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4 and 8-string ukes - upcycling an old acoustic guitar!

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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Permalink Reply by Tim Hooper on July 30, 2017 at 8:27am

I was given this little sanding machine some years ago, and (used carefully) will do 95% of the final stage of the neck shaping. The rounded end does a really nice job of the back of the heel.

The secret is to keep the piece moving al of the time.

Tim

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Permalink Reply by Diglydog on July 31, 2017 at 3:48am

Super-cool idea and nicely done, Tim. I'll have to scour the charity shops to find an instrument that I can re-purpose :-)

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Permalink Reply by Tim Hooper on July 31, 2017 at 10:57am

There must be thousands of old guitars in attics and sheds.......

No real progress today, except to place the neck and body together to have a look at the overall proportions.

Tim

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Permalink Reply by Estone Villan on July 31, 2017 at 10:54pm

I take it the neck is screwed on? Is there a joint?

I so badly want to do this with my knackered guitars but I fear i'd make a huge mess of it.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Hooper on August 1, 2017 at 6:50am

I'm using my usual dowelled joint here. It's worked well on my 4 -stringers; I just hope it copes with 8 strings!

Oh, and I've tested fitted the tuners too!

Tim

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Permalink Reply by bigmcgiv on August 4, 2017 at 3:04am

need to do a sound video when completed. great work

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Permalink Reply by Tim Hooper on August 5, 2017 at 6:37am

We'll have to see how it sounds, won't we?

Right, the neck is fretted and markered, and joined to the body for all time.

The bridge has been re-drilled to accommodate eight strings and glued in place. I'm reserving the right to add a couple of discreet screws to give some additional strength here.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Hooper on August 6, 2017 at 11:55am

Woohoo!

It's pretty much finished. The strings are settling in overnight, so I'll give it a test drive tomorrow...

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on August 6, 2017 at 9:45pm

They look great.

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Permalink Reply by Estone Villan on August 7, 2017 at 12:41pm

They're quite beautiful. Definitely giving it a go because i want a tenor that looks like that. May take me a decade but i have 2 knackered guitars to do it with.

I found this inspirational.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Hooper on August 7, 2017 at 8:02pm

That's great to hear!

Well, the 8-stringer is settling in nicely. I'll have to reset the action to lower the strings a little, but that's not a biggie.

It makes its debut at the local uke club tonight...

Tim

Permalink Reply by Robert Clutton on August 8, 2017 at 12:30am

a really nice job congratulations, hows the sound? are you happy with the end result (sound) ? I am impressed as I make a few tenors (beginner) and for me its 'hit or miss' depending on timber used as to the sound so your cut down shape is of interest, anyway good work.