Grizzly Kit - First crack at this luthier thing

OK I know its JV and all that, but I just finished my first uke build on a Grizzly Kit and think it came out OK overall.

http://kidontheroad.tumblr.com/post/558621468/finished-this-ukulele-the-other-night-made-from

Still trying to keep this bad boy in tune but was a fun experience. For my next trick, I've dismantled a crappy old tenor banjo and am thinking I can transform it into a banjo uke...

Hey, congratulations on your first build. It does look good.
Could be the strings are still stretching...... just give it some time.
If need be, you could always upgrade the tuners.

Nice job on your first uke!
A great next step would be to build another Grizzly kit, but replace the soundboard with solid spruce or mahogany. This gives you some expience in crafting braces and yields a much better sounding instrument. My two spruce-top Grizzlies are LOUD!
Mika

Good idea about replacing the top. I've played some cheapy plywood jobs that sounded so good it ticked me off. I take solace though in the fact that mine will sound just as good or better 50 years from now... while the plywood jobs will be land fill material. A cheapy with a real top might just fair a bit better in the long run.

Not knocking the cheapy kits... they can turn out some fine sounding instruments. Stew Mac solid mahogany soprano was my first. Excellent sounding uke even though it's shaped like a salvador dali painting.

Did you get you fine looking grizzly to stay in tune in the end and would you recommend this type of build?

In case the OP doesn't get back to you:

I just finished my 1st Grizzly kit and I would recommend this as a first step into building. I would also suggest that you replace the nut, saddle and tuners. I gave my finished kit to my oldest daughter for her birthday and just barely got the finishing touches on it just before we gave gifts.

The uke went to her with the tuners that came with it but I am going to buy some better ones and replace them. I bought a blank bone nut and sanded and filed it until it seemed right.

Do a search on this site on Grizzly for a lot of good advice. I know very little but have a smidge more knowledge than when I started the kit. I will probably buy another so I can try to improve some of the screw-ups I made before I try a uke from scratch.