The Salad Days

Did some more work on the electric uke yesterday. Got the fretboard thicknessed, shaped, sanded, fretted, got the marker dots installed, and got the whole thing glued to the neck and sanded down flush. If that wasn't enough, I got the body shape cut out, got the neck pocket cut, and filed in the body contours. Next up is to route all of the body cavities (for the pickup, pots, etc.) and drill some holes for the various piece-parts (strap buttons, jack, bridge, etc.).

While starting to prep stock for the tenor acoustic ukes, I've also started messing around with building an electric ukulele. I've decided to go with a concert uke size - a 15" scale length. I started by drawing out my pattern full size, to make sure I liked the look of it and that I knew where I'd be able to fit my components. It's going to have one single-coil pickup, with a single tone knob and a single volume knob - I'm going to keep this first one nice and simple. I've ordered some hardtail-style adjustable saddles, but I'm going to have to fabricate my own bridge as I can't find any four-string ones at any of the usual online suppliers I typically use. The first big step - which I did last night - was cut out and shape the neck. That went pretty well - although the headstock ended up being a little smaller than what I had drawn, and I had to order a different set of tuners in order to get them to fit on there.

I've made some progress on the carved multi-uke hanger since the last time I posted. It's going pretty well so far. It's a nice relaxing activity, and one that I can do when I'd prefer to have a lot less noise and dust than working with the power tools. Still no idea when it will be finished, but there is still a lot to do.

A few days ago I finished the last of the trio of soprano ukuleles I've been building. This one has got a maple neck and cherry top, sides, and back. I'm getting better at getting the action right on the first try - it's pretty near perfect on this one, with no real tweaking necessary. Now it's just a question of what to do with it - as I've already got two other sopranos I have built (this makes three). But at least I've cleared this one off of my plate and can start the tenors I've been itching to build.