The quick, the tiny, the fugly

Sven

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It's finally a reality, the thing you've all dreamed of - a portable ukulele. Gone are the days of unwieldy heavy sopranos and strange compromises such as the Argapa piccolos. Seriously though, I think the Risa stick uke is a great design but it's heavy and somewhat quiet unplugged. The moment I got mine I thought, it's nice but I could make a better one. It took me around four years but once I got started I finished it in little over one day's work.

What got me started was Daniel Hulbert's take on the travel uke, it was lovely but I wanted one with an actual soundboard. Goofed a few times with the tuning pegs because I was a bit out of practice but I'm very pleased with the result.

A video is coming shortly. A few posts with the label "travel uke" on ye olde blogge here:
http://argapa.blogspot.se/search/label/travel uke

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If I were to make another one I would make the end above the zero fret a tad longer, I could use a bit of neck to cradle when doing first position chords (or as they're the only ones I play, position chords).
 
That's a nice project that looks great!

Thanks for sharing. :)
 
Very cool. Curious to hear how it sounds.

(and glad to see Booli back posting :shaka:)
 
On my similar models the lack of headstock was the most annoying feature, or rather lack of a feature.
I do like your use of the wooden pegs.
I must admit that I gave up on the turnaround and favour a more conventional headstock or cbg style cut away like on my pocket knife made uke instructable.
I am also envious of your number 71 1/2.
 
Ok, here it is. A demo video. It is great fun to play but does sound a bit s**. Have you seen those plastic strum thingies they sell for chord practice? Why does that spring to mind...

 
Holding it that close to your body will dull the sound considerably because you body will absorb all the sound. You will get a bit more noise if you hold it away from your body.
 
I think your description of the sound is spot on Sven. It does sound like an ukulele played over a phone line. A unique sound. Not unpleasant. Might even fit into a recording somehow. Sort of like "London Calling" on an ukulele.
 
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