The Uncommon Life

Gift Lab #9: An Inspired Ukulele

July 8, 2010

Build Your Own Ukulele

1) Product Name: Make your own Ukulele Kit

Make Your Own Ukulele

2) Background Research: This is a joint project that my partner, Leo, and I will endeavor upon as a team.  I have a continuing fascination with building models. In college I built a full-sized circular saw with a rotating blade entirely out of cork. I also am a working painter. My partner can play the accordion, trumpet, piano and guitar.

3) Hypothesis: The do-it-yourself nature of the project will enable both of us to bring our talents together to create a functional instrument that will have continued playability.

4) Experiment: I will paint the body of the ukulele and Leo will demonstrate the sound.

make your own ukulele

5) Results: Music has the capacity to transport one to specific moments in our lives so I wanted the ukulele to speak to the present in my own life.  I’m about to celebrate one year living in Brooklyn, New York, so I decided that a view of my daily commute home from work would be the prefect landscape. I’m fortunate enough to live within walking distance from the UncommonGoods warehouse so I enjoy the sights of Brooklyn’s Fourth Ave each day. Additionally, from a compositional standpoint, I hoped that the median would echo the fingerboard of the ukulele.

make your own ukulele kit

The wood grain behaved differently than the stretched canvas that I am more familiar with. The gouache soaked into the wood and bled slightly (I decided against applying gesso). I enjoyed the effect in the large color planes, like in the sky, because it added a softness that would have been difficult to achieve with the brush alone.
After I completed the body, it was time to assemble the instrument. The directions kept declaring “This is a point” whenever something important was about to be written, but due to my lack of general guitar anatomy and the somewhat confusing translation miscues, I admit I found myself perplexed on what the “point” was.  Nevertheless, my partner and I trudged along, despite some complications with gluing plastic to wood (be sure to use clamps). We found a metric ruler and assembled the hardware.

After the ukulele was fully assembled, my partner researched how to string and tune a ukulele on Youtube as a supplement to the written instructions. As a guitar player, the process was not difficult for him, but he noted that the tuning of the ukulele was much different than that of the guitar. Because of the nylon strings, as opposed to the metal strings often found on acoustic and electric guitars, the ukulele may be more forgiving on the fingers of a beginner string instrument player.

6) Conclusion: Whether displayed on the wall or sitting on the player’s lap, the ukulele was a success to both one’s ears and one’s eyes. The time we committed to the ukulele-building project was rewarding and justified.

Click here to see Mary Catherine and Leo play the Ukulele!

make your own ukulele

9 Comments

  • Reply Missy July 8, 2010 at 5:04 pm

    This is soooo cool, Mary Catherine!

  • Reply Tara July 11, 2010 at 10:56 pm

    I love it! great work, MC!

  • Reply taio cruz July 12, 2010 at 12:53 am

    liked this post!

  • Reply Tanny September 9, 2010 at 11:39 am

    Do you think this would be a good parent/son project for a 10 year-old or would it be too difficult? It looks like a lot of fun.

  • Reply Missy September 9, 2010 at 11:52 am

    Hi Tanny! I think it would be fine for a 10-year-old. It’s recommended for ages 8 and up, and a lot of the reviews on our site mention kids using this kit. I think it would be a great gift for a kid!

  • Reply Jiapei December 11, 2013 at 10:53 pm

    I LOVE THIS IDEA. Definitely my next art project for sure 😀

  • Reply melissa August 20, 2014 at 8:30 pm

    Hello Missy,
    I’m jornalist and I would like to write about Make Your Own Ukelele Kit.
    I need some information and images in hi-resolution.
    Could you help me, please?
    Thanks a lot,
    Melissa

  • Reply Cassie August 21, 2014 at 11:57 am

    Hi Melissa,

    Please email press(@)uncommongoods(.)com and a member of our team can send you some images and answer your questions.

    Cassie | UncommonGoods

  • Reply Ivana F July 25, 2015 at 10:06 am

    Hi.
    When you play the ukulele is it a tenor, alto, or soprano ukulele. Usually I can tell by the length and the strings but I found no indication.
    Can you help me??

  • Leave a Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.