CURRENTLY AVAILABLE

                            Note:  All ukuleles, Free shipping to contiguous 48 states.

CAT'S EYE Ukulele, Soprano, $282

The Cat's Eye Ukulele is my original design, and one of the first types of uke I ever built, with a body shaped like a cat's eye and the head stock like a cat's head. This is one my my favorite types to build because it's kind of on the wacky/whimsical side but at the same time time elegantly simple in form.

The top and back of this one are made of an unusually figured Ambrosia Maple.

I feel I need to say about some of my "novelty" ukuleles, this uke is not meant to be just a curiosity or a cute ornament for a veterinary eye doctor to display in her office. A child might like this little uke for sure, but it is not a toy instrument. It is a real ukulele suitable to any kind of music you like, very playable and and with a crisp bright sound.

Dimensions: 21" x 7" x 2 1/2"

MICHI-LELE, Soprano, $311 

Perhaps surprisingly to some, it turns out Michigan's Lower Peninsula is a good shape for a uke as far as sound qualities. In fact, as a builder of alt ukes, I have found that just about ANY shape ukulele (if it has a large enough body) is a viable shape for a good-sounding uke.

So this uke is not just a toy or a conversation piece--or something for proud Michiganders to display on the mantelpiece---it is a real instrument that can be used every day for any kind of music people play on the ukulele.

This Michi-lele is priced at 10% off the list price.

Dimensions: Approx. 21" x 8" x 2"

Here's a link to a dedicated uke player  who received a Michi-lele as a gift some years ago. I guess he likes his Michi-lele, because he has used it for several songs on his YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFqIG8RgZFM

RAINDROP, Concert, $481

This is the second ukulele in my limited series "Up in the Air." For the series, each ukulele will be a unique work that will not be repeated, and the number of ukes will be limited to ten. Some will be custom-built, as I get requests, and some I will just build and offer as they are completed. For more info, email raberdavid@yahoo.com.

The Raindrop has a good sized body, with strong volume and a pleasing tone.

This body shape is a well known uke type called by the name "teardrop" or "boat paddle."

CURVALICIOUS, Tenor, $393

As a maker I am into "extravagant" shapes for the ukulele, and that applies to this instrument especially because it defies one major law for stringed instruments: It is asymmetrical (free form).

Frank Lloyd Wright said that architecture is a "plastic" art, meaning that the overall form and details of buildings may be largely shaped by the creative choices of the architect. This idea is valid for architecture, and I have found it to be translatable to the luthier's art as well--both in terms of visual aesthetics and musical qualities.

This uke has a top of rich Cherry wood, which I have found to be an excellent tone wood,with good volume and a sweet tone. It is currently tuned gcea (low g).

Dimensions: Approx. 26"x 8 3/4" x 2 5/8"

MICHI-LELE, Concert. $398

For those not familiar with my work, let me just say, this uke may fall into the category of a "novelty" instrument, but it is by no means meant to be just a toy or a conversation piece--or something for proud Michiganders to display on the mantelpiece---it is a real instrument that can be used every day for any kind of music people play on the ukulele. It is well-built and sounds great!

This concert-sized Michi-lele with a dramatic Spalted Maple top and back would be a great gift for any proud Michigan resident who loves to play the ukulele, or as a very special musical gift for a kid--, or perhaps for a player with a few ukes already, and looking to add a very unique item to a personal collection.

Dimensions: Approx. 2"x 8 " x 2 "

TROUBADOUR, Tenor, $458

This uke in the basic form of a lute is aimed a the Renaissance Fair audience as an instrument worthy taking to the fair as a part of the cosplay outift--and providing not only the look but the music, since this instrument of four strings, tuned and sized like a tenor ukulele, is suitable for any type of music, including genuine Renaissance or Medieval ballads.  "Greensleeves," for one, sounds great strummed on this uke, and I can provide a fine chord arrangement along with it, on request.

This uke with its fulsome, shapely body puts out a robust, sweet noise indeed--a great accompaniment for folk and jazz songs as well, and suited to both the casual and expert player.

The top is made of Birdseye Maple, the back of stripy Western Red Cedar for the look of a lute back.

Dimensions:  Approx 26" x 9" x 2 1/2"

YOOPERLELE, Concert, $373

Coming soon!  Body shaped like the UP of Michigan, head stock shaped like the mitten "down below."

Ukulele Memories, and Looking Ahead

 Here's a pic of ukes I was offering for sale almost a decade ago, not long after I first started building ukes.  The cigar-box types I have not built in a while.  The Cat's Eye type is still one of my personal favorites.

The "Texalele" pictured there is the first one of that type that I built.  Still building those on order, having buiult and sold about half a dozen over time--all shipped to Texas but one, as I recall.

As a self-taught builder, I have been focused on the physical form and creative designs of my ukes--all of them alternative ukes that do not look like miniature guitars.  I consider this an artistic endeavor thru and thru, in the long tradition of alt uke types in the history of the ukulele.  While paying attention to aesthetics beyond the usual decorative features of standard guitar-shaped ukes, I have constantly given heed to improving the structural and sound qualities of my ukes--because if a musical instrument is little more than a showpiece or conversation piece, what's the point?

As of March 2026, I have built 116 ukuleles and have sold most of them, sold a few thru auctions to raise funds for non-profit groups,  and given away a few to family and friends and a couple of professional musicians.

From now on, I will be using this blog for a recurring feature, a CURRENTLY AVAILABLE post showing the instruments I have for sale at a given time.  To buy one, or for more info, email me at deukuleles@gmail.com (or raberdavid@yahoo.com), or go to my FB ukulele page, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100027943045229

Amy's Michi-lele

I have been building Michi-leles since 2007, soon after I started making ukes, and this type has been my most popular model among the many different types I build (all of them "alternative" ukuleles that do not look like miniature guitars). 

Anyone who lives in the Great Lakes State, like me, will immediately recognize that the body of the uke is shaped like the state's Lower Peninsula (the Mitten); and in order to not leave out an essential part of the state, the head stock is shaped like our Upper Peninsula (as viewed with the neck held horizontal).  It took a bit of finagling, but I managed to work out the peg positions so the strings and knob positions would work out.

I've sold about three dozen Michi-leles, a few to collectors who have more than one or two ukes, but I believe most were bought players who play their Michi-leles on a regular basis.  I'm glad to add a Michi-lele to anyone's collection, but I have to emphasize that it is not meant to be merely a display item or conversation piece, it is meant to be played--and happily, as it turns out,  the lower Michigan mitten shape makes for an effective sound box.  The Michi-lele sounds good.

A few weeks ago Amy, a dedicated uke player--belonging to a large and active ukulele group in Colorado--contacted me by email about a custom-made tenor ukulele, tuned to low-G.  I sell thru Etsy and at a retail set-up in my town of Ovid, MI, and I also sell directly to customers led to me thru social media or otherwise.  Amy and I had a back-and-forth about the types of wood I had available for her uke (I build with 100% reclaimed wood), I sent her the specs we agreed on via email, and we were off to the races.

The following pix show the building process for Amy's Michi-lele

The main parts before cutting, including the blocks for the body glued up and clamped before the sides are cut out on the band saw..

The body sides cut to shape, the back and front cut out rough, the block for the neck and the blank for the fret board. 

The parts all put together, including the fret board with frets, ready for final sanding clean-up as the prep for finishing.

And here is the finished uke--Cherry top and head stock veneer, Oak fret board and saddle--characteristic Michigan woods, for sure.

Right now I have one concert size Michi-lele in stock, I am building a custom one for a local customer, and another stock one, soprano size, will be coming soon.

I never get tired of making Michi-leles because to me it is a great example of a "novelty" uke, and at the same time a good quality instrument musically, and well-built.  It currently sells for around $400 or less, according to size

Two Slim-line Michi-leles

Two new Michi-leles from Dave's Extravagant Ukuleles, latest version with a slimmer body, about 1 1/2" deep. With the method I use for the sides (a bit thicker and more rigid than a "normal" ukulele), the volume is great and the tone nice and bright. The Michi-lele may be a "novelty" uke, but it is also a legit instrument for everyday use, and suitable for any kind of music uke players play. Built with 100% reclaimed wood. More info on my ukes can be found in this blog and at  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100027943045229
 

The Michi-lele Saga

This my latest Michi-lele, number 25, all of them sold. 

It's my most popular ukulele, representing almost a quarter of my output over the past 6 years plus.  I guess I know why--because it is something truly unique and special in a marketplace where you need to offer something something like that when you are an individual craftsman competing against factory producers.  It has to be something unique and special because you have to charge at least a few hundred dollars for it to justify your labor on it, while a decent, playable mass-produced instrument can be had for fifty bucks or less.  

With this uke, there is also the Michigan angle:  A lot of us Michiganders love our state, and we are oddly proud of its distinctive shape (the "mitten"), which happens to be very suitable for a ukulele body--and whattya know, this clever uke very cleverly includes our Upper Peninsula as well, as the head stock.

To be honest, I'm not sure if the idea of making a Michigan-shaped ukulele is totally original with me or not.  I have seen a picture of at least one electric guitar with a Michigan mitten body, and I'm not sure if I saw that before or after I made the first Michi-lele.  I do know that after I started them, I happened upon a picture of a small collection of ukes that looked pretty much like my Michi-lele, made by someone in northern Michigan.  But I did not steal this person's idea--for all I know, he stole it from me.  I don't think it matters all that much, because ideas and themes in the wider world of design get stolen and swapped and adapted, etc., all the time. 

NOTE:  Since I wrote this, some months ago now, there have been more Michi-leles.  I love making them, if only because every Michi-lele proves the thesis of my alternative ukulele philosophy:  Body shape does not matter, and any wood can be a "tone wood." That is, if one is open is variety in sound and appearance of the musical instrument we call the ukulele.

History has shown--over more than a century now--that the uke player has embraced this attitude--and this is why I love designing and making ukuleles.

Mighty Uke Day 2023

 It was a new venue for MUD 2023, but the same event in terms of opportunities for uke enthusiasts to meet and bask in the joy of uke-mania with fellow enthusiasts.  

Thanks to Ben Hassenger and the volunteers who made this great Mid-Michigan ukulele event possible.  I look forward to it every year.

Mighty Uke Day 2022, Lansing MI

Had a great time at the annual uke fest in Lansing, Mighty Uke Day, last held at a physical site in 2019.  That was my first M.U.D. as a vendor, and I've been waiting since then to get back.

They put the vendors indoors this year due to the heat.  I was there with presenters from Mainland Ukuleles and Mya-Moe Ukuleles.  Both companies make conventional ukuleles, but I won't hold that against them.  They both make fine products, and the fact that they are dedicated to building ukes in the first place means to me that they are "doing God's work." 

But there was quite a contrast between my display of ukes, every one of them an "alternative" uke (unconventional, unusual, abnormal, weird, a "novelty" uke--or whatever) and the ukuleles of the other two companies, every one of them a figure-eight instrument, whether relatively plain or very fancy, looking like a miniature guitar.

None of the vendors sold much that day.  I think the Mainland people sold a couple of accessories.  Fact is, most people (even enthusiastic festival goers) don't tend to make unplanned impulse buys of products ranging from about $250 on up.  But that's not the point of being a uke maker at a festival like M.U.D., or I don't see that as the point for me anyhow.  The point is to be out there among the ukulele people, talking ukuleles and uke music, and me publicizing the name of Dave's Extravagant Ukuleles a bit.

I'm already looking forward to next year--hope to see you there!

Michi-lele Demo

 I stumbled on this video on YouTube--a guy playing a song by the Accidentals on one of my Michi-leles. I often meet the people who buy my ukes, but not this guy--he may be the one who made a special order thru Great Lakes Music Studio in Lapeer. Anyhow, that's a great song by the Accidentals, and I think the Michi-lele goes well with it.

Tercet Concert Ukulele

This is my latest version of my Tercet ukulele, which I used to call the Fat Triangle, which pretty much sums up the shape of the thing.  It seems to me to be one of the basic shapes for a stringed instrument with a neck.  A balalaika, for example, is a trinagle shape--but without the bulging curves.

I make ukuleles of many different shapes, working from the idea that almost any body shape can produce a good sound, and yet I have found that this particular shape always seems to yield real good volume and sustain, and a sweet tone.  So sweet that I felt I should give it a sweet name, like the "Tercet."

The top and bottom of this one are made of Elm, a heritage wood in my part of the world, plentiful in times past before the Dutch Elm Disease blight came through the USA in the mid-twentieth century.  The wood I used came from timbers in a decrepit old barn probably about 150 years old when it was taken down recently--built in a time when farmers made barns out of wood readily available from local forests.

The top and back have been stained dark to highlight 

 

the prominent grain pattern in the wood.  The other parts of the uke are made from Black Walnut, giving the instrument an overall dark color scheme.

Like all my ukuleles (with rare exceptions), this one is made entirely of reclaimed wood from the local area--Mid-Michigan, USA.

I have ukuleles for sale at the showroom of 2nd Chance Wood Co., in Durand, MI (see their Facebook page); at Owosso Guitar, Owosso, MI; and on Etsy at "Dave's Extravagant Ukuleles."  Other models, custom made or in stock, are available from me directly.  Email raberdavid@yahoo.com or call/text (989) 292-5155.
 

Classic Bell Ukulele

 The Bell Ukulele was introduced by the Lyon and Healy Co. in the mid-1920s during the "first wave" of the uke's popularity in the US, a time when different companies were vying for sales with some new and different body styles.

I had no idea the bell shape, new and innovative for the ukulele at the time, was based on a shape of another small stringed instrument from "back in the day" in Old Europe--way back in the day, like four centuries back.  Looking thru a book on old stringed instruments, I found almost this exact same shape used for a five-string "cittern" from about 1600.

So it appears Lyon and Healy stole this shape from the history books--which is fine, because what would the world of design be like if it wasn't for borrowing (or stealing) from those who came before us?  And it would sure be shame if this lovely shape had been lost in history and never brought back to be used again.

I call this ukulele the "Classic" Bell both because it has become a classic design of the 20th Century, and because I went directly back to older classic as well to delineate the shape of my version of the Bell Uke (but it's not that much different from the Lyon and Healy version either).

This one has an almost monochrome light-light color scheme, with a Birdseye Maple top/back, a Maple fretboard, and the other parts of Maple as well.  The fretboard, by the way, is made from a strip of old Maple tongue-and-groove flooring, I believe from an old commercial building, or maybe it was a gymnasium.