You may have wondered what I have been up to recently. Well I am about to disclose it.
I have started teaching myself how to play the ukulele, not because I expect to ever be anything but a mediocre musician, but because I got the idea into my head that it must be possible to build your own string instrument.
When I started wanting to make swords (for real) I decided that I needed to learn how to use a sword first, basically get a users perspective in order to make a better sword. I will employ the same modus operandi here, since it turned out to spare me from a lot of the common mistakes made by wannabe swordmakers.
It is not that I expect to make no mistakes, on the contrary, part of the idea is to make mistakes, and learn from them. It is just that getting a few things right in the first go is very motivating.
I set myself a few goals in this first try. I wanted to try steambending wood, I wanted to use cheap or repurposed materials and i wanted the result to be visually my own.
My son has a Ukulele that he got as a present a few years ago. I decided to base my instrument on that since it is small, and hence more manageable in my crowded workshop, and it is easy to learn to play simple chords and progressions, But guitars and ukuleles are a bit boring in shape (duck and avoid debris thrown by guitar lovers) so I went for something that would be more like a lute. Thus the idea of the Ukulute was born.
The project is still ongoing and I am far from finished but this installment will document my humble beginnings.
first I chose my materials. I had some firewood, some beech and some oak, that would be usable for the harder parts (such as the fretboard) I also had some thin sheets of plywood from a box that had contained fruit. This is really soft and low quality but it is cheap and readily available and it would give me a comparison ground for how bad the acoustic qualities can get.(It will also mean that if i get a functional instrument out of it I am lucky, and it can then only get better)
In the beginning I was planning to make the neck out of beech, but i quickly found out that it would be incredibly heavy if i did that, and I had seen a guitar with a neck made from birch laminate. as it happened I had some birch plywood lying about that I could use.
the first step was shaping the body. i Took the thin sheats of lowquality wood and soaked them in hot water, the tried bending them over some of my pot and pans. This worked fine and even though it took longer than i liked to dry and set it is absolutely a viable technique for the DIY instrumentmaker. I did them in batches and I would have probably do them one at a time next time.
I sketched out the shape i wanted for the back on some paper to get an idea of how the wood should be shaped to make a bowl, and then I waited.
I used the time on trying out a few simple progressions on the ukulele: g-d-f-c it is surprisingly easy to find chords for almost any number you can think of and this was what came up when i searched for I need you with eurythmics. There is something wonderfully strange about playing that misantropic number on the ukulele and my family is getting slightly tired of my incessant noise.
anyways. This will have to do for this time. Next time I will continue the work on the body and start on the neck.
Im EvilHippie, a compulsive creative and jack o' trades. If you want to know more about me, check out my introduction post here
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Way to go, I'm impressed. Here's an idea for another project, maybe salvage the neck and pickups from an electric guitar and build something artistic like this.
Thanks. I will probably at some point try to make something electric, but for the time being it is the analog acoustics that fascinate me, so my next project (when i finish this one) is going to be something acoustic made from proper tonewood.
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That looks like a cool instrument. The ukulele is a relatively easy instrument to learn. Certainly easier than a guitar. I would quite like to build an instrument, but my woodworking skills are not great. I recently went to a talk by a guy who makes medieval lutes. The bowl is made from a set of identical pieces. He makes end blocks with flats at the appropriate angles. He did admit to using modern glue. I was asked not to share pictures of his work as he likes to maintain his privacy, but it was really good. He's done a lot of research into designs based on old paintings.
Thanks. Yes I have taught myself to play a few chord progressions on the ukulele and the same ones on my daughters guitar. It is definitely easier on the uke. The back of my ukulele is similar to a lute in that it has the leaf shaped parts that make the back curved, but is also has a rim like on a ukulele. I havent really followed any rules. I just made it up as I went along. I use normal wood glue , but it is also possible to use bone glue or hideglue, I am not sure whether it is easier or harder than woodglue, but woodglue is easier to come by.
Hadn't seen this instrument before. It looks wonderful for music
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I dont think there is any instrument like this - since i made it up as i went along. but in function it is identical to a ukulele. it sounds like a ukulele too.