, experience with each of the steps takes the majority of wasted time and uncertainty out of the process. In addition, I'll end up with a matched set of three Ukuleles for me, my family and friends to learn how to play!
 
I'm currently applying finish to a tenor, built as per instructions but with a bolt on neck. Its an enjoyable build and makes a nice looking Uke.

I'll soon be starting on a concert. I'm going to try my hand at a simple rosette and maybe thing the soundboard as I suspect 2.1mm is too thick for a mahogany soundboard.

They have got me hooked and I'm already collecting wood for another build or two. :)

Brian
 
I made a SMD tenor uke a couple of years ago, the tenor being the only kit available. I relied heavily on the Mya Moe DVD. Aside from the laminated sides and back, it looks just like mine, which turned out much better than I thought it would. Of course, the price of the new one is a lot lower. As you said, it was challenging - exacting measurements and alignment - and the directions both on paper and DVD could have been more complete.
 
I was talking about the old tenor kit which differed significantly from the old soprano kit in its construction. We are talking peaches and apples here. The biggest difference in the "old" tenor kit and the new are in the laminated sides (saves costs but is icky in my mind), the lack of rosette (which was fun), the simplified and crude neck and tail blocks, but mostly in the bracing pattern which used to be a classic triple fan and is now some sort of X-bracing (???) pattern with weird floating side bars which make me curious on the difference in sound. I'm not saying it sounds any worse. Maybe it sounds killer. I don't know. I just wonder at why they went in this direction. I think they went this direction because the kit is easier to assemble, it costs less to produce because milling is much simplified, and it reduces the cost of having to field technical questions on the the tech help line, a not inconsiderable expense. Basically the whole thing has been cheaped and yes, dumbed down, and I think that is a shame. I take the ukulele seriously and I think SMD should also and put out a serious uke kit.

Harummmphhh. I feel better now.
I think you make good points. I just stumbled upon this site as I am deciding whether to make or buy my first Ukulele. For me, based on this discussion and other considerations, however, I have pretty much decided to buy instead.
It would be very much like me, to throw a new obstacle in my path in order to accomplish a goal! What I want is to play the ukulele. A music / learning project. Instead, I would be making it into a woodworking project. While I do have woodworking skills, and I enjoy doing it, I am also very aware that I live in a one bedroom apartment, and the luthiery is also my living room. Plus, if I screw something up, who am I going to blame! So no, I think I will skip the idea of building my own.
That being said, remember too that there are more and more ukes available from China and other regions, at insanely low price points. To compete against that, with something that the buyer has to build themselves, it's really no surprise, unfortunate though it may be, that SMD had to come up with shortcuts to this kit build. Sad, but certainly not a unique story.
 
It's market driven, if this is what the consumer wants, then this is what they get

I’m inclined to agree, and SMD have got to both know their customers and turn a profit on their kit - fail to make a profit and you fail to stay in business. The customer knows what price, time and skills the can afford to support a self build with and to sell kits in volume the seller has to hit those ‘targets’. As far as I know SMD are the only supplier of kits, anyone else could do so but in such a small market what would be the point?

Self build is a labour of love and you might end up with a load of scrap. Why take that risk with an expensive kit? If you already have the skills needed then there are a few self build books to help you make something better than the SMD kit, and if you buy the kit then it’s part of a skills building exercise the end point of which sees you building from scratch.

I don’t think that I’d build an expensive SMD kit, it’d be a significant cost plus lots of effort for something that might not turn out well and would have no resale value. I’d consider building from scratch but my best returns on effort have been from simply setting-up and sorting out already built instruments. YMMV.
 
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