Pre-Made Fretboard

There have been numerous complaints about inlay work coming from Taiwan and Vietnam. I don't know if Bruce Wei is one of the "problem" makers or not, but it's worth looking into.

If it is, most of his work is beautiful looking "wall art" but the instruments frequently split, warp, crack, and inlay pieces fall out.

I'd go for something from Stewart Macdonald or Luthier's Mercantile and forgoe the fancy inlays.
 
That's the other thing. The inlaid fretboard is unslotted. You'll have to cut your own fret slots, risking damaging the inlays in the process. Intonation errors are totally in your hands, so you'd better get it right, or find a preslotted fretboard in Uke scale length.
 
Hana-lima Ia sells slotted fret boards in all uke sizes. I've bought a few. They are reasonably priced and come in ebony or bubinga. Slotting $6 extra. They ship quickly.

I highly recommend them.
 
UkEdman90 said:
im looking foir a pre-made fretboard for my cigar box uke im currently building.....
Click to expand...

I bought an entire uke kit from Grizzly for $23 plus shipping. It includes neck and fretted fretboard. I haven't assembled it yet, but my plan is to use the neck and fretboard and bridge and nut for a cigar box uke. Eventually I'd like to make my own parts, but I like to start out in manageable steps.
 
I also went the Grizzly route, but the fretboard stinks, IMHO. But, it is a good deal, you get a neck, a bridge and tuners. Worth the price. The neck has to be flattened where it joins the body, it's curved. I found that the most difficult part.
 
can any one link me anything here? im looking to build two ukes... im over the inlay crap lol so please help me out.... price is no biggie just dont wana kill my pocket book!
 
mwalimu said:
That's a very nice deal. Let us know how it turns out.
Click to expand...

i will i also bought a inlayed fretboard i was told to stay away from :p

i am going to try and make it work was about 20 shipped so meh no big!...

be sure to chime in on my thread im going to start about me building two cigar box ukes!
 
Let us know how it works out. There's very little info given here, such as size, material and who made it.
 
in all fairness...you could slot with minimal tools, and fret it on your own. It takes me about an hour and a half to mark them out, slot and fret. But if you want a tapered neck, radiused fretboard and inlay, thats a different story.

I've just become a fan of DIY since I cant afford tools or pre-done parts

my ukes rock though lol
 
I buy my fretboards preslotted from Steve Smith at Cumberland Acoustic. I also get my headstock overlays from him. He will also radius the boards and even cut them to your size and fret them. I think his rosewood boards are $12-$15 slotted depending on material. His website is http://www.cumberlandacoustic.com/.

As I understand it, he acquired all the Gibson uke molds and a bunch of parts when they opened the OAI division in Nashville. He said there was a semi truck parked in the lot that was full of everything that Gibson didn't want for their new facility and offered it to him. He supplies the OAI division with fretboards, bridges, overlays etc. He's a great guy to do business with.


Andrew
 
cornfedgroove said:
in all fairness...you could slot with minimal tools, and fret it on your own. It takes me about an hour and a half to mark them out, slot and fret. But if you want a tapered neck, radiused fretboard and inlay, thats a different story.

I've just become a fan of DIY since I cant afford tools or pre-done parts

my ukes rock though lol
Click to expand...

well i couldnt resist so i bought one of those inlayed fret boards haha and i plan on fretting myself!

if u wouldnt mind please send me a pm with tools u use please :D
 
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