ISLAND Instruments - Introduction + Something Different

Hello all, please let me introduce myself: I'm a guitarmaker from Montreal, Canada. A little over a year ago I made an electric 10-string tiple (like a tenor uke, for those unfamiliar). It is to my knowledge, the 2nd in existence (the first was made by Ian Schneller). I never really expected to get an order for another, but lo and behold, e.tiple #2 (and #3 in the world) is a short few weeks away from being completed and out there. I had free reign on both of these projects, and they really brought out something different in me. I found myself testing and pushing the various design elements. They're a ton of fun to build, and play, and they got me thinking that I really would like to build more electric instruments in the ukulele family. I hope to get the opportunity to.

Specs on the current one are:
*3-pc hard ash and Yellow Cedar body
*Hard maple w/ carbon fiber reinforcement neck (I use a 2-way truss rod, 2 CF tubes set deep into the neck and I veneer the underside of the fretboard with laminates of unidirectional CF tape)
*Birdseye maple fretboard w/ gold EVO fretwire
*Celluloid binding
*Gotoh Stealth tuners
*Custom brass nut and quick loading tailpiece
*Archtop-style bridge made from Ebony and Lignum Vitae
*Custom blade singlecoil pickup by Pete Biltoft (it will match the pickguard)









E.Tiple #1 can be seen here: http://island-instruments.com/e-tiple

Are there any 'lectric slingers out there?

Please enjoy the eye candy and let me know what you guys think. I look forward to hanging out here and learning a bunch of stuff about the Uke family. Don't hesitate if anyone has any questions.

Welcome! That's a fine looking instrument. I've made a few electric ukuleles myself. They are a ton of fun.

Thanks Dan! Your stuff is pretty off-the-wall! I dig it.

I'm kind of wondering what the market for boutique electric ukes is like... ie: what (if any) is the demand? I think it would be really cool to make a baritone... maybe even an 8 string bari uke...

Very nice. How about a concert size "taropatch"...a great mandolin substitute with a uke width neck, maybe 1 1/2", at least 1 3/8th"

PhilUSAFRet said:

Very nice. How about a concert size "taropatch"...a great mandolin substitute with a uke width neck, maybe 1 1/2", at least 1 3/8th"

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I had never heard the term taropatch before. You learn something everyday! That would be a really cool project for sure. I love the sound of multiple course instruments.

Nice 'lil electric!
You might find my "low tuned mando" platform interesting as the basis for an electric. It's built identically to the size of a baritone uke (so I could find a case!).
http://www.bluestemstrings.com/pageMando.html

rudy said:

Nice 'lil electric!
You might find my "low tuned mando" platform interesting as the basis for an electric. It's built identically to the size of a baritone uke (so I could find a case!).
http://www.bluestemstrings.com/pageMando.html

Click to expand...

Yup... cases... HASSLE (and expensive)! Luckily, the guys who manufacture TKL are a 5 minute drive from me. They make all my custom fit cases, for a reasonable price and no need to deal with shipping.

If you're in to Mandos, and electrics, check out www.yanuziello.com Joe does the entire mando family. His instruments are immaculate - I consider myself pretty much a 2nd rate cheap knock-off, haha. He's a good friend, HUGE influence, and somewhat of a mentor.

I totally forgot to update the thread. The tiple is complete and I'm beyond pleased with it.
Dig those tiny tuners.
Birdseye fretboard and celluloid binding:
The tailpiece:
In the case:

Pete Biltoft knocked it out of the park with the pickup on this one.

The full album is up on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.690952884289280.1073741839.248713388513234&type=3 and will be added to my website shortly. Enjoy!

Nice looking build.