Posted by Andy Stone on October 28, 2009 at 10:45am
Before building one I had never even playe a tenor ukulele before but as a guitarist realised I could use some of my chord shapes so it wouldn't feel like starting from scratch! What I wasn't aware of was how adictive ukulele would be and how much it would influence my playing even in just the week I've been playing it! I was getting into a bit of a rut with my song writing and wanted fresh ideas and the ukulele makes you sound and play totaly differently without any extra effort!
All the time I was building it I wasn't sure if I was going to end up with nothing more than a cheap sounding kids toy but how far wrong could I be! I love the sound as much as my £300 ($450) acoustic guitar it sounds rich yet crisp sound and records so well!It as loud as a regular guitar too!
I'm hooked and will be using regularly it at my local folk club and at my gigs!
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I tried building a CBG, which turned out OK, but was a bit trickier than expected. I probably made it harder for myself by going with a fancy headstock, which took two goes to get right. The neck is through type, and was bought fretted, and is walnut. I put in the dot markers, and tried to make them look old school, sort of clay Fender type. I made the tail piece and bridge from brass. The sound holes are sink drainers, and the arm rest is a draw pull with a couple of brackets added. I put in a piezo pick up with tone and volume controls. Knobs are Gibson and the tuners are Mexican Fender which were a pain to instal, as they have a pin in the back plate. I built the amp from a CB Gitty 5w kit and an antique Hershey's chocolate box. I sounds ok. I made the nut from bone. Finish is Tung Oil. I don't like laquer. The action on the neck is a bit high really. The strings are med gauge, so probably need to be lighter. I bought the tenor Lanikai LU-21T (80) and soprano Hola (25) from e-bay. Both are solid wood, not laminates. The tuners are really cheap, but they stay in tune well. Only just started on Uke, and having a lot of fun. Sure is easier than trying to learn guitar. I am panning on building an electric tenor uke in the style of a Gibson es 355 and / or an electric acoustic "Martin D-18".
I kept my uke really simple, I've built other stringed instruments but this was my first cigar box one or ukulele, I didn't use plans but used a toy uke as a giue to string width and picked the 17" scale length-tenor size. It has a one piece neck so no separate finger board which isn't a problem as you don't need to fit a truss rod. I kept the back of the box as the sound board, I don't know if I just got lucky but it sounds amazing! Also I glued and pegged the neck into a wooden block that spans the box. The bridge is rosewood with a nail laying in a slot! I have photos on my page. Have fun!
joel said:
hi all! i've been playing ukulele for about 6 months now and just loving it! i have 3 kala ukes (soprano, concert and tenor). i'm really interested in building my own cigar box uke. are there any decent plans around? i've looked at a few of the freebies on this site but they seem a little confusing. any ideas on where i can get step-by-step information that's simple and easy to follow? thanks!
Best way is to use the free plans and your ukeleles as a sample. My advice is to use the box only for the back and sides of the instrument, make a neck and attach it with screws (from the inside) to a glued block in the inside; or for more difficulty use the spanish construction to glue the neck to the box. For the best result in sound, do make a new soundboard from a good wood and use it replacing the wood of the box. I prefer to glue the fretboard to the neck and soundboard to add some stiffeness and also to gain some heigh for the bridge so that I have enough angle at the saddle.
Resuming, this is not an easy job but try to copy things from your ukeleles and use the plans also.
joel said:
hi all! i've been playing ukulele for about 6 months now and just loving it! i have 3 kala ukes (soprano, concert and tenor). i'm really interested in building my own cigar box uke. are there any decent plans around? i've looked at a few of the freebies on this site but they seem a little confusing. any ideas on where i can get step-by-step information that's simple and easy to follow? thanks!
Steve Gent > Oliver GonzálezNovember 7, 2013 at 12:31pm
Think about what you want, or what you expect from the instrument. It sounds easy but it is not that easy to produce an instrument that plays in tune along the whole neck. Do you understand the basic principles of instrument construction. It is harder to adapt something than to build from scratch. Do you have the tools to do the job? having the right ones will make life easier. PIck a good quality cedar box, it is similar to mahogany. Design the instrument around the neck. Check the scale length, this will dictate the bridge position, and thus the size of box you need. What kind of bridge will it have? Make sure the neck joint is strong by using end blocks ( I presume it will be an acoustic? You may need to brace the top and bottom. What about the fretboard, are you cutting your own frets? Of course you could buy one ready made. Look at the dimensions of your uke. MIne both have deep bodies, far deeper than most cigar boxes, which gives them a big voice. A cigar box will not give anything like that volume. Use gut strings, as it will put less stress on the instrument. Use good tuners, Grovers are good. I got mine from Sweetwater for $16. Not trying to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but having built a CBG, I know it is not as easy as it looks.
hi all! i've been playing ukulele for about 6 months now and just loving it! i have 3 kala ukes (soprano, concert and tenor). i'm really interested in building my own cigar box uke. are there any decent plans around? i've looked at a few of the freebies on this site but they seem a little confusing. any ideas on where i can get step-by-step information that's simple and easy to follow? thanks!
Although not new to plucked string instruments (some of you will know what I mean, being able play everything with strings on); in my birth place we have a sort of common history with Hawaii. I´m from Tenerife, Spain and it is an island apart from the continet but politically we are europeans; and we have a local instrument called "timple" that is basically a five string ukelele. The tunning is very similar beeing: 1.- Re(D) 2.- La(A) 3.-Mi(E) 4.-Do(C) 5.-Sol (G). Always the top two strings are high notes.
Around three years ago I begun my luthier mania, begining with cigar box timples, cookie tin timples and a lot of other things.
Here I show my very first instrument, and unbelievely the best sounding of all.
Bye,
Oliver
Some guitar chords work some you need to play a differnt inversion as you might be losing a note by loosing 2 strings.
The uke encourages you to play far more rythmicly and is good for picking to you actual have a string for each of you picking fingers and your thumb! It's early days to see what playing uke adds to my guitar playing but I'm sure it will enrich it.
Thanks for saying hello.
John Nagy said:
Andy - I've alway dinked around with the guitar, but never "really" enthused. The ukulele, to me, is very unique and has really excited to learn. How was your transition to the ukulele with chords and all that. I was hoping to transition some of what I learn, in music theory, back to the guitar.
Andy - I've alway dinked around with the guitar, but never "really" enthused. The ukulele, to me, is very unique and has really excited to learn. How was your transition to the ukulele with chords and all that. I was hoping to transition some of what I learn, in music theory, back to the guitar.
Yellowbelly Flatt here. I play ukulele and electro acoustic bass Ukulele (the orchestra that I play in doesn't like the G word) in a local, gigging ukulele orchestra.
I've been playing ukulele for about a year and usually play a baritone ukulele but I also have soprano, concert, tenor and banjoleles.
I began to make cigar box ukuleles several months ago and have now built an electric tenor ukulele and two electric baritone ukuleles with headless necks.
I'm presently building another baritone uke and have plans for a biscuit tin uke.
I hope to get some good ideas from you all on this section of cigar box nation.
Hi y'all.
Glad there is a uke section here. I'm anxious to see what other folks are building.
I'm a ukulele player so naturally i started with a uke instead of a guitar. I've made one and have one in the works. Hopefully by the end of the winter i'll have a nice collection. Here are some photographs of my first uke.
Replies
I tried building a CBG, which turned out OK, but was a bit trickier than expected. I probably made it harder for myself by going with a fancy headstock, which took two goes to get right. The neck is through type, and was bought fretted, and is walnut. I put in the dot markers, and tried to make them look old school, sort of clay Fender type. I made the tail piece and bridge from brass. The sound holes are sink drainers, and the arm rest is a draw pull with a couple of brackets added. I put in a piezo pick up with tone and volume controls. Knobs are Gibson and the tuners are Mexican Fender which were a pain to instal, as they have a pin in the back plate. I built the amp from a CB Gitty 5w kit and an antique Hershey's chocolate box. I sounds ok. I made the nut from bone. Finish is Tung Oil. I don't like laquer. The action on the neck is a bit high really. The strings are med gauge, so probably need to be lighter. I bought the tenor Lanikai LU-21T (80) and soprano Hola (25) from e-bay. Both are solid wood, not laminates. The tuners are really cheap, but they stay in tune well. Only just started on Uke, and having a lot of fun. Sure is easier than trying to learn guitar. I am panning on building an electric tenor uke in the style of a Gibson es 355 and / or an electric acoustic "Martin D-18".
P1070187.JPG
joel said:
Resuming, this is not an easy job but try to copy things from your ukeleles and use the plans also.
joel said:
Think about what you want, or what you expect from the instrument. It sounds easy but it is not that easy to produce an instrument that plays in tune along the whole neck. Do you understand the basic principles of instrument construction. It is harder to adapt something than to build from scratch. Do you have the tools to do the job? having the right ones will make life easier. PIck a good quality cedar box, it is similar to mahogany. Design the instrument around the neck. Check the scale length, this will dictate the bridge position, and thus the size of box you need. What kind of bridge will it have? Make sure the neck joint is strong by using end blocks ( I presume it will be an acoustic? You may need to brace the top and bottom. What about the fretboard, are you cutting your own frets? Of course you could buy one ready made. Look at the dimensions of your uke. MIne both have deep bodies, far deeper than most cigar boxes, which gives them a big voice. A cigar box will not give anything like that volume. Use gut strings, as it will put less stress on the instrument. Use good tuners, Grovers are good. I got mine from Sweetwater for $16. Not trying to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but having built a CBG, I know it is not as easy as it looks.
Although not new to plucked string instruments (some of you will know what I mean, being able play everything with strings on); in my birth place we have a sort of common history with Hawaii. I´m from Tenerife, Spain and it is an island apart from the continet but politically we are europeans; and we have a local instrument called "timple" that is basically a five string ukelele. The tunning is very similar beeing: 1.- Re(D) 2.- La(A) 3.-Mi(E) 4.-Do(C) 5.-Sol (G). Always the top two strings are high notes.
Around three years ago I begun my luthier mania, begining with cigar box timples, cookie tin timples and a lot of other things.
Here I show my very first instrument, and unbelievely the best sounding of all.
Bye,
Oliver
Picture0002.jpg
The uke encourages you to play far more rythmicly and is good for picking to you actual have a string for each of you picking fingers and your thumb! It's early days to see what playing uke adds to my guitar playing but I'm sure it will enrich it.
Thanks for saying hello.
John Nagy said:
Thx brother!
Yellowbelly Flatt here. I play ukulele and electro acoustic bass Ukulele (the orchestra that I play in doesn't like the G word) in a local, gigging ukulele orchestra.
I've been playing ukulele for about a year and usually play a baritone ukulele but I also have soprano, concert, tenor and banjoleles.
I began to make cigar box ukuleles several months ago and have now built an electric tenor ukulele and two electric baritone ukuleles with headless necks.
I'm presently building another baritone uke and have plans for a biscuit tin uke.
I hope to get some good ideas from you all on this section of cigar box nation.
baritone1a.JPG
slide uke.jpg
uke1.JPG
Glad there is a uke section here. I'm anxious to see what other folks are building.
I'm a ukulele player so naturally i started with a uke instead of a guitar. I've made one and have one in the works. Hopefully by the end of the winter i'll have a nice collection. Here are some photographs of my first uke.
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