Important -- decorating ukelele

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quevann

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Hi, my name is Evann. I recently got a ukulele for my birthday and have progressively attained a fluidity of skill with it. Now that I have "tamed the beast", I want to paint a picture on the back of the ukulele without ruining its resonance?

tl;dr Will painting the back of my ukulele with nail polish ruin its resonance?

THANK YOU!

-e
 
Painting the back shouldn't hurt the sound. The back does have some impact on sound but not a great deal. Some people even paint soundboards but there you want to be very careful because you can reduce the volume/tone of the uke.
 
Painting your uke

Are you going to use oil or acrylic? Are you going to do anything to the existing finish on the back so the paint will adhere better? When one sees the number of painted ukuleles and wood ones with such a heavy finish on them, it seems to be over rated about keeping coatings thin. Consider stripping the back; painting your picture, and cover the back again with rattle can lacquer in whatever type you want such as matte-semi gloss-high gloss over the back and the new painting.

I just re-read your posting---nail polish. It would seem to me that you would need to somehow thin it, and prepare the surface so the nail polish has something for preventing chipping and / or peeling.
 
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If You going into that much detail, you must be some artist.....I'd clean and scuff the surface and spray a first coat then paint on there, I wouldn't use laquer and enamel, just one....good luck..
 
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Hi.. My husband painted a dolphin for me (photos on my profile page) He used acrylic's he did sand and prime first. It was a huge project. He painted the sound board however it does muffle the sound some, compared to the sound of my daughters ukulele. I don't play it much anyway as I prefer concert size.
It's a beautiful image and I can't wait to see you finished product. Do you have a second uke to play while it's in progress? :)
 
Sounds like a fun project. If you find it ends up negatively affecting resonance you can always remove it. What kind of finish does it have now?

I second fitncrafty's question about a back-up ukulele. (why do I picture cotton balls between the tuning knobs when you say 'nail polish'?)
 
I would get that image printed as a decal/sticker, and stick it.
There are shops that can do this for you, as well as online places like Zazzle.com
 
progress!

Screen shot 2012-09-26 at 5.24.19 PM.jpg

Painted with nail polish. Any tips/comments? :)
 
Finished product!

Screen shot 2012-09-28 at 4.32.45 PM.jpg

No change in sound (that i can notice)!!
 
That does look pretty cool, even if it's not something I'd necessarily want on my own uke. You shouldn't have any trouble identifying your uke if it wanders around at a meetup, eh? :)

If you haven't already you might want to consider protecting it with a couple thin coats of clear acrylic laquer.

John
 
Very cool and personal. As others have suggested -- maybe some clear finish. It'd be a shame to wreck it.
 
Yestyn The Great said:
I don't mean to be judge mental but why would you want to paint your uke? I realize that it would add personality but still.
Click to expand...

Same reason the beatles painted their rolls royce, some people are just creative and enjoy being individuals not sheep.
 
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