A Challenge to cheap uke owners

Harry R

Harry R

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This contest has no particular prize, however I came up with this and thought it would be a great idea to challenge the rest of you with.

The challenge is: Give your ukulele a paintjob!

If you have a cheap, £15 ukulele as I do, you may well get bored with the design and fancy something fresher. I did this to my ukulele over the summer and would love to see you guys come up with some awesome designs. As a huge Reggae fan, this is what I did:
 
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hey Harry,

nice job brother...great sentiment...perfect for a uke cause after all, it is an instrument of luuuuuuurrrrvve:love::love::love:...I've done this kind of stuff with a couple of ukes I have...unfortunately I am computer illiterate and can't post pictures...nice idea, I reckon you'll get some great responses. cheers mate! eugene
 
I think it's a cool idea got me thinking, but I,m like the other guy .....no idea how to post pics
 
Here is my Oscar Schmidt OU-2 that I painted.
full.gif

body.gif

head.gif
 
Harry,

First let me tell you, that you are a very talented young man! I just checked out your videos on youtube. You have a great voice that really puts feeling into the songs. Your "Ukulele Underground" song was perfect! Keep up the good work, Young man. Also, you did a great job painting your uke!
 
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Hey,

What are your designs from? Just that theyre very family designs as my culture. Māori.

Thank you
 
prettiwiki said:
What insipred your designs?

Just that they look similar to designs of my culture. Māori

Thank you
Click to expand...

I am a white guy living in Normal, IL USA so I went to the internet and typed in Polynesian tattoo for inspiration. I found the Turtle for the head and just mirrored it, but the face is a little different. I actually found a pic of a guy’s face with the tattoo. I redrew it and found the eyes in another piece.
In hindsight I did a little research and have found that it may be a little offensive or slightly rude to just use something like this. I am pretty sure it is New Zealand based. It was my first uke and since I have learned a few things about painting and culture.
 
ukeeku said:
I am a white guy living in Normal, IL USA so I went to the internet and typed in Polynesian tattoo for inspiration. I found the Turtle for the head and just mirrored it, but the face is a little different. I actually found a pic of a guy’s face with the tattoo. I redrew it and found the eyes in another piece.
In hindsight I did a little research and have found that it may be a little offensive or slightly rude to just use something like this. I am pretty sure it is New Zealand based. It was my first uke and since I have learned a few things about painting and culture.
Click to expand...
That's a Maori mok from Aotearoa/New Zealand.
 
ukeeku said:
Here is my Oscar Schmidt OU-2 that I painted.
Click to expand...

I really like it, top paint job.. I also own a Oscar Schmidt OU-2 and wouldn't mind at all if mine looked like that... I would hope that people shouldn't be offended and should like the fact that you like the design enough to go through all the effort of painting this on to your beloved ukulele.. :)

Great stuff.
Keep on strummin
 
Does Spray Paint Count?................

Does Spray Paint Count?............

O.K. not the most artistic creation, but there is a story behind this instrument.
I was at a flea market last fall and for a whopping $4 I bought this ukulele. At the time it wasn't playable. Intonation was totally off, the fret board was plywood with brass rods as frets and fret placement so far off it could not be tuned. The original artwork was a poor rendition of Hawaiian style design like a knock off imported Hawaiian style shirt.

So I took it home and it sat on a shelf and gathered dust. Six months later, as a side project, I yanked the fret board off and stripped the entire instrument. The tuners were junk. Not old vintage tuners that no longer worked, but actual junk. I think this might have been part of a costume, or perhaps a novelty souvenir piece -totally and completely un-playable.

I built a walnut fret board and set frets in for a soprano scale. I had to pry the bridge off and reset it back about an inch to accommodate the scale, and then replaced the tuners with violin pegs. There happened to be an old spray paint can of fluorescent chartreuse in my garage, so I spray painted the body. Then I saw a picture of Herbi the love bug and thought racing stripes might look good, so out came the black spray paint can. Not too artistic, but definitely cheap and painted.Sonny Daze Keylime Roadster.jpg
 
The_Oddness_of_It_All said:
That's is so cool! What kind of paint did you use?
Click to expand...

Just krylon primer, paint, and tripple think clear. If you mix brands it may cracle on you. Krylon is all I will ever use out of a can.
just remember to let each layer dry a week between for best results.
 
ukeeku said:
Just krylon primer, paint, and tripple think clear. If you mix brands it may cracle on you. Krylon is all I will ever use out of a can.
just remember to let each layer dry a week between for best results.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I might just have to try this out:)
 
man some talented folks here.. thanks for the tips! wish i could people, but lemonjelly is my pride and joy, ain't gonna' happen. :)
 
my sister is really great with visual art, so a couple weeks ago I gave her one of my old ukes to paint and she's got the back of it done. I must say, it looks fantastic. I'll be sure to post a picture when it's complete
 
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