Just finished building this kit and I found it’s a fantastic value for the money. The neck is beautiful, the bridge looks great, too. It even includes a few extra tiny parts that are so easy to lose like screws and those little plugs to fill in the screw holes in the bridge. If you want to assemble it as is without making any adjustments or adding a finish to the box you can do it in about an hour, not counting glue/clamping time and end up with a ukulele that looks great and plays as well as anything you’ll find selling for a hundred bucks. I spent a little extra time finishing the frets, filing the nut slots and fine sanding the bridge. All these were fine right out of the box, but a little TLC was worth it. I built using the box back as the top, applied a shellac French polish finish. The final product was really great and not having to cut frets and carve the neck saved me a lot of time. I can’t say enough about the quality and value of this kit. The simplest ukulele I’ve designed costs about 20 bucks for materials. This kit uses better materials and only costs 35! Amazing.
I’m trying to build a tenor banjolele. I have the drumhead finished with a beautiful goatskin, but I’m having trouble finding a good neck. Would the neck in this kit work for my banjolele?
Hi Mike. A quick question. I've seen a few cbg and uke builders who build their instruments upside down - ie. using the wooden bottom of the cigar box as the soundboard of the guitar/uke instead of the decorative paper face. How much difference do you think it makes? Kym
I’ve had good luck with this approach. High quality boxes like the Cohiba, My Father and Drew Estate look great upside down, but you should apply a finish to it. Be careful sanding because the outer layer of pretty wood can be thin enough to sand through. You do have the advantage of having access to the inside without extra holes and it’s already glued all around.
![เปิดบ้าน โคตรสวย ป๋องกพล รู้จักตั้งนาน เพิ่งรู้ว่ารวย!!! l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tmgCF_2HfYI/mqdefault.jpg)
You guys are awesome
Awesome tutorial. Getting ready to do my first. I bought two kits. I’m very excited. Thank you Mike
Any tips on getting the hole for the bolt in the right place? I've just ordered a couple of concert sizes.
Just finished building this kit and I found it’s a fantastic value for the money. The neck is beautiful, the bridge looks great, too. It even includes a few extra tiny parts that are so easy to lose like screws and those little plugs to fill in the screw holes in the bridge.
If you want to assemble it as is without making any adjustments or adding a finish to the box you can do it in about an hour, not counting glue/clamping time and end up with a ukulele that looks great and plays as well as anything you’ll find selling for a hundred bucks.
I spent a little extra time finishing the frets, filing the nut slots and fine sanding the bridge. All these were fine right out of the box, but a little TLC was worth it.
I built using the box back as the top, applied a shellac French polish finish. The final product was really great and not having to cut frets and carve the neck saved me a lot of time.
I can’t say enough about the quality and value of this kit. The simplest ukulele I’ve designed costs about 20 bucks for materials. This kit uses better materials and only costs 35! Amazing.
Love them guys
Can someone mod it to use bass strings?
I’m trying to build a tenor banjolele. I have the drumhead finished with a beautiful goatskin, but I’m having trouble finding a good neck. Would the neck in this kit work for my banjolele?
Can it be built in reverse for left handers?
Hi Mike. A quick question. I've seen a few cbg and uke builders who build their instruments upside down - ie. using the wooden bottom of the cigar box as the soundboard of the guitar/uke instead of the decorative paper face. How much difference do you think it makes?
Kym
Kym Goldsworthy tone wise it’s a good idea. But man! It kills me to hide the beautiful top !
I’ve had good luck with this approach. High quality boxes like the Cohiba, My Father and Drew Estate look great upside down, but you should apply a finish to it. Be careful sanding because the outer layer of pretty wood can be thin enough to sand through.
You do have the advantage of having access to the inside without extra holes and it’s already glued all around.