Travel Ukulele

DanielHulbert

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It is nice to have a solid ukulele that can withstand the bumps and bruises of travel. There are commercial ones available, but where is the fun in just buying one?

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I started out by making a full size sketch of the ukulele. The scale length is 15".


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The outline and interior were cut with a scroll saw. One solid piece of hard maple was used.

I slotted the frets, rounded over all of the edges except for the fretboard, drilled all of the holes, and spokeshaved the neck until it was comfortable. The entire assembly was then given a few coats of nitrocellulose lacquer. The lacquer finish really brought out the natural beauty of the wood.

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I used a handful of nylon spacers and washers along with some “Chicago bolts” (I also saw them referred to as “barrel nuts”) to direct the strings back towards the tuners.

The bridge is a small aluminium tube that was attached to the body with two metal cable clamps.

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A rod piezo was inserted into the rod. The wires from the piezo were fed through a small hole drilled into the jack cavity.



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I used some of D’Addario’s new T2 Titanium acoustic ukulele strings. They are “bright” sounding strings that are working great for this application. In addition, they are transparent with a pleasant purplish tint which add a bit of razzle-dazzle to the end product.

The travel ukulele is complete. With all of the hardware, it is 20.5 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 2 inches thick. I’m very pleased with how it turned out. I set out to make a sturdy and portable ukulele, and I met my goal. Not only is it a fun little instrument, it could also fend off zombies, or serve as a cricket bat in a pinch.

 
I just travel with my tenor. It fits into the overhead on just about any airplane bigger than a Piper Cub, it's a smile inducing machine, and it doesn't need a pick up to be heard!
 
How neat! Another thing to put on the ever increasing to do list. Is the pickup just resting in the aluminum tube, or did you fill it with something?

When I inserted the rod piezo into the tube, I added a tiny bit of glue to secure it. I didn't want it to rattle around. :)
 
I own that same travel ukulele. I did not make mine, though. It was made by RiSA in Germany.
 
...and it doesn't need a pick up to be heard!

Thankfully, even without an amp, it is still loud enough to practice with. Not nearly as loud as an acoustic, but okay for lonely hotel rooms late at night.
 
Cool design. You really squeezed all the elements into a slick package. Do the tuner knobs get in the way when you play?
 
Great intro to the video. Congrats on the instrument and full points for mentioning zombies!
 
... Do the tuner knobs get in the way when you play?

For this ukulele, I naturally strum between the 12th and 15th frets. The knobs don’t get in the way at all. If you strum way down by the bridge it would be a problem, but I don’t know of anyone who plays a uke like that.
 
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