A mainland Resonator?!??!?!
You win the gold star...
Now if you look closely at the picture you will see that the resonator "cone" is the bottom of a 1lb coffee can. There are two things to note about this:
1) It's absolutely essential that you use the right brand of coffee - only Cafe du Monde from New Orleans has the proper mojo to match the red cedar.
2) By leaving the "best buy" date on the can I have thoughtfully considered my heirs. Some day 100 years from now my great-great grandson will be able to prove to the Antiques Road Show that his great-great grandfather butchered, I mean, modified, the rare and valuable Mainland red cedar concert "back in the day" before it became rare and valuable.
Actually, the real things to note are that the hole has to be a very snug fit because the can actually rests on the top of the ukulele by its rim. The can is cut very short, only about 3/4" of can hangs down into the uke. This is because I wanted a real "wood body resonator" sound.
I also used a little then CA glue on the inside of the top all around the hole to stabilize the wood to help prevent it from splitting or shrinking away from the can.
The can is not glued in, but fits snugly and rides on its rim.
I've seen a couple of conversions where someone just upended a can in a loose hole, letting the can sit on the back of the uke. That works, but volume is low and it sounds more like a tin can than a wood-body resonator.
Hopefully, this will be louder and sound more like a resonator. Time will tell.
Oh, and, yes, carving a 4" diameter hole in the top of a new Mainland red cedar concert ukulele was
very nerve wrecking!
John