Cigar Box Ukulele
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Concept
Due to their simple, lightweight construction, nylon strings, and lack of pretension, ukuleles are an excellent choice for a first handmade instrument.
Members Interested
Sacha (instigator)
Ingredients and Suppliers
- Cigar Box
- Tesa Cigars (Grand and Milwaukee)
- Binny's Beverage Depot(213 W. Grand)
- Ukulele Strings
- you want nylon soprano strings, not tenor or bass
- elderly instruments sells decent sets of strings for about $3
- Tuners
- There are two major kinds of tuners: friction and geared
- Friction - old school, (sometimes) cheaper, can be built by hand/lathe
- Geared tuners - easier to use, keep their tune longer, (not necessarily) more expensive
- Elderly instruments sells a set of geared tuners for about $8.85 and a set of friction tuners for about $8.95
- There are two major kinds of tuners: friction and geared
- Neck
- Preferably hardwood (like maple), but poplar works too - nylon strings are pretty gentle.
- Frets
- Hardwood or metal
- Bridge
- can be made from scrap from neck manufacturing
Directions and Plans
- Excellent website - scroll down to find PDF of (really nice) vintage plans from 1910-1920 for making a cigarbox uke: [1]
- Fret calculators (for figuring out fret placement...):
- How to actually cut frets - involves a jig and a Gent Saw