Hhi everyone, I have learnt a lot through this forum. Unfortunately, i cannot get cbg parts where i live, bit want to get started on a project. I want to make a pn instrument similar to the merlin seagull for my kids - it's a small stick dulcimer, you probably heard about it.
I can get hold of cheap chinese ukes, so i plan to modify a soprano. i will modify the neck and bridge so that the instrument (ukelin? Dulcilele? Merlilele?) has a double fisprst string, and the other two.
However, i am unsure about how to conver the scale to diatonic. It is clear to me which frets to remove to make a diatonic scale up the neck, but as I go closer to the ukes body i am not so sure - the uke's neck seems longer than the merlin's, and I would like to keep as many frets as possible (within the diatonic scale of course).
Any help to this noob really appreciated!
Thanks
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Hi. I had a similar idea. I got a cheap uke at the San Diego border a while back. I removed the entire neck and kept the body; sanded it down. (The neck was not to scale. The "fretboard" was just painted black and ran over the weird plastic "fret wire.")
So I just thought it would be easier to make my own neck. I have opened up the body and given it extra bracing. I plan to use a dulcimer scale to make something similar to what you are talking about. CB Gitty sells a template for a 15" with the diatonic scale marked out, so that's what I'm going to use. I think there are several YouTube videos for making strum stick like instruments too that I have found helpful. Happy building. :)
Guiyoforward > Snowangel425August 5, 2015 at 4:42pm
Thanks Richey and snowangel for your replies. Richey, I agreed in principle: why cripple an instrument removing frets? However, if you don't know how to play, picking up a strumstick or a merlin is magical, you strum and it just works. More even so than with an open tuning in a guitar or uke, IMHO - just fretting the first string and hearing the other two droning is very nice. I have a CBG (a Loog actually) that I will not cripple this way and use for other purposes, but I want to have this instrument that you just pick-up-and-play-without-wrong-notes. Which is very different for a complete newbie from pick-up-and-play-without-wrong-notes-if-you-carefully-avoid-the-frets-marked-in-red-be-careful-you-dummy!
By the way, I will end up converting a a baritone Uke. It will end up closer to a McNally strumstick than to a Merlin.
From the article above, I know which frets to remove. However, I'm not sure which strings I should get and how to tune it. Strumsticks are tuned as follows (normal and grand):
Tuning is D A D for key of D. The low D is the same note as a guitar 4th string. Tuning is G D G for key of G. The low G is the same note as a guitar 3rd string.
Depends what kind of strings you want to use. If you were wanting to use steel strings you would want a reasonably heavy gauge on a small scale (baritone is 19") but if you wanted nylon strings you could probably get away with a set of uke strings (reentrant) and tune to DADD, with the double course on the highest strings...
Thanks. I prefer to avoid steel strings (have a 2 year old...). I have a set of nylon replacements for baritone, the Worth Premium Ukulele WRT_BB Strings Brown Fluorocarbon Baritone. Those are the "right" strings for the baritone, but all in nylon. Would using those be OK?
If they're the right strings for a baritone, they should be fine. You might need to use a slightly different tjning though.
I have a two year old too...pretty sure nylons are just as dangerous for tots!
It depends what kind of diatonic fretting you wanted to go for. Major is the most common, which would normally involve fitting only frets 2,4,5,7,9,10,11,12 then repeating the same pattern up the neck, so 14,16,17 and so on.
Diatonically fretted instruments are fun, but are a little limited, and it strikes me as a little odd to remove functionality from another instrument. Could you maybe paint the major diatonic frets but keep all of the fret wire in?
I would also highly recommend finding sources for materials online to have a go at building one yourself. The little Merlin Seagulls are very cute, but I would imagine you could get much the same effect with a simple box, stick of wood, fret wire, tuners and a few screws ;-)
There are a lot of very helpful people around here if you need any guidance.
Replies
Hi. I had a similar idea. I got a cheap uke at the San Diego border a while back. I removed the entire neck and kept the body; sanded it down. (The neck was not to scale. The "fretboard" was just painted black and ran over the weird plastic "fret wire.")
So I just thought it would be easier to make my own neck. I have opened up the body and given it extra bracing. I plan to use a dulcimer scale to make something similar to what you are talking about. CB Gitty sells a template for a 15" with the diatonic scale marked out, so that's what I'm going to use. I think there are several YouTube videos for making strum stick like instruments too that I have found helpful. Happy building. :)
Thanks Richey and snowangel for your replies. Richey, I agreed in principle: why cripple an instrument removing frets? However, if you don't know how to play, picking up a strumstick or a merlin is magical, you strum and it just works. More even so than with an open tuning in a guitar or uke, IMHO - just fretting the first string and hearing the other two droning is very nice. I have a CBG (a Loog actually) that I will not cripple this way and use for other purposes, but I want to have this instrument that you just pick-up-and-play-without-wrong-notes. Which is very different for a complete newbie from pick-up-and-play-without-wrong-notes-if-you-carefully-avoid-the-frets-marked-in-red-be-careful-you-dummy!
By the way, I will end up converting a a baritone Uke. It will end up closer to a McNally strumstick than to a Merlin.
From the article above, I know which frets to remove. However, I'm not sure which strings I should get and how to tune it. Strumsticks are tuned as follows (normal and grand):
Tuning is D A D for key of D. The low D is the same note as a guitar 4th string.
Tuning is G D G for key of G. The low G is the same note as a guitar 3rd string.
Any suggestions on strings and tuning?
Thanks!
Thanks. I prefer to avoid steel strings (have a 2 year old...). I have a set of nylon replacements for baritone, the Worth Premium Ukulele WRT_BB Strings Brown Fluorocarbon Baritone. Those are the "right" strings for the baritone, but all in nylon. Would using those be OK?
I have a two year old too...pretty sure nylons are just as dangerous for tots!
Will certainly do, I need to order from cbgitty and other US shops!
It depends what kind of diatonic fretting you wanted to go for. Major is the most common, which would normally involve fitting only frets 2,4,5,7,9,10,11,12 then repeating the same pattern up the neck, so 14,16,17 and so on.
Diatonically fretted instruments are fun, but are a little limited, and it strikes me as a little odd to remove functionality from another instrument. Could you maybe paint the major diatonic frets but keep all of the fret wire in?
I would also highly recommend finding sources for materials online to have a go at building one yourself. The little Merlin Seagulls are very cute, but I would imagine you could get much the same effect with a simple box, stick of wood, fret wire, tuners and a few screws ;-)
There are a lot of very helpful people around here if you need any guidance.
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