New project - electric ukulele UPDATE - I NEED ADVICE PLEEEZE

[baskruit]

This is amazing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J30S6hkiyU

 

[hannaugh]

I got an email from Pete Howlett, and he can hook me up with an under saddle piezo. 

I was thinking though that if I had a genie and I were building this to be a steel string instrument, it would be so cool if I put a uke sized stop bar tailpiece and LR Baggs T bridge on it.  Unfortunately those things don't exist, but it would sound really cool if you ask me.  Then I'd put a lipstick pickup in the neck position or even a P90 and I could get electric and acoustic tone out of it.  Man, that would rock. 

 

[Justinginn]

Look, if you're gonna build an electric ukulele, build an electric ukulele, magnetic pickups and all. Or don't but getting it to sound like an electric guitar rather than a hollowbody approximation of a regular ukulele sounds really cool, at least to me. Not just for distorted tones, but for the glassy strat sound... on a ukulele... that sounds really cool. Maybe more work, but really cool. That's my $0.02 but it sounds like a really fun project either way. Hope it's a lot of fun.

 

[SlingBass]

I admire your ambition, and willingness to venture off the beaten path.
Two thoughts:
1) Keep it simple.
2) Don't forget your real project - the strat  :icon_biggrin:

 

[blue313]

Plus a lot can be done at the amp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvhQXdF2yow

 

[hannaugh]

Look, if you're gonna build an electric ukulele, build an electric ukulele, magnetic pickups and all. Or don't but getting it to sound like an electric guitar rather than a hollowbody approximation of a regular ukulele sounds really cool, at least to me. Not just for distorted tones, but for the glassy strat sound... on a ukulele... that sounds really cool. Maybe more work, but really cool. That's my $0.02 but it sounds like a really fun project either way. Hope it's a lot of fun.

If this goes well, I'll definitely do a steel string version with some crazy guitar pickups in it, but for this project I think I would prefer it to be nylon string.  The only uke I own is a total piece of crap, so I want something nice that will sound like a ukulele.  I don't want this one to sound like a guitar. 

I'm talking to someone about acquiring their acoustic uke build kit, and if I get that I might change the direction I'm going with this one.  But at the moment I want it to sound like a regular uke, but one that can be plugged in. 

 

[-CB-]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Y6Uwq-mcU

This.... THIS is what the Ukulele will reduce people to.  Imagine a grown man, in his 50's, doing this in front of a full plane of people, flying from the northeast to the deep south USA (with clothes on of course).

Who.... WHO will pick up the pieces of Hannaugh when this happens?  And who... WHO will pick up the remains of the uke and burn em!

You have been warned.  :guitaristgif:

 

[hannaugh]

I have no intention of playing anything like that.  :icon_biggrin:

When I play uke, I usually play stuff in the Hungarian minor scale.  Gypsy music, if you will.  I like the sound of a uke because it sounds like pizzicato violin, which is one of my favorite timbres.  I don't play violin though.  It's too scary because it has no frets. 

 

[-CB-]

Why not play something sane, like a mandolin?

 

[-CB-]

The mandolin, by the way, is tuned exactly like a violin, except has two courses of strings - like a 12 string guitar.  Very intuitive to play if you know guitar.  What I do, is in my head, I reverse the fingering on all the chords, then the fill is easy.  That is.... the strings are G, D, A and E, with E being the first string (highest).  So real quick in ya head, as you play, just play it backwards, or upside down if you will, and you got all your chords right where they need to be.  Zeeemple no?  It works!  REALLY!

--- For anyone interested, if you can find a Takoma M1 or M2 or M3 mando, grab it... they're build incredibly well.  No longer made but really nicely made.  The M1 has crappy tuners, but tuners can be changed.  The actual construction of them all is a cut above.

 

[hannaugh]

I would like a mando at some point too.  But I like the sound of a uke a lot too.  I just need to own at least one of every stringed instrument and then I'll be satisfied... ish.

 

[hannaugh]

Okay, so a quick question for you guys:

I have this little cheapo ukulele kit I got practically for free.  I figured I'd put it together before I build my electric so I have some practice.  It's got a mahogany plywood body and I don't even know what kind of wood for the neck.  Maybe basswood?  It's the right color and it cuts like basswood, so I suspect that is what it is. 

Anywho, the think came with a piece of plywood with a printed picture of mahogany wood grain and a filmy supstance over that as the fretboard.  It's literally a piece of masonite, but even crappier looking than maso because it's got a freaking pixelated photo of wood on it.  Even though it's just a crappy kit that I'm assembling for practice, I can't bring myself to put that fretboard on an instrument that I'm building.  Sooooo, I have a ton of scrap Honduras Rosewood in my garage.  I was thinking of making a fretboard to replace the ugly one.  I figure it will be good practice for when I do the electric, cause I'll have to fret that myself as well. 

My question is - if I'm doing just a little flat ukulele fret job, what tools do I need?  I figure just a cutter and a file for the ends and a flat leveling file, right?  Also, how do I aquire these things cheaply/which tools do you recommend.  Stew Mac is kind of insane.  I don't want to spend $170 on their tool kit right now. 

 

[Patrick from Davis]

This fret beveling file is very helpful.  I got one and it made quick work of the stainless frets on the necks I have bought.  A triangle file with the corners sanded/ground down smooth is a lot of help as well.  StewMac sells one at a premium, but if you have access to a belt sander or a grinder, it is easy to make your own.  A metal level and some carpet tape for sand paper help for leveling frets, or so I've been told.  Not courageous enough for that.  Yet.  A nice small fine triangle file is useful for all kinds of stuff, shaping corners and stuff.  I am not sure if you can ever have enough clamps.  I like some small aluminum angle pieces so that the vice jaws don't mark everything up, rubber ones are groovie as well.  X-acto makes some insanely thin saw blades that fit into the red handles that work for all kinds of stuff.

Hope some of that helps.  Not exactly sure what I am recommending things for anymore.  Ah yes. Uke building.
Patrick

 

[hannaugh]

Cool, thanks!  I got the rosewood cut to the size and shape I need, and I got the frets ready to go.  It's getting the frets into the slots that is going to be interesting.  I used an Exacto saw to cut a slot, but the frets are pretty difficult to get in there.  I'm thinking my saw is just too thin.

 

[BigBeard]

Cool, thanks!  I got the rosewood cut to the size and shape I need, and I got the frets ready to go.  It's getting the frets into the slots that is going to be interesting.  I used an Exacto saw to cut a slot, but the frets are pretty difficult to get in there.  I'm thinking my saw is just too thin.

Hey you have your fret slots cut with an exacto saw blade and they are too tight?  One thing you can try is to widen them slightly with one of those metal fingernail files.  Not an old fashioned emory board, but the metal ones.  I don't know if that would be too thick, but looking at my wife's file compared to fret wire, it is about the same. Just go easy and try it on  a scrap first.  Did you glue the fretboard to the neck yet? If you didn't, you can ever so slightly bend the fretboard upwards from the bottom to open up the slots slightly to cram the fretwire in.  Good luck with your Stratolele!

 

[hannaugh]

Good suggestion BigBeard, I'll give it a try!