New toy to play with..

Tudorp

Big guy with a lil' uke..
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Anyone have one of these?

1st, let me tell ya. These things have the "cool factor" going for them. It reads pretty dang high on the "Coolometer" IMHO. But, that said, these things sound freaking HORRIBLE. I made some rawhide friction washers for the tuners, and they hold pretty good now and they are actually friction tuners now instead of slick hard plastic on shiny smooth chrome for it's friction surface, (whos idea was THAT, lol). Kinda like soaking the soles of your sneakers in motor oil so you can get more traction on the floor. Anyway, Intonation? FAGEDDABODDIT!!!.. Intonation starts to go off at about, what, the #1 fret!!! lol.. That is of course once you get it to hold it's tune between adjustment, and actually plucking the string.. ;)...

Anyway.. I think this thing is cool anyway.. Sorry, it just is.. Regardless of how it sounds, and the fact that it is pretty painful to actually play it. But, I think I am going to pull the neck off this thing. I think the solid chrome plated cast metal neck, complete with cast frets, fretboard, and nut (all being cast along with and in the neck) is the issue with these things.. The chrome plated cast head, tension bolts, and all, is actually not a bad design. It has a cool "tinny" tin can resonance to it as you would expect. But, I think I am going to pull the neck off this thing, and build a neck out of maple, with a real fretboard (rosewood) with real frets, and some decent tuners, and a real nut from bone or maybe even ebony. I am thinking about a bit longer scale, like a super soprano or something. I think that would make these things actually a really cool, and even a respectable banjole.. This is gonna be fun... Let's make a "Dixie Dük" out of this thing.. ;)

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Did I see that one on Ebay or Craigslist?? I hope you can get it playing sweetly - otherwise, it will make a cool 'wall hanger'!

cheers

Roberta
 
This specific one, no. But, yes, you probably seen one or several on ebay over time, and/or craigslist. They are vintage, but not that awfully rare, and they show up on ebay fairly regularly.

Wall hanger? hell no. If this project doesn't work, it's going under the seat of my truck as a weapon. This thing is heavy and bullet proof. This thing would knock someone the heck out if ya got hit by it.. hahhah
 
Aloha Tudorp,
If anybody can save this, you can..intresting looking pot...is it casted iron one piece and chrome plated? it (um) looks kinda thick eh..
I like the clean look of the design though and the built in tension fasteners.. are you planning to make a true banjo neck extending across the pot?
Just cant wait to see the finished product..with you, I know that would be in a few weeks...have fun and good luck...
 
That banjolele is dripping with mojo.
 
I had always thought these things were polished cast aluminum. But, I don't think so now. This thing is pretty heavy, and if I make the bride mad, I will be sure this thing isn't within her arms reach. It's not "iron", but it is some sort of cast metal. probably a cheap "pot metal" then chromed. The neck the same. It is very cool looking, but the neck is it's problem I think.. I'm not gonna do allot with it until I get the shop moved. But, this is definatly on the "tado" list..
 
...... it's going under the seat of my truck as a weapon.....


Ain't nobody gonna mess with you!! :D You will have fun playing with it, what with the new neck & all - that inside edge looks kinda 'deep' - would you consider removing some of it - just leaving the 'posts'?
cheers
Roberta
 
Tudorp got this uke from me. I was initially attracted by the "ooh, shiny" factor, and it is VERY pretty in person, but it just doesn't make nice sounds. As Tudorp says, the intonation is so remotely far from being anywhere close to true that it's fairly obvious whoever made the instrument didn't really know what a fretboard WAS. I liked it to look at, but I thought it was better to let it go to someone who had a chance of making it playable. It's not even really viable as a wall hanger unless you have a wall made of granite. "Heavy" doesn't really begin to describe it.
 
Actually, it would make a pretty damn good deep sea fishing lure. It's shiny, and it has a built in sinker.. lol.

No at this point, no plan to cut the pot down, but like Brudda Stan mention, will probably end up making the neck through the pot.
 
Is it bad that your description made me want a sound sample? If you decide to leave it as-is, you could always pop in some earplugs and play it on your porch to annoy the neighbors. :)
 
Trust me, metricfuture: you do not want a sound sample unless your objective is to attract fertile male cats or scare young children on Hallowe'en.
 
lol.. Yeah, it's bad you want to hear it.. You must have issues... So, I'm gonna cut a sound sample this weekend before I do anything else to it.. I am actually having fun with it's "sound" really. My daughter came in my bedroom whilst I was jamming and started asking me to stick my tounge out along with other small home tests to check for a stroke.. lol Not to mention, I am in big trouble now. I hung it on my hanger beside the bed where my wood pot banjole usually hangs. Apparently the headstock is thinner, because it fell right through, and low and behold, it banged hard onto the top of my bedside table. Yeah, it matches the one on the wife's side and the bed, so it is part of a "set". Except now my side has a huge gouge in the top.. lol.. Didn't do a thing to the uke, but made a drainage ditch looking gouge in the top of the table.. The bride is gonna kill me when she sees that. She already gets onto me because the house has ukes and guitars all over the place, and asked why her damn house looks like a freaking Hard Rock Cafe.. lol
 
...otherwise, it will make a cool 'wall hanger'!
or head-banger. Anyone who plays bars should have one of those handy - not to play, but to brain obnoxious drunks with if they get too close! LOL
 
Ok.. Here is a sound sample. It isn't "as" bad as it was, because I did a little to it. New strings, made some friction washers from rawhide to help keep it in tune, and put on a bridge I made for another banjo awhile back but never used. The bridge helped TREMENDOUSLY really. But, I still plan to make an "Interchangeable" maple neck for it. I am going to design it so it can be swapped back and forth from the original metal neck, and the maple one though. So, here is the "Metal Militia" in all it's tin can glory.. ;)

 
Wow...you guys have no idea how much better it sounds now. The new bridge has really made a difference; the intonation is charmingly wonky rather than, as it was before, so horrible that I couldn't bear to play the poor little thing. The sounds it makes now actually resemble music. The new bridge seems to be quite a bit higher than the old one; is that what's doing it? I knew I was right to send the Dixie to someone who understood it...
 
Yup, the bridge is the biggest improvement so far. I think the maple neck with a real fretboard, frets, and nut will be a huge improvement too. But, the bridge does make it very playable as is. Being higher off the skin gives it a bit more sustain, and volume, and notice this bridge is one I made specifically with more surface contact area on the bottom against the skin, which transfers more vibration to the skin from the strings. It did make a substancial difference for a quick fix.


Wow...you guys have no idea how much better it sounds now. The new bridge has really made a difference; the intonation is charmingly wonky rather than, as it was before, so horrible that I couldn't bear to play the poor little thing. The sounds it makes now actually resemble music. The new bridge seems to be quite a bit higher than the old one; is that what's doing it? I knew I was right to send the Dixie to someone who understood it...
 
Oh, man, that's kinda painful! :)

Maybe the "frets" are tuned to one of those eastern "microtonal" scales... LOL

John
 
That is correct Phart.. That's why.. Im going with that.. Sounds better than "I SUCK..." hahhah



Oh, man, that's kinda painful! :)

Maybe the "frets" are tuned to one of those eastern "microtonal" scales... LOL

John
 
That is correct Phart.. That's why.. Im going with that.. Sounds better than "I SUCK..." hahhah
I was serious, though. I'm assuming it's asian made and they may have not known (or cared) where the frets should be...

It ain't that you suck, if the intonation is terrible ain't nobody going to be able to make it sound good.

(Gotta admit for myself though it would be nice to have an excuse from time to time...unfortunately, I don't think anybody is going to believe my KoAloha was built with a microtonal scale - I'll have to make sure to hide the headstock in my vids... LOL)

John
 
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