Two Tenor Ukulele Commisions

Just completed two tenor Ukes for commissions.
The first one is a completely built body from birch ply with a spruce top
I don't have the money to get or the space to have bending equipment so wanted to make a body that I can make without that isn't Square. I made This one similar a while ago and this is a development of that.
The Customer also wanted a highly decorated design with art nouveau patterns incorporating a design of a lady playing the Uke on the back.

The second is a commission from a customer who I built a cigar box guitar for a while ago.

He wanted a left handed electric tenor uke and gave me free reign on it :-)

I have been wanting to venture into resonators (Mainly as I have a potential commission to make one).  but in the tradition of upcycling without using a bought resonator kit. The first one was the 3 string firewood special I built a couple of months ago using a polish tin which worked quite well. So I decide to build the Uke along similar Lines. The resonator for this is a Kettle lid. I routed out a round cavity which the lid fits into snugly. Bored a hole through the back as a soundport and screwed a hardwood bridge onto it. Considering the size it works remarkably well with a nice transistor radio sound acoustically. The pickup is a 60's Japanese red foil lap steel guitar pickup maybe a guyatone. .

 

 

 

ShonKybox Electric Cigar box Tenor Guitar

I thought I would revisit my ornate scroll designs for this Tenor guitar using a vintage Grand Nica Cedar cigar box with reclaimed Elm wings. (complete with woodworm Holes).

Reclaimed quarter sawn Sapele neck.

2 pickups adapted from Pbass pickups

Book matched Spalted beach headstock facing, Pickup covers and heel plate.

Afromosia fretboard, 20 medium nickel frets and custom brass and aluminium fret markers. Aluminium side dots.

Brass tailpiece. Rosewood and Amazique Bridge.

12 Bore Cartridge Control Knobs

Finished with the ShonKy trademark Oil stain finish

Tenor Ukulele

Here is the Finished Tenor Ukulele that I mentioned a few posts ago.
Mahogany Back & Sides & Cedar Top with Rosewood binding. (the rosewood is not too noticeable but should darken with age. The neck is made from some unidentified exotic hardwood with a Wenge fingerboard. The fret markers are Weng and Aluminium. The Saddle Is made from the the same wood as the neck with a Wenge  accent The Headstock also has a Wenge accent and there is a Wenge Bump Strip and Jack plate on the Bottom. nut and saddle are hand carved from Corian. the machine heads are open faced ones with plastic buttons which I treated to make them look like bone.
The mahogany is reclaimed The neckwood and wenge is very old stock and the cedar is sustainable.
It has Aquila strings and it has been fitted with 2 Piezo discs.

Really pleased with the look and design of this build It's only the second full acoustic build I have done the first being a strumstick which is pretty simple. I found it very nice and comfortable to play. soundwise a very mellow warm sound. Not as loud as I would have liked. I think I am also getting very good results with the antique patina finish. It does look like it's very old and well played and loved.

The owner Marko who originally commissioned a cigar box Uke but due to an error on my part with the original build and the lack of a suitable cigar box to build another one. ended up with letting me build my own body. He has kindly written me a comprehensive review which is under the pics.

Hi Anthony,

 

Uke arrived yesterday. It was very nicely packed, thank you.

 

I really like it. I spend a couple of hours last night playing it.

 

Sound is very nice and rich, very suitable for blues (as well as the looks). It is not as loud as I wanted to be, but it still might get better when it matures. All the sounds come out very clearly, you can hear all the strings individually(what is not always good thing when it shows the lack of your skills J ). Sound is very balanced and it doesn’t get muddy if you strum it harder.

 

I like the aged look. Very nice.

 

The neck is a bit thicker than I originally wanted but it works well with levelled back. Very comfortably to take barre chords. So nothing to complain there. Action is spot on. Very pleased with that. Much better than any ukulele I have played. Very low and no buzz. Perfect. Feel a bit like playing an electric guitar.

 

The balance is pretty good. The headstock could be a bit lighter, but it sits nicely with the quite heavy neck joint. Very comfortable to hold even standing up.  Many ukuleles are very light to give good resonance but are many times very fiddly to hold and move easily when moving chords quickly. Overall this uke is much heavier than most of the ukes I have played (except resonator ones) but it is not a bad thing.

 

Build quality and finish is very impressive.

 

I don’t currently have an amplifier, so I couldn’t test how it would be plugged in, but hopefully soon. I am sure it would be pleasure to play it amplified.

 

It was nice touch how it stands up on the floor.

 

So overall I am very pleased with it and this beauty jumped to my number one uke straight away.

 

Thank you.

 

ShonKy S-Honk 6 String

I just realised I neglected to post a blog about this one. It's quite hard to keep up with listing them on Ebay, my website, here and my facebook page
It has been sold and migrated to California the second of my cbg's to do so. maybe they will start an owners club there soon haha!
Here was the listing as it was from my website.

It features a Cohiba Cigar box with added re-claimed Mahogany body bouts. They are not just for show they are designed specifically to make the S-Honk a very comfortable and ergonomic guitar to play and to add weight.

The neck is a re-used Squier Strat maple neck with a rosewood fretboard. The headstock has been re-shaped. The neck is straight and the frets are virtually wear free.

Brand new tuning machines

It has a single re-used humbucker of unknown origin in the bridge position which has a volume and tone to control it.

It also features the "S-Honk" control which makes the tone more honky. It actually is 2 piezo discs attached to the underside of the box lid with there own volume control. The Tone control also works for the piezo's. Turn it up and you get all the acoustic tones of the box you can even hear your fingers on the fretboard.

The neck is attached to a solid Mahogany core which runs the length of the box. The lid of the box (guitar top) Isn't fixed to the central core so It can resonate. This means the S-Honk can be played acoustically albeit at a quiet volume. Ideal for late night noodling. It has a boxy tone as you would expect from a box!

It is not possible to open the lid access to the electronics are via 2 panels on the rear.

Hardwear is all re-used but very good condition and good quallity chrome.

The body has been given an aged but not too battered finish to offset the shiny chrome.