Next up- 'AstroCaster' Ukulele build

beerbelly

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I had fun building my last 2 ukes, an electric SG Jr. tenor and a StewMac mahogany Tenor. So I decided for a winter project I'd make another electric uke based on a guitar I designed & built, called the 'AstroCaster'.

The AstroCaster has (3) P90 pickups, but the uke size will only fit 2, and this one will have a 20 fret Soprano scale to make it all work out proportionally. Maple neck, Poplar body painted lime green pearl, (2) Alnico 5 single coils, and the big challenge, a Stratocaster-style tremolo cut down to 4 strings.

Here's the sketch alongside the guitar:
 

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Your guitar looks so cool! Annie Clark (St. Vincent) recently made one w/ a similar looking design too! 000E421A-E706-44BF-92D9-251C10C4C13B.jpg
 
I got the tremolo cut down to a 4 string using a jeweler's saw, files, sandpapers and JB Weld:
 

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Finally got all the parts rounded up; some came from China, so it took a while.
 

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Looks great!

Will it use steel or regular ukulele strings?
 
Sorry for the delay; holidays, hooking up a new heater in my garage, etc.

Today I routed & glued the carbon fiber rod in the neck blank, and made a jig to cut my very first fretboard slots. Turns out to be pretty easy using cheap materials that I had on hand- a Harbor Freight Japanese pull saw, a carpenters square, some left over wood chunks and some carpet tape. I used a piece of 1/4" MDF taped to the saw blade to stiffen it & set the depth of cut. The same setup could be used on a full size guitar as well.
 

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Got the neck roughed in today:
 

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Fretboard done and glueing to neck:
 

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Finished shaping and sanding the neck, and made a bone nut today:
 

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Got the body shape rough cut and the pickup & tremolo routs done on the front today:
 

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I finished all the major routing today; just need to clean up the sides & round over the edges. Also modified the tremolo claw for 3 springs.
 

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Made a mini neck plate today, finished all other drilling, and mounted the neck & tremolo today. The trem works just like it's supposed to, but I'll need to shorten the arm to keep it in scale.
 

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First test of mechanical setup with strings attached. Everything works perfectly; well almost perfectly. When the strings are tuned to pitch, they would pull the nut off to the side of the fretboard. I wasn't sure that glueing it (like I normally do) would work, so I cut off a finishing nail to pin it in place. I also added a string tree to keep tension on the higher strings across the nut. The tremolo works great; I have it set to float about 1/16" above the body so I can change pitch higher or lower.
 

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Body edges are rounded over, cable routes drilled, ready for finishing:
 

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Started the wiring; made a template so I could do most of the soldering outside the body rather than working in that tiny control cavity:
 

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Pickguard cut. What a tedious job; lots of back & forth fitting, filing & sanding. Looks nasty 'cuz the protective film is still on, which had my pattern glued to it.
 

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