here are a couple of pics of my latest ukulele made from homegrown gourds that I grew specifically for making ukuleles and other small stringed instruments. I use very few fixtures and mostly just use sharp chisels and sandpaper. this one sounds so melodic and all the strings produce equal volume when strummed. there are no dead notes and no loud strings. I switched to a one piece mahogany brace that runs from headstock to tailstock instead of the original three piece system. this requires a little more finesse to make it fit but with the help of a full size drawing this is becoming easier with each uke. if anyone wants me to build them one of these feel free to contact me. they play like a dream and the natural shape of the gourd lends itself well to being held and strummed. mother nature does it again. I used an old hickory tool to make the tailstock which i purposely made large to aquire better sustain and used some old wire lug-downs for the string ends.materials include purpleheart, ebony, hickory, basswood, mahogany, gourd, cocobolo, spruce, and maple. click the attachments for pics.

Mikeg

Views: 1488

Attachments:

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

i wanted to add at least one pic that comes up in the discussion without clicking so here goes.

Mike G, that is one of the most beautiful instruments I have seen this side of a hand-carved Medievil Citole...i'm a hige fan of the latter BTW. :)

One question about the neck...that gourd type usually has a nice, long neck of its own-did you 'sleeve' your neck inside the gourd neck itself, or did you remove the gourd's own neck and blend it into yours? Judging by the photos i'm guessing the former-all the gourds in my neck of the woods don't grow those stems so obligingly straight...

RSS

The Essential Pages

New to Cigar Box Nation? How to Play Cigar Box GuitarsFree Plans & How to Build Cigar Box GuitarsCigar Box Guitar Building Basics

Site Sponsor

Recommended Links & Resources


Forum

crossover guitar.

Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 21. 11 Replies

Tune up songs

Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies

Duel output jacks

Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies

How to Get Your Own Music on Spotify

Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 21. 2 Replies

CB Bass Guitar

Started by Mi Rankin in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Justin Stanchfield Jan 27. 5 Replies

Music

© 2024   Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

\uastyle>\ud/** Scrollup **/\ud.scrollup {\ud background: url("https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/963882636?profile=original") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;\ud bottom: 25px;\ud display: inline !important;\ud height: 40px;\ud opacity: 0.3 !important;\ud position: fixed;\ud right: 30px;\ud text-indent: -9999px;\ud width: 40px;\ud z-index: 999;\ud}\ud.scrollup:hover {\ud opacity:0.99!important;\ud}\ud \uascript type="text/javascript">\ud x$(document).ready(function(){\ud x$(window).scroll(function(){\ud if (x$(this).scrollTop() > 100) {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeIn();\ud } else {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeOut();\ud }\ud });\ud x$('.scrollup').click(function(){\ud x$("html, body").animate({ scrollTop: 0 }, 600);\ud return false;\ud });\ud });\ud \ua!-- End Scroll Up -->