Musicmakers Baritone Uke Kit Build

JordanK

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Hey everyone. I just received the baritone ukulele kit that I ordered from Musicmakers (www.harpkit.com). This is my first ukulele build and I'm quite excited. I picked this company because I was really impressed with the high quality of their wood components, the unusual (folk) design of the ukulele and I liked the idea of supporting a family run USA based company. They have also made this kit very friendly for newbies and they have designed the kit so that you only need to use common hand tools, etc. Here are some photos of the unboxing. I'll keep posting more photos in this thread as I work on the kit if anyone is interested.

Seems like a great way to stay sane during the ongoing pandemic...

Jordan
 

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I'm looking forward to read about your progress or about your frustrations (I hope the former, but there will be some of the latter ones I expect since it's your first build). The shape is unusual, yet attractive. Since I always read through all documentation that comes with a new laptop or phone I know I would be going over those instructions by now.

Good luck and have fun!
 
I started the build this afternoon after picking up some basic tools at Home Depot using their curb side pickup service. You don't need very much for this kit. Key items are various sizes of spring clamps to hold the wood in place while the glue dries along with some sanding blocks, files, mallet (for installing the frets), masking tape, glue, etc.

This is a very well thought out ukulele kit for those who have never built an instrument before. I will also say that the design is clever because it makes the assembly a bit easier even thought the unique design is a bit more complex compared to traditional kids from Stewmac. The side pieces are made of very nice mahogany that contrasts nicely with the four walnut corner joints. As you can see from the photos, I glued all the side pieces together and then decided to let it dry overnight before closing the last joint. When you close the final joint, it is under tension so all joints need to be really solid before attempting to close the frame.

The only tricky things to watch out for during this phase of the build is that you have to make sure all the joints are really butted up tight and are very solid. You also have to keep checking the frame on a flat surface to make sure you keep everything properly level. The instructions are very easy to follow, the components are very high quality and so far, the whole thing is very fun and relaxing.

I post some more photos when I make more progress.

Jordan
 

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then decided to let it dry overnight before closing the last joint. When you close the final joint, it is under tension so all joints need to be really solid before attempting to close the frame.

Yes, good idea. There is probably going to be a good amount of tension there. Titebond (I'm assuming you are using red-cap Titebond) only reaches full holding power after 24 hours as per directions. Overnight is probably good enough.
 
I was looking at their website yesterday.

wondering if you could build super soprano just be reducing the length of some of the sides...
 
I finally got the frame completed and I thought a would post a short update before starting on the next part of the kit which involves bracing and installing the soundboard.

The luthier at Musicmakers was quite clever in the way he designed the construction of the frame. As you can see from the photos, the frame is basically made of five mahogany curved side panels with walnut corner reinforcements and is assembled in a freeform manner. In the assembly instructions they indicate that these curved mahogany side pieces can vary in curvature and given there is no form involved, you start to wonder how you will get the frame to come out even and symmetrical.

The way they got it to work is that you first assemble the frame. You then insert and clamp a spacer block between the ukulele's heel block and tail block. This does a bunch of things. It forces the frame to a fixed length. If the frame is too long (like mine) you clamp the spacer block to reduce length and to evenly bow out the sides. If the ukulele frame turns out too short, the spacer block gets wedged in to lengthen the instrument. The other thing it does is that it squarely aligns the heel and tail block and thereby removes and twist that may have developed. This spacer block stays in (it is not glued) until the frame is securely glued to the soundboard in the next step. The spacer block is then removed and used later in the project to help clamp the fretboard as it is glued to the neck. This use of this spacer block insures that the frame is the right length and is evenly aligned. Kinda clever.

I finished this part of the project by installing the slotted inner kerfing on both sides of the frame. I will start the soundboard framing and installation once I cut and trim a flat platform out of thick plywood that will be used as a clamping table.

JordanK
 

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Very clever of them... Looks good. Do the walnut corner reinforcements get sanded flush to sides are they left proud?

You could do it either way. The instructions show it sanded flat because they sell optional fancy inlay banding to trim the top and bottom of the guitar. I decided to pass on the inlay (didn’t want to spend $200 on a router and $60 bit) so I will probably sand the walnut corners flush to keep the whole instrument elegantly simple.

Jordan
 
Another phase of the project done and another update. I spent the last couple of days tackling the soundboard. Lots of time was spent measuring and then double checking the measurements before placing and glueing the braces onto the soundboard. Once the braces were dry, I proceed to the most nerve wracking part of the project: Glueing the soundboard to the frame.

I think I must have checked the measurements at least 20 times before I got the nerve up to glue and clamp the soundboard to the frame. My biggest concern was making sure the neck would end up centred with the sound hole. When I was finally satisfied that it was as close as it was going to get, I applied the glue and then used a combination of clamps and weights to have everything firmly together before leaving it overnight to dry. This morning I used a coping saw to trim off the excess soundboard material before squaring it off with a sander. A router would have probably handled this much faster but it felt like an accomplishment to do it with a hand sander and sanding block for my first instrument build project. I still have some more sanding to do but I think I'm going to take a break from the sanding to work on finishing the fretboard and shaping the neck.

Lots of lessons learned during this part of the build:

1) Don't rush. If you are tired and are getting aggravated, take a break.
2) You need to double and triple check all measurements. So easy to mess up.
3) Most important: Working with wood is not an exactly science. You have to count on everything not being exact and sometime you have to play with the wood and the process a bit to get it to work. I guess that's part of the charm when cutting, bending and gluing wooden things together.

Lots of fun.

JordanK
 

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Starting to come together as a box. Looking good... Noticed you sanded the four corner "splines"(?) flush to the sides which looks much better to my eye than leaving them proud.
 
Another short update on my baritone ukulele build project. I spent many hours this week working on getting the neck perfectly aligned to the centreline of the body. Amazing how much time you can spend sanding and filing the parts of the ukulele where the neck and body attach together. I quickly realized that this is probably one of the most critical stages of the build process so I really went slow and kept checking the alignment and fit over and over again to get it right. I may still fine tune the fit a bit more tomorrow before applying glue. I took some breaks in between to finish the fretboard and it’s finally starting to look like a real instrument.

Next steps involve shaping and permanently gluing the neck to the body before installing the back cover. Really enjoying this project.

Jordan
 

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Amazing how much time you can spend sanding and filing the parts of the ukulele where the neck and body attach together. I quickly realized that this is probably one of the most critical stages of the build process

Yup. You got that right. Always the tricky part... Keep in mind that it can be a little off - but not much. Be patient and sand, sand, file away until it is right. It will pay off in the end. Looking good so far.
 
Does the neck have a truss rod or a support strip?

Yes! The neck has a carbon fibre beam embedded along the entire length of the neck. The quality of the components that were included with this kit are top notch. Sitka spruce top. Rosewood fingerboard. Mahogany back, sides, neck plus solid walnut facing on the headstock and trim pieces.

Jordan
 

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Last night I assembled and attached the back cover of the instrument. Once the glue was dry I trimmed off all the excess material and sanded down the edges until the whole soundbox was more or less complete. I even stuck in a custom label so that my great-great grandchildren will know where this strange "family heirloom" came from.

Next up is hours and hours of meticulous sanding before the bridge can be installed and the final sealing and finishing process can begin. I'm going to go very slow with the sanding and finishing because this is a no-bling instrument and the finish will be everything.

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It's really starting to look like a proper instrument. I'm quite impressed so far.
 
Next up is hours and hours of meticulous sanding before the bridge can be installed and the final sealing and finishing process can begin.

Yes, looking quite nice... I would install the bridge after I did the finish, not before. Find the placement of your bridge (don't forget the proper compensation!) and mask off the wood leaving a 1/16 smaller border all around. Makes for a much cleaner look and makes finishing go much smoother without having a bridge in the way.
 
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