Category Archives: Tibo’s posts

How to :- print full scale ukulele templates using google sketchup

Posted on by
Reply

First you can start by designing your own ukulele using sketchup , for demonstration purposes I used this design instead of a ukulele ( I am using google sketchup pro 8 )

(Some info on the pictures can be helpfull , click them to see them better)

 

Once you got your ukulele you, look at the top of your screen and try to find “camera” and click it , once you have done that you will see a V next to “perspective” you would have to change that to “parallel mode”

Once you have done that, return to “camera” and click ”standard views” and choose the view you would like to have printed ( top view, side view, bottom view….)

Next go to ”file” also on the top of the screen and click print .. this should appear.

Now look for the section “printing format” and you will see that “made to fit page” is on, and turn that off  and on the right  you see a “scales” section  and you want to set “in sketchup” and “in print” both on 1 this way you will get a 1:1 scale

Then all there is left for is to hit ok and you will end up with something looking like this …… with this method you can get pretty accurate ukulele body and neck templates .

Stratocaster electric ukulele : planning ( how to plan a ukulele build )

Posted on by
1

I always start of by first drawing or making some ukulele scaled  templates in the desired shape , then you can take the measurements of the parts you are intending to use and see if everything is able to fit on the ukulele .

once you know everything is going to work and fit  you would have to look at some tools and how much you want to spend on wood and parts I prefer you get a some sort of saw that can cut out the shape of your ukulele ( such as a jig-saw , scroll saw or bandsaw ) you should also definitely need a router , any type should do …unless you are a real handyman and you feel like chiseling out all of the cavity’s by hand ….also some clamps and viles can come in handy as well )

now for wood , it’s really up to you …I chose to use very cheap pine because i am very new to this and  I didn’t want to mess up a 50$ piece of wood ( but for my future builds I well definitely look at some hardwoods )

and for electronics  …. this is also something that you should choose by your own personal preference but you should definitely have a pickup and  output jack on your ukulele (and a volume control is nice to have too )

and then there is some stuff that’s really necessary for you ukulele like : bridge and tuners , you can get all of these parts in guitar building stores like http://www.stewmac.com/ and I got a special 4-strings electric ukulele bridge from ‘bezdez’s e-bay store’ for very cheap ( I’m not making commercial for all this , I’m just trying to give you some examples )and then you can pretty much start the project

example for templates

(here is what I mean with making those templates)

Welcoming Tibo

Posted on by
Reply

Hey, we have just signed one of the brightest young stars of the electric ukulele scene and we are proud enough to let you know. Tibo is a 13 year old from Belgium and already he has built a great electric ukulele stratocaster, down below, and we thought you might like to hear more about what he is working on next. We are hoping he can bring some of the things he learnt along the way to http://ukeland.co.uk and he is happy to talk about the work he has done with you all.