I'm planning on building a ukulele out of an Inch Maduro box (see attached). I am currently in the 'brainstorming' phase of the build. I have never built a ukulele and I'm looking for some insight on what types of tuners and strings I would need to use. I'm thinking of making a something like a soprano uke with an approx 13" to 15" scale.
I have guitar tuners I bought from CB Gitty and some lighter steel strings (.26, .17 & .13). Would these be good to use on a tiny ukulele?
I've see that many store bought ukuleles have nylon strings and CB Gitty sells "ukulele tuners". Should I be using these strings and tuners on my build instead?
Thanks for the info.
Replies
Bear in mind the uke is a completely different instrument o , for example a guitar or mandolin...the nylon strings, high pitch and re-entrant tuning are all part if its charm and character. All uke traditionally have nylon or gut strings, and once you start strumming you'll realise why steel strings are not used.
I like the concert size instrument, 17" scale, so more room for your fingers, but still tuned the same so more tension in the strings and more spring to the sound. Remember, a uke is not a small guitar, its a ukulele.
Uke's normally use Flourocarbon strings, and are 4 string instruments.
I just finished this one:
The short & sweet of it...at that scale, stick with nylon strings. You can still install a rod piezo bridge w/ pre-amp if you want to plug it into an amplifier. The bridge will be perpendicular to the strings (not angled like on other acoustic, or electric bridges), and will need to be slightly further from nut than the specified scale length, for intonation purposes. Stewmac.com has a fret calculator that shows more info for fret spacing and bridge adjustments.
Other than that, have fun & go for it
Thanks, I don't know much about building a uke. I was messing around with it tonight and started thinking that a 13" scale would be way too short for my liking.
Would you still recommend nylon strings if I was making a baritone ukulele with a scale of about 19"-20"?
Depends on couple things. What tuning do you wish to have? Because uke strings are designed for their respective scale lengths and the optimum tuning for each string, just as other string sets, say for acoustic or electric guitars, are designed for longer scale length and those tunings.
If you wish to achieve a uke tuning with strings meant for longer scales, you have to increase those string's gauge/thickness so they will reach the desired pitch when tuning up, without too much tension...and possible breakage.