All wood banjolele projects

Can't wait to see them. I put a soprano neck on one of my 10" pots. They're fun little things.
 
John,

LOL!!!! I guess I am overkilling on the support structures but in camp ukulele style..... Durability above all LOL!!! Actually they will be used (hopefully) by multi generations in my family so I'm building them to last. But then again ya never know when your going to run into a music critic that requires an attitude adjustment......


ukantor said:
Looking great! Those will be handy in a bar fight.

John Colter.
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captain-j,

Your dern tootin they're going to be solid..... I'm even going to use 2 maple dowels for the backbone / neck mounts. I decided on western red cedar for the tops and Honduran mahogany for the backs. They will be much heavier than your average concert uke (maybe 3/4 more) but will still be lighter than most of the banjoleles I have held.

captain-janeway said:
Looking forward to finished. Man that thing will be solid!
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I'm sorry for taking so long to reply. I just went to Terry Mead's website (http://www.tmeadbanjos.com/Ukuleles.htm) and I see.... I'm glad I am building my own..... Their ukes are uber expensive.... But they are pretty. I'm using the same exact wood as his tenor banjo uke except for the sides. My outlay for 2 concert ukes will be 50 times less than what he asks for one of his. I think I will use his as a template for external design though and go with ProfChris's recommendations for bracing the tops and bottoms and a double dowel body truss ala old time practice banjos. Overkill? Yes but it will be around much longer than I will.... LOL!!!

Have a fine nautical day.....

SailingUke said:
Terry Mead makes these.

View attachment 120670
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I now see why everyone is talking about the sturdiness.... LOL!!!! Somehow this website changed the size of the pictures after I uploaded them and sort of fish eyed the images. The outer edges are just a little over 1/4 inch thick with the kerfing and without the kerfing just over 1/8 inch. My apologies for not looking at the pictures closer after posting Hahahahahahaha Side by side the clamps around the rim are actually smaller than shown in the picture and the rim is 10 inches around.... So yes it's a pretty distorted view and looks almost like a beer barrel cut in half LOL!!!!.

DPO said:
How thick are the rims, they look about 1/2 inch? I don't see why you would need any other support.
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"The outer edges are just a little over 1/4 inch thick with the kerfing and without the kerfing just over 1/8 inch."

That is incredible photographic distortion. And they used to say, "The camera never lies". That's a hollow laugh, these days.

John Colter.
 
ukantor said:
"The outer edges are just a little over 1/4 inch thick with the kerfing and without the kerfing just over 1/8 inch."

That is incredible photographic distortion. And they used to say, "The camera never lies". That's a hollow laugh, these days.

John Colter.
Click to expand...

I have been an amatuer photographer for many years and I have never seen distortion like this.
 
The original picture looks correct. This was done when I uploaded the pic on here. It did it on both pictures. I'm scratching my head here. But I still think it's just a funny optical illusion.....

Lets put it this way.... If the rim was as thick as it shows in the picture, I would have saved the kerf material for another project. I mean heck.... I could have just nailed the top on. If you look at one of those cheap Chinese glued on goat skin covered children's hand drums.... You would know what I mean. That is what I used for the rim.
 
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I went out to sand the rest of the old finish off of the drum hoops today and while out there, I actually measured the rim and the rim is 3/16" and the kerf is also 3/16" so it's not as thick as it looks but much thicker than what you might normally see on such a build. The picture also exaggerates the clamps.

Sanding off the old varnish was much easier than I thought it would be but it exposed a lot of imperfections in the wood (scratches - dents) but I got the worst sanded down to the point that to see them you would have to look hard or know where they are located. the goat skin was held on with glue and chrome upholstery tacks. I think I'll put the tacks back on as a garnish as well as to hide the tack holes rather than filling them with putty since I want to show off the grain of the wood. I'm glad I kept the tacks.

Now for intonation...…. I know how to measure the distance to set the bridge but...… Is the bridge just set square to the nut? Or is there a way to verify intonation before gluing down the bridge?
 
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Log Dog said:
Now for intonation...…. I know how to measure the distance to set the bridge but...… Is the bridge just set square to the nut? Or is there a way to verify intonation before gluing down the bridge?
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Provided that your finger/fret board has been made to a true trapezoidal shape, you can simply extend its edge line (using straight edges or rulers) on each side, down to the measured scale length (plus compensation) on the sound board. This will give you the required saddle position and will be automatically adjusted for any neck malalignment. If done accurately the nut will be parallel to the saddle. As you are not employing a central sound hole you will not have to worry about symmetry too much. If you do this at the raw wood stage, keep any pencil marks feint (easily erasable).

If my description is unclear, this subject is covered on a number of acoustic guitar building sites.

Yes, intonation can be checked before gluing on the bridge/saddle, but it involves fabricating a clamp-on tailpiece and a (shimmed) height-adjustable floating bridge/saddle. IMO this method is cumbersome, and unwarranted for ukulele. If you use a 3mm thick saddle some intonation correction can be made by filing the string departure points.
 
bazuku,

I have decided to go with a sound hole on the top since I now doubt the small hole on the side will be large enough to allow enough sound to escape the sound chamber and why reinvent the wheel? The small holes on the sides will be used to mount the piezo pickup jack instead.

I have not decided how the sound hole will be set, how many of them, and what shape they will take. I change my mind on the fly so my projects rarely match the original intent. Can you tell? LOL To me that's part of the fun of creation I like to think of my work as sculptures that make an artistic statement. But ones that work and sound pretty good also. But not on the Fender or Gibson serious instruments level. That is why I ask so many questions. I have never been a blueprint kind of guy. If you look at my photo album on here that shows some of my previous builds. All of them freehand.

Thank you for the intonation info. That helps a lot.

I sanded everything to 400 grit today. I'll cut the tops and bottoms to round sometime tomorrow. If my hands hold out I may even mount the bracing. Slow and steady.... things are coming along.
 
Can I get some recommendations for the best way & which glue type to mount the bridge/saddle to the top of a uke? I have never glued one to the top since all of the acoustic instruments I have built have had floating bridges. I'm not sure how much sheer force the strings would put on the top vs bridge or what glue holds best for this situation.

Thanks in advance for a push in the right direction.
 
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Use an aliphatic resin type glue (Titebond original) as it has a low creep factor, a necessity for fixed bridges. Use at least two, preferably three, light weight 'C' clamps through the sound hole. You may need cauls above and below to prevent damage to the braces and/or bridge. I tailor the cauls for the underside by cutting relief for the braces, before gluing on the top.
 
Ok thank you so much.

I have to push the uke projects to the side for a few days. My cousin in Germany sent me a vintage Russian prima balalaika that requires some serious TLC in trade for one of my hand built maple mandolins. The balalaika is a 1930 - 89 year old tenor model. I can't wait to get it in playable condition. I think I got the better end of this deal :)

20190830_003446[7313].jpg

20190830_003515[7312].jpg

20190830_003608[7308].jpg

I found new tuners for it on Amazon.... :)
 
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