Wolfelele

maki66

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Hello everyone.
I searched and didn't find a dedicated Wolfelele thread.
Mods- Please delete if there is one.

I saw these in the movie "The Mighty Uke" and I was intrigued.
Those students in BC Canada were using these and sounding Great.

I plan on building one in cherry, eventually.
Anyone with experience building or playing these?
Thanks!
 
Fellow UU member Frisbee Fred built one of the tenor Wolfeleles, and fellow UU member BEVOMU has at least a dozen YT vids she did for the Seasons challenges playing a baritone version...

I've heard from others, that without a pickup and an amp, they are rather quiet, and good more as a teaching exercise with the kiddos rather than making a great sounding instrument from a kit.

The idea is a nice one, but you can BUY a uke that sounds better that does not require assembly for the about same price...
 
These should keep you busy for a while, and also provide more info, and a look at what is involved in making a Wolfelele...

Following up to my previous post, but with links for you:

Here is a thread posted by brother Pippin, who is the publisher of Ukulele Player Magazine (the eZine):
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...ele-Uke-Kit-Teaser-Review&highlight=Wolfelele

Also, our own Daniel Hulbert, has a nice overview of the soprano kit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUvsn04GjPY

Here is Frisbee Fred's thread with his tenor:
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...a-Wolfelele-Tenor-Ukulele&highlight=Wolfelele

and some of Fred's videos with the tenor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egPF4ohoVEA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCSOJJc_fZ4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWg6WYnPAyQ

Here are the videos on BEVOMU's channel with her Wolfelele, which she has named 'Mr. Dinosaur':
https://www.youtube.com/user/BirdsEyeViewOfMyUke/search?query=Wolfelele

Also, here is a time-lapse video someone put up of the assembly process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qBG_pHip7k

and a demo by The Gadgeteer, she is also a UU member:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1shM2Q7WTZQ
 
Booli you may be the uncrowned king of comprehensive replies. Thanks!

Ha Ha! Thanks for the kudos.

I'm just trying to pay forward the help like I've always received here on UU, and these links above are most of what I came across in my own search on these instruments. I may still be wishing for a baritone scale Wolfelele, with the hope that added string tension from tuning it in fifths CGDA will give a better sound by causing the top to resonate more, but these have no bracing inside, so I'm not sure if my intentions will cause it to collapse...

On average the CGDA strings set (made from custom gauges of classical guitar strings) on baritone can have about 15-25 lbs MORE total string tension (depending upon which exact strings are used) than the common DGBE 'chicago' tuning (which usually tops out at 52-58lbs total tension for the string set), and I'm not sure if such a build can handle it.

If not, it might be possible/necessary to add a few fan braces and/or horizontal brace to the top to help it, but I lack the experience to tell if that will also make the instrument quieter despite adding strength...
 
HELLO! i am the proud owner of the mr dinosaur wolfelele! i have a friend who is very practical and patient, and she built it for me, it's lovely! i went for the cherry wood option, baritone uke, it has a slightly curved back which made the build more fiddly than in the time lapse demo's you can find on youtube, she needed quite alot of clamps to hold the curved back in place when gluing the body together, but the sound is wonderful, i think the wood and curved back add to the depth and volume. we put in a pick up, and i added strap buttons, we put an extra length of wood along and inside the bottom edge of the body, the side the uke can sit up on, to accommodate the pick up and strap button comfortably. i played the uke non stop in videos for absolutely ages, although recently as the instrument has settled i've getting more string buzz. it has a zero fret, the same size as all the other frets, i'm jammed a bit of matchstick between the nut and the zero fret, which has raised the strings there, and fixed the buzz, i can play it fine with open g tuning (dgbd) and just simple bar chords, which to be honest is how i often play it anyway! but to get back to better intonation for dgbe regular chord shapes, my pal is gonna replace the zero fret with some fatter fretwire, to give a better and permanent fix.

yes you could buy a pre-made instrument for the price, but if you wanna make your own, the wolfs are great kits, you can decorate the whole thing just however you want, my friend put tru oil over all unpainted wood (which brought out the lovely cherry colour and grain beautifully), and an acrylic varnish over the front of the uke that had my dinosaur painting on!

i've got shed loads of vids with the uke in, you can have a look here (it's a youtube search selecting out just my wolf vids)

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wolfelele+birdseyeview

i'm not sure how many of vids feature the temporary matchstick-zero fret fix, this is the most recent vid i've done with the wolf, so i know for sure it's since the fix, and even with this temporary, imperfect fix, i think the uke still sounds good!



if you have any questions, feel free to ask me here, or PM me, any techie questions i will ask my pal who built it, and bring her answers back to you!
 
Last edited:
Hello everyone.
I searched and didn't find a dedicated Wolfelele thread.
Mods- Please delete if there is one.

I saw these in the movie "The Mighty Uke" and I was intrigued.
Those students in BC Canada were using these and sounding Great.

I plan on building one in cherry, eventually.
Anyone with experience building or playing these?
Thanks!

I made one of them a couple of years ago. I wasn't impressed. I didn't like the overhanging sides, so I cut them off. The strings were strange. "Put the thickest one here and the next thickest one here..." That could have been handled better. I gave it to a friend who gave it to her little grandson.
 
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