Heres a perfect and unique Christmas gift"build a cigar box ukulele from scratch or from a prebuilt kit. If you have seen all the online sites for ukuleles for sale, youve seen the wide range of prices and the host of available models from beginner to professional unit. Think about building your own. Not sure if you have all you need? Consider the following techniques and recommendations and you will see that you can build a beautiful, good sounding, acoustical instrument. Cigar box ukuleles are relatively simple to make and at the same time offer you the ability to build a high quality, well playing acoustical instrument.
No matter which of the basic ukuleles you choose"soprano, concert, tenor or baritone, you can have a successful build, if you start at the right place. The place to start is the box, which is the most unique part of a cigar box instrument. Thats our primary concern here; pay close attention to the following four key elements 1. Use the right box 2. Reinforce the box 3. Use the right hardware and attachment methods 4. Follow the rules
The sound box is the basic element of the ukulele building kit. These are existing cigar boxes and were originally intended as packaging material, no matter how extravagant or enchantingly beautiful they are. Cigar box ukuleles are born of what is considered tramp art culture. The original idea was to build with discarded materials, leftovers that were originally meant for another use. You have probably already noticed the very wide range of sizes, shapes, length to width ratios, thicknesses and materials that make up cigar boxes and how well, or not, they are constructed. With all you have from which to choose it is best not to use all-cardboard boxes. Use whatever suites you like, but bear in mind the following guidelines for optimum size depending on the instrument you are building. Remember wider is better, with a 6 minimum.
Baritone Ukulele use a box between 9 and 11 long Tenor Ukulele use a box between 8 and 10 long Concert Ukulele use a box between 8 and 10 long Soprano Ukulele use a box between 7 and 9 long
When choosing the length you wont have much control over the width, but remember that anything less than 6 in width will have a tendency to reduce the acoustic effect, and as a rule wider is better. Deep can be better too, up to a limit, with a minimum depth of just over 2. Dont overlook the need for reinforcing your box. Use x blocks glued inside the corners of your box with top-quality Titebond II wood glue or equal. A thin, even coat of glue on two sides of each block is all you need. Place these blocks so they float above the bottom of the box. This bottom of the box is usually solid or laminated wood, and will become the sound board for your instrument, and not allowing the blocks to touch the bottom prevents any interference with soundboard vibration. Use a 3/16 x 3/8 support block glued on its edge inside the soundboard directly below or very near the location of the bridge. This will reduce the slight indentation of the soundboard caused by string tension.
Use a damp cloth and a straight edge to remove all paper inside the box that can interfere with getting a good wood to wood glue line at blocking locations. Dont skimp on screws and other fasteners in your box. Use only the best. Use a template to mark all fastener locations and press the mark with an awl or nail set to provide a good starter for each fastener. Pre-drill fastener pilot holes and drive screws with hand tools only.
Finally #4 on the list says to follow the rules. This step is equally important as any of the other three. You may have heard that in the cigar box ukulele and banjo world there are no rules. Actually there are two. Rule #1 is Do it your way, and rule #2 is Dont forget rule #1. After conscientiously attending to the basic box preparation steps above, you can let your imagination run hog wild with added design and fabrication techniques using the same two rules outlined above. Good luck and good building.
No matter which of the basic ukuleles you choose"soprano, concert, tenor or baritone, you can have a successful build, if you start at the right place. The place to start is the box, which is the most unique part of a cigar box instrument. Thats our primary concern here; pay close attention to the following four key elements 1. Use the right box 2. Reinforce the box 3. Use the right hardware and attachment methods 4. Follow the rules
The sound box is the basic element of the ukulele building kit. These are existing cigar boxes and were originally intended as packaging material, no matter how extravagant or enchantingly beautiful they are. Cigar box ukuleles are born of what is considered tramp art culture. The original idea was to build with discarded materials, leftovers that were originally meant for another use. You have probably already noticed the very wide range of sizes, shapes, length to width ratios, thicknesses and materials that make up cigar boxes and how well, or not, they are constructed. With all you have from which to choose it is best not to use all-cardboard boxes. Use whatever suites you like, but bear in mind the following guidelines for optimum size depending on the instrument you are building. Remember wider is better, with a 6 minimum.
Baritone Ukulele use a box between 9 and 11 long Tenor Ukulele use a box between 8 and 10 long Concert Ukulele use a box between 8 and 10 long Soprano Ukulele use a box between 7 and 9 long
When choosing the length you wont have much control over the width, but remember that anything less than 6 in width will have a tendency to reduce the acoustic effect, and as a rule wider is better. Deep can be better too, up to a limit, with a minimum depth of just over 2. Dont overlook the need for reinforcing your box. Use x blocks glued inside the corners of your box with top-quality Titebond II wood glue or equal. A thin, even coat of glue on two sides of each block is all you need. Place these blocks so they float above the bottom of the box. This bottom of the box is usually solid or laminated wood, and will become the sound board for your instrument, and not allowing the blocks to touch the bottom prevents any interference with soundboard vibration. Use a 3/16 x 3/8 support block glued on its edge inside the soundboard directly below or very near the location of the bridge. This will reduce the slight indentation of the soundboard caused by string tension.
Use a damp cloth and a straight edge to remove all paper inside the box that can interfere with getting a good wood to wood glue line at blocking locations. Dont skimp on screws and other fasteners in your box. Use only the best. Use a template to mark all fastener locations and press the mark with an awl or nail set to provide a good starter for each fastener. Pre-drill fastener pilot holes and drive screws with hand tools only.
Finally #4 on the list says to follow the rules. This step is equally important as any of the other three. You may have heard that in the cigar box ukulele and banjo world there are no rules. Actually there are two. Rule #1 is Do it your way, and rule #2 is Dont forget rule #1. After conscientiously attending to the basic box preparation steps above, you can let your imagination run hog wild with added design and fabrication techniques using the same two rules outlined above. Good luck and good building.
About the Author:
To learn more about building your ukulele here or email me at Walker Hayes and Ill send you a follow up with pictures.
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