here are a couple of pics of my latest ukulele made from homegrown gourds that I grew specifically for making ukuleles and other small stringed instruments. I use very few fixtures and mostly just use sharp chisels and sandpaper. this one sounds so melodic and all the strings produce equal volume when strummed. there are no dead notes and no loud strings. I switched to a one piece mahogany brace that runs from headstock to tailstock instead of the original three piece system. this requires a little more finesse to make it fit but with the help of a full size drawing this is becoming easier with each uke. if anyone wants me to build them one of these feel free to contact me. they play like a dream and the natural shape of the gourd lends itself well to being held and strummed. mother nature does it again. I used an old hickory tool to make the tailstock which i purposely made large to aquire better sustain and used some old wire lug-downs for the string ends.materials include purpleheart, ebony, hickory, basswood, mahogany, gourd, cocobolo, spruce, and maple. click the attachments for pics.

Mikeg