NUD: Aklo Bamboo

Jerryc41

Jerryc41

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NUD: Aklot Bamboo

I saw this on eBay for $63. (I think someone here pointed it out.) And I ordered it at the end of December. It was supposed to arrive from China in January, but they lost track of it, and I didn't want to re-order.

Then I was surprised to see our mail carrier at the door with a ukulele box. The one I ordered had a cutout, but I'm satisfied with this one. I can't fault the construction or the sound. It's loud and has lots of sustain.

The whole think is made of bamboo, and it has a nice feel. White fret markets don't show up very well, so I might add black stick-ons.

01.jpg 02.jpg 03.jpg
 
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Jerry and I have been PMing, I also ordered the Aklot tenor cutaway bamboo uke in late December from eBay that was supposed be delivered by Jan. 29, but by February 10 cancelled the order, got a refund, then two days ago got a USPS sticker on my door that it's at the post office for pickup and needs a signature.

I had already ordered another one from Amazon so decided not to bother going to the post office when Jerry told me his was not cutaway, maybe the post office will return to sender. I received the Amazon order yesterday, it's cutaway and is very nice, and as Jerry mentioned, I too am going to stick black fret markers on the top and sides. I already changed the strap buttons to black with gold screws to match the tuning machines, and changed the nut and saddle to black ebony, going to sand them down to lower the action. I'm also looking at changing the strings to black.

Aklot bamboo cutaway.jpg


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 6 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 41)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
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Congrats!

I am also glad that the awful script is gone. However, I'm personally not keen on the looks. Having seen that Jerry is creative and patient and not afraid to create eye-catching instruments, I doubt that we have seen the last of this particular purchase. It will soon get a design upgrade!
 
kohanmike said:
Jerry and I have been PMing, I also ordered the Aklot tenor cutaway bamboo uke in late December from eBay that was supposed be delivered by Jan. 29, but by February 10 cancelled the order, got a refund, then two days ago got a USPS sticker on my door that it's at the post office for pickup and needs a signature.

I had already ordered another one from Amazon so decided not to bother going to the post office when Jerry told me his was not cutaway, maybe the post office will return to sender. I received the Amazon order yesterday, it's cutaway and is very nice, and as Jerry mentioned, I too am going to stick black fret markers on the top and sides. I already changed the strap buttons to black with gold screws to match the tuning machines, and changed the nut and saddle to black ebony, going to sand them down to lower the action. I'm also looking at changing the strings to black.

Aklot bamboo cutaway.jpg


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 6 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 41)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
Click to expand...

Can't wait to see the end result of your makeover. I think it will be excellent. You'll have to let us know your sources for the ebony saddle and nut. And what you used for the black fret markers.
 
Kenn2018 said:
Can't wait to see the end result of your makeover. I think it will be excellent. You'll have to let us know your sources for the ebony saddle and nut. And what you used for the black fret markers.
Click to expand...

The nut and saddle are from Amazon, I bought two sets knowing that I'll probably mess up the first attempt at sanding, see link. The black fret markers are on their way from Jockomo in Japan, might get here tomorrow, but they're actually pearl black, couldn't find any solid black in the right size, so ordered three sets to cherry pick the most solid ones.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EQ24UZ4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.inlaystickers.com/collections/ukuleles
 
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Kenn2018 said:
Can't wait to see the end result of your makeover. I think it will be excellent. You'll have to let us know your sources for the ebony saddle and nut. And what you used for the black fret markers.
Click to expand...

Yes. I'm not to surprised that the one they sent doesn't look exactly like the one they pictured in the ad.
 
kohanmike said:
The nut and saddle are from Amazon, I bought two sets knowing that I'll probably mess up the first attempt at sanding, see link. The black fret markers are on their way from Jockomo in Japan, might get here tomorrow, but they're actually pearl black, couldn't find any solid black in the right size, so ordered three sets to cherry pick the most solid ones.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EQ24UZ4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.inlaystickers.com/collections/ukuleles
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links. I don't see any Jockomo black dots, though.

I have these markers in my Wish List. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PGQYVU...olid=1K6S0U4KGY5NH&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Below is my Cordoba bamboo cutaway, with a different take on the cutting. It cost more than twice what the Aklot cost.

01.jpg
 
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Jerryc41 said:
Thanks for the links. I don't see any Jockomo black dots, though. I have these markers in my Wish List. Below is my Cordoba bamboo cutaway, with a different take on the cutting. It cost more than twice what the Aklot cost.
Click to expand...

Took a bit of looking to find the Jockomo dots on the site, but the ones you found are the same, black pearl, not 100% black. I looked again last night and still cannot find 100% black.

There are two types of cutaways, Venetian that's rounded, and Florentine that has a point at the end. The Venetian also has a variation called soft round, your Cordoba has a very soft round.
 
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kohanmike said:
The nut and saddle are from Amazon, I bought two sets knowing that I'll probably mess up the first attempt at sanding, see link. The black fret markers are on their way from Jockomo in Japan, might get here tomorrow, but they're actually pearl black, couldn't find any solid black in the right size, so ordered three sets to cherry pick the most solid ones.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EQ24UZ4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.inlaystickers.com/collections/ukuleles
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike. I will check them out.
 
kohanmike said:
Took a bit of looking to find the Jockomo dots on the site, but the ones you found are the same, black pearl, not 100% black. I looked again last night and still cannot find 100% black.

There are two types of cutaways, Venetian that's rounded, and Florentine that has a point at the end. The Venetian also has a variation called soft round, your Cordoba has a very soft round.
Click to expand...

I ordered them and the nut/saddle pair. The dots will be here on Tuesday, a few days longer the the nut/saddle.
 
ubulele said:
If you're talking about dots for the side of the neck, the Jockomo dots I got were over-large. I found a set of smaller black dots from Rosette Guitar Products; they're still a bit large for my taste, but acceptable. I also got a set of silver ones for my ukes with dark or no binding. I'm considering going with black or white nail polish—but I suppose how I style my nails is irrelevant.
Click to expand...

The Jockomo order did not arrive. I've been concerned about the size of the smaller ones, I'll check out Rosette. I tried nail polish but couldn't do round very well.

Bill1 said:
If you have a single hole punch and some sticky back nylon sheet already in the house, you can make your own dots now.
Click to expand...

I thought about doing that. I should stop by my local craft store and see what they have in the way of self stick vinyl sheets and hole punches. In fact, I'm going online now and see what I can find, I really would like solid black dots the proper size.

BTW, I sanded down the nut and saddle, the action is good now. I also found black strings at Boulevard Music today where I sat on bass for a recital of a uke class. I also added ball ends on the strings to make them easier to install.
 
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I measured the dots on the bamboo uke, the top ones are a hair under 4mm and the side ones are really tiny, about 1mm. I found a hole punch with multiple sizes, 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 3.5mm, 4mm and 4.5mm (1/8"). I'm going to use the 2mm for the side markers and 4mm for the top to be sure the white inlay dots are fully covered. I'll try it on the Jockomo ones. The Rosette ones don't come in all black.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X5K345K/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
I measured the dots on the bamboo uke, the top ones are a hair under 4mm and the side ones are really tiny, about 1mm. I found a hole punch with multiple sizes, 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 3.5mm, 4mm and 4.5mm (1/8"). I'm going to use the 2mm for the side markers and 4mm for the top to be sure the white inlay dots are fully covered. I'll try it on the Jockomo ones. The Rosette ones don't come in all black.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X5K345K/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Bill1 said:
If you have a single hole punch and some sticky back nylon sheet already in the house, you can make your own dots now.
Click to expand...

I thought of that because I have sheets of white, sticky vinyl - 8 1/2 X 11". Imagine trying to peel the backing from something that small.
 
Bill1 said:
Its easy to peel off the backing using an Exacto knife tip or a pin. Then you keep the dot on the tip of the knife to place it on the fretboard. Easy enough with patience.

Black dots will look good on the Aklots.
Click to expand...

Funny, but that's what I'm doing with my Enya Nova.
 
I received the leather hole punch today, still waiting for the Jockomo black pearl stickers. The punch is a little awkward, rotating the head is one direction only and rather tight. It's designed to punch holes in leather not to make circles, when I tested, the cut out circle stays in the punch shaft so I had to unbend a heavy paperclip and stick it through the opposite punch to force out the circle. I hope it doesn't destroy the Jockomo dots. The 4mm is good for the top markers and the 2mm for the side markers. I plan on following Bill's idea of using an X-Acto™ knife to apply them.

hole punch2.jpg
 
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I received the Jockomo black pearl fret stickers and just finished applying them. It's ready to go out in public with the black and bamboo motif. The hole punch worked out very well, took a little care to remove the small circles from the backing, but Bill's suggestion of using an X-Acto™ knife really helped. The 2mm and 4mm punches fit perfectly. I also added black ball ends, which makes it very easy to replace the strings.

Aklot black parts.jpg
 
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