Evening all!

I've not posted a build here before, so bear with me if I get it wrong, ok?

This is the second uke that that I've constructed out of an old acoustic guitar, that used to belong to my brother. (It was awful - the neck was twisted and bowed -  completely beyond redemption).

It seemed to me that the curved sides of the body could be cut down, and used to make the sides of a smaller tenor uke.

The first 4-stringer used the back of the body, but I made a new soundboard out of 1/16" modelling-grade plywood, braced internally.

The neck was formed form a mahogany blank - shaped with a scroll saw and belt sander, before finishing by hand.  The neck is dowelled and glued to the body.

All the hardware came from Ebay, and the completed uke is fitted with Aquila strings.

I'm delighted with the result - the tone is more lute-like than a conventional uke, but has ample volume to make itself heard at the local uke club (Cool and Uke).

Tim

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So spurred on by the success of the first model, and with enough guitar left to cannibalise, I decided to make an 8-stringer - this time with an arched back.

Here's the progress so far.  The body is made, and is waiting for me to source a decent lump of timber for the neck.

Tim

Impressive.

Very good workmanship!!!!

Very bice looking indeed.

I have a bashed up acoustic and a bashed up classical guitar in the house. I've been meaning to do something with them but figured i'd just strip them for parts.

If i can convince myself that i have enough skill (which i don't), i may attempt this - your uke looks amazing and i'm seriously lacking a tenor in my uke collection.

Thanks for the comments, gents!  It's always nice to get a bit of encouragement, and if this inspires somebody in return, then that's even better!

I've been planning the layout of the headstock on graph paper, using the tuners and nut as real life references.

Oh, and here's the new body - which is a mirror image of the last project!

I've just come back from the wood yard, carrying nice bit of mahogany for the neck.

Tim

There are several online fret space calculators out there, and my tenor uses a scale length of 430mm (about 17").

It's easier to mark up the neck whilst it's still parallel sided.

To cut the fret slots I use a battered old pull saw, with a hacksaw blade clamped to it to act as a depth stop.

I have to admit that my scroll saw struggled with the neck's side profile!  There's no joint in the neck.

The sides were tapered with a jack plane.

I fit separate ears to my head stocks.  It makes the neck easier to make, and I think they re-inforce that angled bit.

Ears glued and clamped.  Further shaping tomorrow!

Very nice, always been a sucker for the Snakehead shape.

Me too.  I like the way the strings don't have to veer off at a sideways angle after they pass through the slots in the nut.

Tim

I built this acoustic CBG out of Cedar and decided to alter my headstock a bit. It worked out great.

wow, awesome idea

Cool ukes and nice work- both the building and the build-along.

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