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.

The Asymmetrical Ukulele--Why Not?

 Here's a couple of ukuleles I'm working on now, after a hiatus of several months caused first by my place of work (2nd Chance Wood Co.) moving over the holiday season last year, and then by the Lockdown, when the place was closed.

Both these are concert size ukes.  The Michi-lele I have made over a dozen times before, but the other one is new.  I call it the Aetherea, and it's a departure for me because it's asymmetrical.  Of course the Michi-lele is asymmetrical too, but that's because the whole idea is it's shaped like Michigan, which is itself asymmetrical.

The Aetherea isn't meant to look like anything else--it's an abstract shape. I designed the Aetherea to be asymmetrical just because.

I have touted my ukuleles as "alternative," meaning they are not shaped like standard, normal ukuleles, i.e., miniature guitars.  But all my ukes to this point (except the Michi-lele and Texalele) have been symmetrical along their length--an important aspect of conventionality they share with normal ukes, in spite of them being "alternative" otherwise.

So I guess I thought it was time to make an instrument even more alternative ( or out of whack--?) compared to the normal.

There's no musical reason, as far as I know, to make a ukulele or a guitar or any stringed instrument symmetrical--or at least no reason not to give it a shot, and see for myself what happens musically.

Going asymmetrical to me is just another move in the direction of pursuing creative freedom in the designing and making of ukuleles.

Creative expression in uke building usually--more than nine times out of ten--takes the form of making the conventional guitar-shaped item fancier and fancier with flashy details and rich materials (inlays, intricate bindings and rosettes, exotic woods, and so on).  Decoration is fine, it can be really wonderful, but it is limited because it doesn't touch the basic shape of the thing, which is treated pretty much as a given, a canvas to be painted on. 

I like fooling around with shape--it's the kind of "alternative" I like to explore.  And symmetry/asymmetry is pretty basic to shape, so I think I'll be exploring that some more in the immediate future.

For anyone interested, I have another blog that goes into some of these issues having to do with traditional and non-traditional ukuleles, normal ones and alternative ones: https://altuke.blogspot.com/

Cat's Eye Ukulele

 This is the first ukulele I ever made--the type, not this particular one, and it is still one of my personal favorites.

I like it because it is kind of goofy, the body shaped liked a cat's eye, the headstock like a cat's head.  It's goofy, it's whimsical, it's "fun," whatever you want to call it, but at the same time has a simplicity to it that you could also call graceful or elegant.  I could call that, anyhow.  Am I flattering myself?  You be the judge.

Goofy or graceful or both, this ukulele probably has a limited audience:  Ukulele players who also like cats--cat lovers who also play the ukulele.  Or maybe a grandma like that who wants to give her grand daughter a whimsical gift made by someone with a childish sense of humor.

The top and back are made of Birdseye Maple, a fancy wood that I chose the Cat's Eye uke because I fancy it looks like the texture you see in a cat's eye.  Perhaps sometime I'll take the next step and stain the wood transparent green.  I really think I should do that.
I can make you one like that, if you want.  Just ask.

The Fabulous Texalele

"Here's looking at you, kid."

I guess I was was first attracted to making ukuleles because: 1) I enjoy the process of design--thinking up creative ways of  making things, and then making them:  getting an idea, developing it, bringing it into reality; 2) I like music, and I enjoy playing the ukulele (although I am a rank amateur), and I noticed that ukuleles over time had been made in a quite a variety of alternative shapes beyond the conventional guitar-like form--so designing ukuleles offered the potential of a wide scope for creative design; 3) I decided to jump into that tradition with a vengeance.

But a person can be creative making a variety of things, from pottery to furniture to any sort of art object.  The thing about a musical instrument is:  after you make it, there is music!  There is a special magic to that which is almost as magical as composing music itself.  that's how I feel about it, anyhow.

The Texalele is one of the first ukulele types I made.  Why Texas is a story I won't get into right now.  Just like the Michi-lele, which came a little later, the Texalele was an exercise is pushing the creative possibilities of ukulele design to a limit--you could say, to the point of absurdity, or at least to the point of whimsy.  (I'm not the first person to do this sort of thing:  Google "Aero Uke," for example.)

Anyhow, this is the Texalele.  I made four and have this one left.  It is the special "eyes of Texas" version.  I cut the top from a chunk of cedar, and it just so happened that two knots, looking like a pair of eyes, were there on the piece.  "Eyes of Texas"--it was like fate.

This one still has the original cheap black nylon strings I first put on it.  And it sounds pretty good for a weirdly shaped uke that was among my first efforts.

This is the kind of thing I would sort of like to keep for myself, but I will sell it if a buyer comes along and just has to have an "Eyes of Texas" ukulele, because I do make them to go out into the world.

Chunky Pineapple Ukulele

I make all my ukuleles from reclaimed woods, but this one probably looks like it more than the others because the top and back are made from barn wood pine that has some small bug holes in it (filled with epoxy before finishing).  It's made on the pattern of the famous Pineapple Ukulele introduced by the Kamaka company in the 1920s.  I call this one "chunky" because the body is somewhat larger than usual.

When I found this "buggy" pine, I wanted to use it for a top because of its funky look, plus I wanted to see how the very old and well-seasoned wood would perform as a "tonewood."  I found it works just fine--the uke has good volume and tone.

An Extravagant Uke Pitch

Oaken Shield Tenor

Introducing the mighty "Oaken Shield" ukulele, tenor size, Who makes a ukulele entirely out of oak, which is not supposed to be a "tonewood"? I just did, and it sounds great, IMHO--excellent volume and tone. Play it soft and low or hard and fast--the solidity and heft of this uke make it suitable for that whole range. It's Beauty AND the Beast all rolled into one. --Dave raberdavid@yahoo.com https://www.facebook.com/2ndchancewood/

Two Michi-leles and a Mod Bell

Latest out of the workshop--a Michi-lele soprano (Spalted Maple top), Michi-lele concert (Flame Box Elder top) and a Mod Bell (Elm top).  I call it a Mod Bell because I started with the idea of a traditional bell shaped ukulele and modified it.  I started out not very fond of this shape, but after making three now, I'm liking it better.  Seems to work well in terms of resonance.

Fat Triangle Tenor Uke

Sierra, a co-worker at 2nd Chance Wood Company, playing one of my Fat Triangle ukuleles.