Gauging interest in custom Uke stand.

Markbailey

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Location
SW Louisiana
Wondering if there would be any interest in a little different type of ukulele stand. I built this one to go with the ukulele I got my daughter for her birthday. I've not seriously considered how much I'd have to charge for one, but if there is interest I could figure it out. It is built using sinker pine recovered from the Calcasieu river in southwest Louisiana. This would certainly not be a travel stand as it is not built to withstand hard knocks. I have built quite a few guitar stands somewhat similar to this, but this is the first uke stand.

Please reply here if you want to discuss.

EDIT: Fixed picture orientation.
 

Attachments

  • photo 4 (1).jpg
    photo 4 (1).jpg
    48.2 KB · Views: 159
  • photo 5.jpg
    photo 5.jpg
    43.5 KB · Views: 114
  • photo 2 (1).jpg
    photo 2 (1).jpg
    38.4 KB · Views: 100
  • photo 1.jpg
    photo 1.jpg
    45.7 KB · Views: 95
  • photo 1 (1).jpg
    photo 1 (1).jpg
    41 KB · Views: 88
Last edited:
I think it is beautiful and sculptural.
 
That's lovely bentwood. I'm always looking for very stable, not super pricey stands. This takes up a fair amount of floor space though. :/

Some of the guitar stands and even some uke stands don't hold soprano or concerts safely. They seem to work better for keeping the lower bout of tenors and baritones off a surface. I really like the full support for the bottom of the uke on your style.
 
Last edited:
It would take up half the living room (hooray for old NE houses!), but it may be worth it -- seriously, that's the coolest stand I've seen.
 
beautiful, how much does it cost ? i know thats your question,think of how much materials are, and how much your time is worth :). uku stands are usually around the 20ish mark (or at least what i have seen) and those arent made of georgous wood, or that stylish
 
I'm trying to work out some of the details now. Shipping solutions as well as how much I could make one for are what I'm currently trying to get figured out. The material cost is easy to figure, the challenge is how much time it would take to build them. That one took quite a long time, but it was the first I've made so hopefully future examples wouldn't be quite so time intensive. As far as size, I could make one for any size uke without much trouble. The one pictured is for a tenor of course, but changing the curves for a smaller uke would not be an issue.

Also, this perhaps may not be the proper forum for this, if that is the case please move to where is appropriate.

Mark
 
It's very elegant and classy looking. :)

But, as pointed out, it looks like it would take up some real estate on the floor and be relatively easy to accidentally knock over. And unless you sent it in pieces with "some assembly required" I don't know how easy it would be to ship.
 
Yes you are exactly right. That's what I'm trying to figure out right now. It might not be feasible. I am retired and make custom wood items pretty much all the time and actually am not much concerned with making a huge profit, I just enjoy doing it. I made this stand for a particular purpose, and was just struck by how pretty I thought it was, however it may be impossible to make and ship them for a reasonable cost.

I took the pictures of it today and created this post without really seriously considering how I would ever manage to ship them. Also, in reference to the floor real estate, no it's not a low profile stand by any measure. There are ways I could modify it to make it take less space, but honestly I think that would detract from the appearance. There are a lot of really low profile inexpensive stands readily available, so I'd not want to go that way .
 
Run the numbers. That thing is gorgeous.
 
it would help if the pictures were right side up!
 
Looks very classical but again the footprint would not be ideal for most folks . . .
 
Is there a way you can make it as a "kit" ? Where I see the dark spots is that where it is screwed together and buttons are used to cover them? It appears they are contoured rather than just flat spots. As a custom builder, forget about mass marketing. The question is if you are enjoying it enough to only make three or four or a dozen or more? My personal lament is that my house has no place to put it. Would you be willing to offer your skills and services to someone who has an idea of what they want but lack time-skill-material to make it reality? This has been a satisfying and profitable niche for what I do.

Another word of wisdom taught to me by my first real estate broker. (1963-1967) Do not put your own personal level of poverty onto a potential buyer.She said it would be easier to sell a house I could afford, than to sell a more expensive one that I could not afford. It really was true---and still is, as people come to me and ask for something. case in point---a woman picked out leather for a recliner that was $21.00 a square FOOT! It came to $3875.00 for leather alone. Her comment upon hearing the price was " I thought it would be about $4000.00, do you want a check now?" My thought at the time was that if I believed in reincarnation, the next time I wanted to come back as a plumber, because as a teacher, I surely couldn't afford a chair like that.
 
it would help if the pictures were right side up!

I agree, what's weird is that they were correct on my ipad, something about the upload changed the orientation. I will try to get that corrected this afternoon. I'm not exactly a forum super user so I'm betting I did something wrong. :)
 
Is there a way you can make it as a "kit" ? Where I see the dark spots is that where it is screwed together and buttons are used to cover them? It appears they are contoured rather than just flat spots. As a custom builder, forget about mass marketing. The question is if you are enjoying it enough to only make three or four or a dozen or more? My personal lament is that my house has no place to put it. Would you be willing to offer your skills and services to someone who has an idea of what they want but lack time-skill-material to make it reality? This has been a satisfying and profitable niche for what I do.

Another word of wisdom taught to me by my first real estate broker. (1963-1967) Do not put your own personal level of poverty onto a potential buyer.She said it would be easier to sell a house I could afford, than to sell a more expensive one that I could not afford. It really was true---and still is, as people come to me and ask for something. case in point---a woman picked out leather for a recliner that was $21.00 a square FOOT! It came to $3875.00 for leather alone. Her comment upon hearing the price was " I thought it would be about $4000.00, do you want a check now?" My thought at the time was that if I believed in reincarnation, the next time I wanted to come back as a plumber, because as a teacher, I surely couldn't afford a chair like that.


Some good advice right there. I appreciate it.

The dark spots you see are walnut dowel plugs that cover the countersunk screw heads. I was really not thinking of mass production, the most of any one thing I like to make is 5 or 6, with the last always being the best because I slowly improve the build with each successive example. Once I've improved a design as far as I'm able, I'm pretty much done with it. As far as making a stand or whatever using a users design, that would be something I would love to do. As long as it's within my ability range I would welcome such a challenge. As I said earlier, I'm retired and the last thing I'd want is for my favorite pastime to become work.
 
Yes I am interested. Please let me know the price if you decide to produce it. Thank you.
 
It really is lovely and would be a nice piece of functional art in the right space.

As a woodworker I'm just curious- is it steam bent or bent lams? (my guess is lams since softwoods generally don't steam well to my knowledge)
 
Top Bottom