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Disclaimer:
I built this uke from a kit using the methods described therein to make sure that students could do the same and to see what problems they would encounter. The only embellishment was a standard label and a brace that I replaced because the one provided was cracked.
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I've been chuckling for a few days now, it's nice to be able to build something in the shop again. I think total time on this kit was 1.5 days, I actually would build on it during breaks from work, it'd be 10 minutes in the shop and then out to do other things around the house while glue dried. It's a cute little bugger to be sure, I thinned the edges and shaved the braces a little because I didn't like the way they sounded, it has a pretty good bonk tone.
The pictures are with the tape on the fingerboard ready to ship out to Addam on monday to get finished, I applied a light coat of shellac to make sure I didn't miss any sanding spots. It will look much better one Addam does his magic on it
I was not very impressed with the kit overall, I had to fix a brace that was cracked, the linings had some holes in them and were not bent very well. The bridge bottom was not even remotely flat, nothing that I could not easily fix. The instructions where good and clear, the back had a small knot in it and I would have not put it in a kit given my choice but regardless it wen't together fast and looks pretty solid. The guitar label is humerously HUGE in it
Let's see I sweetened the neck a little and to my dismay discovered the neck was not flat, but I'm confident now that I can teach a class on instrument making and build these in three days with no problem and that was my goal.
So here's the funny thing, about halfway through building this I got bitten by the uke bug, so I ordered a set of nice koa and all the parts so I can start build my own ukes. I ordered all the UKE plans that LMI had and just need to make some molds for bending sides and I'm all set. These things are fun to build, they go together so much faster than a guitar, I'm looking forward to adding them to my list of instruments...
Fun fun fun...
-Paul-
