ClassicalCode » fretless http://blog.classicalcode.com Music, Software, Finds Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:34:34 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 [Video] I Made a $4 Electric Ukulele http://blog.classicalcode.com/2009/12/video-i-made-a-4-electric-ukulele/ http://blog.classicalcode.com/2009/12/video-i-made-a-4-electric-ukulele/#comments Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:40:08 +0000 Jordan Eldredge http://blog.classicalcode.com/?p=746 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

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