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Advice for my first uke
Howdy,
I am looking for some advice on my uke build. I just completed my first CBG, and I am about to start a uke for my wife. She is a teacher, and she thought it would be really cool to have a uke made out of an old school, paper-covered crayon/school box. She ordered a vintage one from eBay, and, aesthetically, it is perfect. I just have some concerns about its construction. It is a small box (8 x 5 x 2), but I think it should work for a soprano uke. But, it is just a thick paper box, with no underlying wood. I was thinking about gluing a tie bar bridge on the box, but I worry the string tension may buckle the box top. Is this a valid concern, or will the nylon strings not have as much tension as steel? Should I brace the box top, or will that dampen the sound too much? Or should I just scrap the tie-bar bridge idea, and do a neck-through design with a tail piece?
Thanks in advance for your comments!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lane Martin on
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I built a tenor uke out of a larger box. You should be good for a concert or soprano sized uke. My box had a paper lid, but with a neck-through design, it's doing fine. I used Aquila strings and the sound is good.
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Permalink Reply by Mickey Ray Parker on
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Thanks for the reply. Did you use a floating bridge or did you glue it on?
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Floating for now. When I'm positive it's like I want it, I might glue it down.
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Here is a progress shot of my crayon box uke. Hoping to get the fretboard glued on this weekend.
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