Plastic Uke on Kickstarter

Jimmy Ukulele said:

Not sure if you know how kickstarter works. In case you don't, if the pledged goal is not reached within the timelimit, everyone who backed the project will get their money back and you will have lost nothing. But maybe you meant the risk that you have to trust him that he really makes instruments with the money and doesn't go on a trip around the world with it?

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Just to clarify this a bit further, it's not that you get money back if the project doesn't meet its funding goal, it's that you simply don't pay anything unless and until the project meets its funding goal.

It's true that you're still taking a risk that the person who started the project will fulfill their stated obligations...

I backed it for the fun of it - not because I need another uke. The guy doing this is being creative - doing something fun and interesting and maybe something that can make a few jobs for people. I like the idea of supporting the venture - if I get a new uke and its good - well that's great.

The uke looks cool, but like that japanese plastic uke, this is overpriced.

Also, I don't fall for that "USA Made" crap.

fernandogardinali said:

The uke looks cool, but like that japanese plastic uke, this is overpriced.

Also, I don't fall for that "USA Made" crap.

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Good sounding plastic ukes from Japan cost $145.
http://ukuleleacademy.bigcartel.com/product/all-plastic-paradise-peace-and-ukulelia-soprano-ukuleles
A flea is mostly polycarbonate and Retails at $179.
https://www.fleamarketmusic.com/store/Scripts/prodList.asp?idcategory=6&curPage=3&sortField=sort+desc

So is $125 out of line? No.
(Being made is the USA is a plus for most of us Americans. )

I applaud Scott Seelye's effort and wish him success.
[video]http://kck.st/NRpmt4[/video]

Thanks to all of the people that have backed this project, and the people that have asked questions on this message board.

I thought I should begin addressing some of the questions and comments.

Why is the pledging low? I completely understand. I was explaining on some news channels last night that Kickstarter not my typical route for producing a product. I much prefer to start small and build the company over time. I think this is what is actually happening on Kickstarter anyway. They are not a marketing company, so we are still required to find our own backers. We all do hope to be placed on the front page however. The project has begun to gain some momentum though. My wife and I plan to add an update in a couple of weeks stating that it takes roughly 1000 ukuleles sold to fund the project. If the project is funded, we will match the 1000 ukuleles, and donate them to school music programs.

Why the flat neck? First reason, I wondered what it would feel like. It makes the neck thinner overall, and maintains a constant thickness to the fretboard. It feels awkward when ukulele players first use it, but they soon forget and then love it. The flat neck design also compliments and transitions to the headstock better.

Why will it take $125,000 to make? As mentioned on the project site, the tooling alone is $65,000. Surprisingly, the tool for just the body is about half the size of a VW Beetle. I have over 60 products on the market, and know many of the hidden costs when producing products like this.

Will it really be done by Christmas? That is a very important goal, and one of the reasons to make it in the USA. If it were made in Asia, the tooling would take 3 months to produce, and then another 2 weeks in transit and customs. We found a great tool maker and molder here in the USA that makes these tools in 4 weeks. They are aluminum tools, which last only 50,000 parts, but the tools come with a guarantee for the life of the product. This means we would never need to pay for another tool. This is one way USA companies are competing with Asia. We were going to outsource assembly, but did not like the work conditions of assembly companies here in the USA. So we decided to use some of our space to set up assembly. We will also be able to control quality better this way.

Why Black? The Henry Ford comment was right on. Colors are special order resins that also require additional setup. A black ukulele will also stand apart from the cheap ukuleles that are very colorful.

As mentioned above. The momentum is beginning to build. I have been doing a lot of phone and video interviews, and each one of these will help spread the word. Thanks so much for your support.

Scott

Good luck, Scott. I'm intrigued an hope hte project gets funded. I'd love to try it out, but I'd buy one if it sound and feels right.

The process and materials that made the prototype are very different from the way he plans to "mass produce" it. What you saw in the video, with him assembling in a wood shop, won't be happening. That was the prototype. He's raising money for a machine that will spit these onto a conveyer belt. Which I am not entirely opposed to, BUT even a Blackbird for $1,000+ completely made with carbon fiber is outperformed by wood. Now they do serve a travel friendly purpose and I am not against them. I'm just sayin', let's be realistic. The "sound sample" is a synced professional recording.

Made in the USA is sort of irrelevant. It's a piece of plastic made by a machine and it won't sound as good as a wood one. Now I can dig a plastic uke, but $150? I would buy one for $50, maybe. The old Dolphin Makala's that hang outside the store get beat by the Hawaii sun for the entire time the sun is out every single day. They still appear unharmed and strum quite nice. Now that's a $50 travel uke! Maybe it was made in China but at least it was made by a human. And along the way no one got rich, but many survive. The worst part is thinking about these ukes donated to schools as he promised in part. They have old violin style friction pegs (hows that gonna work on plastic?.... the sound of a classroom full of them may not do the ukulele any favors)

I'm in. Good luck with this venture Scott. I understand that I'm paying a premium as an early adopter and backer. I hope that you'll see continued growth that enables a lower retail price over time.

AndrewKuker said:

I like the way he says, "the Mass Production side of me always wondered, is it be possible to manufacture a plastic ukulele that performs as well as a wooden one? The answer is yes".
Translation - "When I saw that ukuleles were popular, it made me wonder, could this make me rich? The answer is yes!"

The process and materials that made the prototype are very different from the way he plans to "mass produce" it. What you saw in the video, with him assembling in a wood shop, won't be happening. That was the prototype. He's raising money for a machine that will spit these onto a conveyer belt. Which I am not entirely opposed to, BUT even a Blackbird for $1,000+ completely made with carbon fiber is outperformed by wood. Now they do serve a travel friendly purpose and I am not against them. I'm just sayin', let's be realistic. The "sound sample" is a synced professional recording.

Made in the USA is sort of irrelevant. It's a piece of plastic made by a machine and it won't sound as good as a wood one. Now I can dig a plastic uke, but $150? I would buy one for $50, maybe. The old Dolphin Makala's that hang outside the store get beat by the Hawaii sun for the entire time the sun is out every single day. They still appear unharmed and strum quite nice. Now that's a $50 travel uke! Maybe it was made in China but at least it was made by a human. And along the way no one got rich, but many survive. The worst part is thinking about these ukes donated to schools as he promised in part. They have old violin style friction pegs (hows that gonna work on plastic?.... the sound of a classroom full of them may not do the ukulele any favors)

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Let's give Scott the benefit of the doubt and assume that his ukes will be good quality for the price rather than assuming that he's just in it to sell us all cheap crap only to make a buck. Time will tell us more about his product and motives. I wish him well in his endeavour.

AndrewKuker said:

Made in the USA is sort of irrelevant. It's a piece of plastic made by a machine ...

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Injection molding is a huge business here in the Midwest, creating lots of jobs to support lots of families. Work is done in shops that meet OSHA standards for safety, and don't use child labor. It's not irrelevant at all.

scottseelye said:

Why the flat neck? First reason, I wondered what it would feel like. It makes the neck thinner overall, and maintains a constant thickness to the fretboard. It feels awkward when ukulele players first use it, but they soon forget and then love it. The flat neck design also compliments and transitions to the headstock better.

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I think you should put this text on the Kickstarter page. The neck is very different from a regular Ukulele and deserves an explanation.

Good luck with your endeavour.

Doc_J said:

Good sounding plastic ukes from Japan cost $145.

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I have an Amuse and don't like the sound at all. It also has construction issues. There's room for more plastic ukes.

To those who think the Kickstarter uke should be cheaper because it's plastic: this is a low quantity production. Some numbers are available, it's just math.

JamieFromOntario said:

Let's give Scott the benefit of the doubt and assume that his ukes will be good quality for the price rather than assuming that he's just in it to sell us all cheap crap only to make a buck. Time will tell us more about his product and motives. I wish him well in his endeavour.

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Ok, I apologize if I was mean. I just don't agree with a few things including the violin style tuning with plastic knobs. These aren't like the Pegheads with a gear on the inside. And you can pay $20 in the kickstarter to get the grover 2b's that cost about $3 a set bought in bulk. They should come with these. The flat neck thing is kind of funny because uke makers spend a lot of time taking it from that point of flat and shaping it to a radius is for better feel. But that's no big deal.

Scott is a business man. And a successful one. He doesn't need luck. He has 60 products on the market and a very successful skate store/online store. He can take the info/video for kickstarter and with a business plan get backing a number of ways for the plastic uke. And he probably will if kickstarter doesnt succeed. And honestly, all I hope is that his ukes don't suck, because the world doesn't need more crap. It just seemed like "the mass production side of him" is just interested in making a buck. But I guess that's how most business people are. But for real, I hope they sound good and inspire music.

AndrewKuker said:

O... But for real, I hope they sound good and inspire music.

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I agree. The proof is in the playing the finished product. I find Kickstarter a strange funding model for this as the funders take all the risk and the reward (a small discount) is not much of an incentive to my thinking.

But nobody is forced to fund it. Caveat Emptor!

I'm in. If they sound as good as the video I'm sure I will be pleased. Good Luck, Scott.

Gotta admit, I'm tempted.

What strings will be on the uke?

beautifulsoup said:

Gotta admit, I'm tempted.

What strings will be on the uke?

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Maybe they are injection molded too!

gitarzan said:

Maybe they are injection molded too!

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Strings are not a deal breaker for me, but I am curious.

Thanks for the additional comments and questions. I will try to answer them as best as possible.

Grover tuners. Looks like these tuners will be a popular option. The Grover Pegs I am using actually retail from Steward MacDonald for $27.65 for 1 set. There are quantity discounts by going direct, but I imagine you would need to purchase over 1 million sets to get them for $3.

I think both tuner styes have a place. If I were going to use the ukulele at the beach around salt water, or be hiking around with it in a backpack, then I would use the tapered tuners for corrosion resistance and light weight. If I were a professional playing at coffee shops, then I may choose the Grover Tuners.

Strings. The strings used in the video are the standard Martin Ukulele strings. I tested a bunch of strings, but ultimately decided to keep them standard looking for the video. The production version will also have clear monofilament strings, but with a slightly higher density then the Martin.

Can we trust you to donate ukes to schools? We began donating trees for every complete longboard and skateboard sold with our skateboard companies 7 years ago. Since then, we have planted nearly 40,000 trees. Kickstarter has some pretty strict charity rules, so we are beginning to format how the school donation program will work.

The end of the video is the best representation of how the uke sounds in person, and this is a live recording. I will try to find better players then myself to do additional videos.

Also keep in mind the production version will sound better. The prototype was sprayed with .020" of teflon paint by the prototype shop to create that injection molded appearance. This added some extra weight.

Cheers,
Scott

I forgot to mention that I had a wonderful call with the guys behind Ukulele Underground today. They are very inspiring and supportive.

Cheers,
Scott

Just backed this one. Couldn't resist the idea of plastic ukuleles designed and assembled in right here in Oregon. Too cool. Best of luck, Scott.