Sunday 23 October 2011

John Grey "Roy Smeck" Junior

Here is a nice little Art Deco Style Banjo-uke.
Endorsed by Roy Smeck, with signature on vellum.
its only a small uke, with 6 inch head.
Quite basic, but nice to look at
Plays ok, with nice chunky-but-woolly sound!
Original Bakerlite tuners.

Sunday 2 October 2011

A custom built Ukulele strummin stick. Concert size

Heres an interesting uke i had made for me by a guy trading on Ebay.

Its made with a Spruce body and Meranti neck.

I call it a strummin stick, its similar to the Martin "backpacker" guitar

Its very lightweight, with a lot of sustain, fairly quiet, ideal for practicing with at home.

i finished it with a few coats of Tru-oil and aquilla strings.

Its going on Ebay now!

Saturday 1 October 2011

Lovely open backed Banjolele

Next off the production line is this really nice little open backed model.

This i believe was made by Margolin, who made the broadcaster range. look at the broadcaster uke i have on here, you will see the headstock is the same.

This uke was stripped and sanded, then finished with Tru-oil which gave a real nice look to the wood, it has really brought out the grain and given a slight shine too.
The uke has been completely re built. fitted with new skin, bone nut, tuners and tension hooks.
It has a neck with attached perchpole, this gives stability to the neck and it has a nice low action too.
The uke has a pleasant volume, good tone and banjoish woody sound too.
Easy to hold, a fun little uke!

Mahalo Flying V Ukulele

Heres a few pictures of a customised flying V.
its the standard Mahalo model.
First i had to strip off the glossy finish, this took some doing! there was about 10 coats on it.
then it was all sanded down real smooth.
My wife painted on the flame details with oil paints, then i completed the finish with several coats of Tru-oil.
the finish now is lovely and shiny.
I complted the job with a new nut made form Corian ( donated by Timbuck)
and aquilla strings.
The uke is made from that fine chinese wood of the ply tree. the neck looks like Meranti.
Either way i'm pleased with the job, i think its more interesting that the boring black finish.
Playing wise, its quite quiet, ideal for playing indoors when the kids are in bed!
The sound is ok too.
To hold you need to put your arm through the V, its a bit like holding a new born baby!

Your thoughts and opinions are welcome