My Cherry-lele (uke #0002)

Matt Clara

Matt Clara

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It's got a few problems, but I'm very happy with this one:
Uke0002_01.jpgUke0002_05.jpgUke0002_06.jpgUke0002_02.jpgUke0002_04.jpg

It sounds sweet, and is quite loud. Here's a little vid clip. Don't mind my dank basement office (wouldn't be so bad if I just picked it up once and a while!) Also, it's quite apparent from this vid that I've been concentrating on my building skills, and not my playing skills. Gotta get back to that one of these days!
 
I am impressed.

Somewhere lost in southern Minnesota is a barn full of cherry wood that I cut down from my Grandparents land in Illinois in the 70s and my father had milled up into rough boards. Didn't think that I might want it in the future. ahh well!

Almost a charango sound you're getting from your uke there.
 
Little more about it: excepting the bridge and fretboard, which are wenge dyed black with Fiebing's Leather dye, it's all cherry, right down to the lining, bracing and tone bars inside. All of the wood was procured at Johnson's Workbench, in Charlotte MI. They are a sawmill with a small store up front, which carries lots of fun stuff from Rockler, and if they don't have it in, they can get it for you at no extra cost. I'm lucky to have such a cool resource near me. This uke came out so well, I'll be back down there this week looking for some more quarter sawn cherry.

About the dyed fretboard and bridge: I was going with the straight wenge, until my wife came by and glanced at the parts sitting on the unfinished uke body and said, "Those need to be black." I sputtered out a response involving the impracticality of dying a fretboard. Later, I looked at the parts sitting on the uke body and said, yeah, she's right, black it is. And she was/is right, the black looks spectacular. Thanks, Dear!
 
She's pretty, Matt! Thanks for showing her off. Awesome job.
 
Matt, wow great !! Is this really only your second.
Looks great and sounds great too.
Congratulations.
Dan
 
I'm nt offended that you have used my trademark name for an indigineous build.... looks nice tho I am struggling to come to terms with the leap of invention that is the tail end of the fingerboard and top of the headstock. At least you know it won't get stolen :)
 
Pete Howlett said:
I'm nt offended that you have used my trademark name for an indigineous build.... looks nice tho I am struggling to come to terms with the leap of invention that is the tail end of the fingerboard and top of the headstock. At least you know it won't get stolen :)
Click to expand...

My sincere apologies: I honestly thought combining the word "lele" with, whatever, banjo, for instance, was a common if somewhat "cute" practice for describing one's build. It won't happen again. You should probably take out an actual trademark, though, otherwise you're asking for it to happen again. A google search reveals, you are clearly the owner of the cherrylele. I considered referring to this build as a cherrybelle, as Erich once referred to it, but I thought that might be misleading to some as it doesn't have a bell shape.
 
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Great work, Matt. Nice curls, sweet sound, good sustain... You just got to love a uke like that. Could you post a pic of the neck? I'd like to see how you fashioned it.

Erich
 
Matt, that is awesome! I love the look of the cherry. When are you going pro?
 
Smiley = approval not opprobrium. Call it what you like Matt, it's still a good 2nd build :)
 
Pete Howlett said:
Smiley = approval not opprobrium. Call it what you like Matt, it's still a good 2nd build :)
Click to expand...

Thanks Pete, I was ill-tempered this morning, through no fault of yours. I appreciate your comments, and all the help you've given me along the way. I'm really happy with the sound of this uke, and am fairly unenthusiastic of my first build for the same reason, coupled with the bridge alignment problem.
 
So the best thing to do with that first build is when you have a bad day, set up the video camera in the yard and film yourself jumping up and down on it... works for me :)
 
Pete Howlett said:
So the best thing to do with that first build is when you have a bad day, set up the video camera in the yard and film yourself jumping up and down on it... works for me :)
Click to expand...

The best thing to do if you're not happy with it is to hang it in the shop and then you can see your progress as a builder with each new uke you build!
 
Pete Howlett said:
So the best thing to do with that first build is when you have a bad day, set up the video camera in the yard and film yourself jumping up and down on it... works for me
smile.gif
Click to expand...

Flyfish57 said:
The best thing to do if you're not happy with it is to hang it in the shop and then you can see your progress as a builder with each new uke you build!
Click to expand...

I was thinking of making it an exercise in uke repair. I need to remove the bridge, thin the top, refinish the top, and reposition and glue on the bridge. Sounds like a real pain in the neck, but it's otherwise a pretty uke, and in some ways superior to this second one (the neck has a tighter fit, anyway!).

BTW, I did smash to hell the one CBU I was building that was beyond hope of full functionallity. It was kinda satisfying, but there were a lot of hours into it, so bitter sweet at best!
 
Just so you don't feel too bummed - the world renown classical guitar builder Jose Romanillos ripped the label out of his first guitar (I knew the woman who had it...) he was so ashamed of it....
 
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