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Email Subscription[Video] I Made a $4 Electric Ukulele
Feb 4
While I was home for Christmas, I was watching lots of ukulele videos on Youtube. Somewhere in my wanderings I came across the Risa Uke Solid and my mind was blown. It’s a small electric ukulele made out of a single solid piece of wood and some hardware. The simplicity of the design made me think: “Hey, I could do that” and so I began thinking about how I could make a simple electric ukulele myself. Two days later, with lots of help from my dad and his tools, I have a working electric ukulele made from stuff I found around my parent’s house and a set of $4 ukulele strings. It’s currently fret-less and the pickup leaves a lot to be desired but my goal was really to create a mock-up so that I would know what I was doing when I built the actual thing.
Epilogue:
Possible improvements on this model:
- Frets
- Deepen groove on back
Things to learn before building next model:
- Are there shorter tuning pegs so that I can avoid drilling the extra hole?
- Are there better pickup solutions for my price range?
Improvements for next model:
- Less space between tuning pegs
- Harder wood
- No taper
- Strings further apart at nut
- Narrower holes for strings at nut
- Standard G-C-E-A strings
Dec 30, 2009 @ 21:00:53
[..YouTube..] Wow!! Who want’s to start the McGuyver jokes?
Dec 31, 2009 @ 06:38:01
[..YouTube..] Sweeeeeeeet.
Dec 31, 2009 @ 13:08:27
Something from practically nothing…ultra fun!
Dec 31, 2009 @ 16:50:02
Awesome job!
Jan 02, 2010 @ 10:41:10
[..YouTube..] that’s really really awesome.
Jan 02, 2010 @ 13:49:23
[..YouTube..] most excellent!!!!!
Jan 03, 2010 @ 16:02:15
[..YouTube..] haha Mcguyver would be proud
Jan 04, 2010 @ 05:54:27
[..YouTube..] Haha. Great stuff, man. I’m curious how you got the electret microphone in there and have the jack installed at the same time. Did you just drill deep? How did you get the jack to stick?
Jan 04, 2010 @ 09:18:04
[..YouTube..] AWESOME!
Jan 05, 2010 @ 05:42:39
[..YouTube..] I think it sounds pretty good for the price!!
Well done.
Jan 18, 2010 @ 18:52:27
[..YouTube..] Look out RISA. This is really cool. You’ve inspired me to build something like this myself. I’m really impressed by your pre-amp. Good stuff.
Jan 23, 2010 @ 12:07:31
[..YouTube..] well done!
Jan 23, 2010 @ 17:53:08
[..YouTube..] Fucking neat
Feb 21, 2010 @ 11:26:48
[..YouTube..] Random question…, I’m new to playing ukuleles and I’m trying to get a nice base on some good chords, which ones are you playing here? Thanks a ton!
And great job with the uke it looks awesome! Much respect!
Feb 22, 2010 @ 10:57:31
[..YouTube..] 2 thumbs up!!
Mar 04, 2010 @ 09:44:33
[..YouTube..] WOOOAH, awesome. :O
Mar 14, 2010 @ 10:01:15
[..YouTube..] the uke is simple but i find it mother f’ing amazing that you are able to play tolerable chords without the frets.
Mar 30, 2010 @ 15:19:12
[..YouTube..] sounds ok, but ill give it 5 stars just for the new concept.
Apr 16, 2010 @ 06:32:17
[..YouTube..] Nice work! Fret it!!! I think it’s a killer concept….and the ultra small size is appealing, frets would do the trick….
May 02, 2010 @ 03:56:18
[..YouTube..] what was the song that you played?
May 02, 2010 @ 12:47:27
[..YouTube..] @rodjnemedez I was not playing any particular song, just playing some chords.
May 02, 2010 @ 12:47:38
[..YouTube..] @jellisrellish Thanks!
May 02, 2010 @ 14:05:37
[..YouTube..] @captbaritone oh haha, because it kinda sounded like “daydream” by: lovin’ spoonfuls
May 02, 2010 @ 11:32:26
Jordan,
great take on the ol’ Risa. I’ve just bought a cheapo Uke to see if I’d like to take it up; y’know invest time in learning it etc. Having come from a Steinberger/Hohner G2 ‘plank’ guitar – this really appeals to my homemade ethos!
I guess the advantage of making your own Uke is that the fret board can be made a bit wider than the std Soprano (’tis a bit tight at the nut!) – have you some dimensions as a starter, also I guess you used steel strings; what gauges were they?
…and last but not least what was the pick-up you used?
Goodluck with MkII and be sure to keep us posted!
Pat.
May 11, 2010 @ 02:59:21
[..YouTube..] I wish I was this cool. I spent $180 for my electric uke. Don’t regret it though.
May 14, 2010 @ 19:47:03
[..YouTube..] @rodjnemedez This chord progression is the same as the song “5 foot two, eyes of blue.”
May 16, 2010 @ 12:24:55
[..YouTube..] Genial!
May 20, 2010 @ 11:00:42
[..YouTube..] dudee , can you put a tutorial up on how to make one off those , theyre awesome
May 22, 2010 @ 16:01:40
[..YouTube..] How did you make the pre-amp wat kind of resistors
May 23, 2010 @ 19:20:25
[..YouTube..] huh : ))))
Jun 13, 2010 @ 11:09:08
[..YouTube..] wow youre my hero
thats awesome
Jul 06, 2010 @ 11:15:09
[..YouTube..] Unique!
Jul 06, 2010 @ 15:25:12
[..YouTube..] that is cool how long did it take u to make it
Jul 11, 2010 @ 02:41:33
[..YouTube..] omg, i so wanna make one!! please make a tutorial!!!!!!
Jul 12, 2010 @ 15:58:56
[..YouTube..] i would totaly like to know how you installed the electret microphone
Jul 13, 2010 @ 17:31:56
[..YouTube..] @MrRoostercolorado I simply soldered the tiny microphone directly to the end of the headphone jack, drilled a hole in the bottom of the ukulele and hot melt glued the whole thing into that hole so that the headphone jack was flush with the body.
Jul 13, 2010 @ 17:32:28
[..YouTube..] @IronicDonkey1 Thanks for your interest. I made this over a few days during Christmas break.
Jul 13, 2010 @ 22:18:06
[..YouTube..] Fantabulous! Have seen a similar non-electric one, but great moments in musical history come in small-ish steps hehehe.
Jul 15, 2010 @ 10:32:32
[..YouTube..] dude this is sick man thats awsome
Jul 17, 2010 @ 08:50:11
[..YouTube..] that’s pretty damn impressive!! well done sir! could you make a how to?…or even just write up one for your blog? that would be groovy! i got no summer job!! need something to do! ha
Jul 21, 2010 @ 15:05:10
[..YouTube..] DUDE! It really doesn’t sound terrible!!!
) I’m going to attempt this. haha
Jul 23, 2010 @ 09:54:27
[..YouTube..] That tight
Jul 29, 2010 @ 08:06:31
[..YouTube..] that actually sounds really good lol
well done!!!
Jul 30, 2010 @ 18:44:16
[..YouTube..] That’s awesome!
How did the frets turn out?
Aug 01, 2010 @ 21:53:28
[..YouTube..] Sounds good!
Aug 05, 2010 @ 17:24:49
[..YouTube..] this is brilliant, you’ve inspired me to try & make one myself. Do you have any tips that could help me?
Aug 12, 2010 @ 11:37:02
[..YouTube..] Would you mind if I tried to make one modeled after your’s? I saw the Risa one too and loved it, but I didn’t want to spend all the money.
Aug 19, 2010 @ 15:20:14
[..YouTube..] cool dude!
Aug 21, 2010 @ 10:18:02
[..YouTube..] One day the nerds will take over the earth, and everyone will have a pocket ukulele that will also shoot lasers out the top to destroy the infidels!
Good thing you copied Risa, and not Apple, otherwise the men in black would already be at your door to take back their intellectual property.
Really cool!