I’m starting to get that itchy feeling again. I feel the need… the need to build ukulele!
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| The Dark Ukulele |
I’ve been kicking around a few ideas and I think that I’ve finally decided what I want to make. Do you want to know what I’ve opted for?
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| The Dark Uke Ponders |
I’ve decided to try to breath life into the Travelele. You may remember a couple of months ago that I revealed a mock-up of what I called the King Uke Custom Travelele. It was a mash-up I put together to explore a few design concepts I had floating around in my head.
I really should think of a better name for it. Most people have been referring to it as the “Sharkfin Uke”, so that’s probably what I’ll christen this build once I get going with it.
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| The Sharkfin Uke |
Remember that this is a concept picture. Depending upon the parts I can source, I may need to tweak it. I’m also conscious that there are a few major details I’ll need to figure out before I start:
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| I love the idea of this adjustable bridge, but I’m not sure how this would work with an under-bridge piezo |
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| The under-bridge piezo will be a worry in itself. Disregarding the challenge of fitting the piezo, how on earth am I going to fit the jack socket? I won’t be able to use something like pictured above because there’ll be nothing to hold it in place. I probably wouldn’t have room for one requiring screws. Hmmm… a problem! |
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| And what about the head? See this Risa. Just what’s lurking at the back? And would I want to do it that way? |
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| I can see myself having dark knightmares (see what I did there?) about the angled tuning pegs. Surely I won’t be able to get that right, especially with a sharkfin angled body design. I’m just asking for trouble trying to attempt this! |
And there you have it. I’m 99.9% certain that this is my next project. Just like with the Kingcaster Electric Uke, I promise to share all the stages of the build with you… the good and the bad. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if I fluffed it and had to give up! Ha ha! That’ll keep me on my toes!
Watch this space…
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| The Dark Uke Plays |
Comments welcome…
The uke looks great.
One question: Why didn’t you put the tuners on the right, so that people can play in a sitting position ?
Anyway I was just strolling around your site and I’m really impressed. Great ideas, sophisticated craftsmanship.
So much for me subscribing to this post… still not getting any notifications! 🙁
Eric – good idea. I just figured it looked better with the tuners on the bottom. I haven’t tried to play it a great deal yet but those tuners are pretty tight. Once I finish I guess I’ll be able to tell whether I could have done better…
I want someone to make a bass uke using this concept