Jerryc41
Well-known member
I got this idea from a picture of a Halloween Makala that someone posted here.
I began with a $20 kit from Amazon. I filled the sound hole and the holes for the neck pegs, and I turned it upside down. I found appropriate graphics online and printed them onto adhesive vinyl sheets from Amazon. The skull pictures I found online were way to small and not the right proportions to fit on a ukulele, so I had to make this one much wider.
There were problems every step of the way. Absolutely nothing went right the first time around. The body wasn't made with great precision, and I realized too late that the neck wasn't on straight. I wanted something different for the bridge, so I cut a "smiley" shape out of oak, printed another smile and set of teeth, and glued that in place. I drilled straight through the bridge and top to make sure it didn't pop off. Despite that, the tension on the strings moved the bridge just a fraction. I added a piece of cedar as a veneer over the headstock because the kit wood was ugly.
The action is still way too high, so I'll have to adjust the nut and bridge. Both of them are items I already had because the kit included cheap plastic.
I used D'Addario Titanium strings and a fretboard that I had on hand. The tuners are Graphtech, but one of them is tight. I didn't want geared tuners sticking out the sides of the headstock.
This is far from perfect, but all I wanted was an attractive Halloween uke, and this fills the bill. It sounds decent, and it will sound better when I do the setup, but I don't plan to use it for professional performances.
I'm very pleased with the way the adhesive vinyl worked, and I had used it before on fretboards and a body or two.
I began with a $20 kit from Amazon. I filled the sound hole and the holes for the neck pegs, and I turned it upside down. I found appropriate graphics online and printed them onto adhesive vinyl sheets from Amazon. The skull pictures I found online were way to small and not the right proportions to fit on a ukulele, so I had to make this one much wider.
There were problems every step of the way. Absolutely nothing went right the first time around. The body wasn't made with great precision, and I realized too late that the neck wasn't on straight. I wanted something different for the bridge, so I cut a "smiley" shape out of oak, printed another smile and set of teeth, and glued that in place. I drilled straight through the bridge and top to make sure it didn't pop off. Despite that, the tension on the strings moved the bridge just a fraction. I added a piece of cedar as a veneer over the headstock because the kit wood was ugly.
The action is still way too high, so I'll have to adjust the nut and bridge. Both of them are items I already had because the kit included cheap plastic.
I used D'Addario Titanium strings and a fretboard that I had on hand. The tuners are Graphtech, but one of them is tight. I didn't want geared tuners sticking out the sides of the headstock.
This is far from perfect, but all I wanted was an attractive Halloween uke, and this fills the bill. It sounds decent, and it will sound better when I do the setup, but I don't plan to use it for professional performances.
I'm very pleased with the way the adhesive vinyl worked, and I had used it before on fretboards and a body or two.
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