Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Hi Folks,
A friend asked me to make her a ukulele out of this tin
Its only small but looks very funky. She said it is heading to Austin Texas USA for a friends birthday gift so I had to use some grey matter and come up with a instrument that at least looked kinda cool, here it is the biscuit tin /hub cap reso ukulele for your perusal It sounds ok at this stage and should improve as i play the strings in over the next few days.
also have some other bridges to test, thanks for looking positive remarks welcome as well as heckling.

Heckling..... You gotta be joking. That thing is so cool I need a jumper.

Yep. that is superwaycool. what is that tail piece? is it leather?

It looks way cool. I could toss tomatoes but I'd rather use them on my sandwich.

Love how your mind works Luke. Nice job & I can't see any reason your customer won't be thrilled with your efforts .

Gotta hand it to you Luke...that's cool...shak'in the tree here boss, shak'in that tree

Thanks folks for kind words.
Liam the tail piece is copper I tried to give it the ye old fashion look by hitting with the hammer a lot than I make a little fire from scrap timber and throw it in let it cool in the ashes, comes out with look you see.
Currently working on some more quirky instruments that I intend to try and sell perhaps get orders for etc at a market stall I have booked for the Yackandandah Folk festival in March.
I shall post progress of those down the track.

Its a Holden Uke - ility. Nice work Luke

Steve

Well, it has been said several times now, but i have to say it again: coooool!

I have seen many crazy ukes but this one is not just crazy but also seems to be well designed (how to make a reasonable uke out of a tin that would be too small?) and it looks excellent. The contrast between the seemingly "just-out-of -the-fireplace-saved top" and the red-white biscuit box is absolutely overwhelming. A real eye catcher!

I have absolutely no idea of resophonic instruments. What is the back made of? Is this a standard item or something I just can't imagine?

Hi Markus,
The tail piece is out of the fire not the top. The top is just simple 3 ply have used some red and black stain to give it a sunburst kinda look. The back is an actual Hub cap of a Holden car possibly an EJ or EH model circa 1962-65? chrome plated steel. Holden is the Aussie GM made car.
Thanks for your interest and comments.

Hi Luke,
So I'm glad to know you didn't charcoal the top and heel.

Luke wrote:The back is an actual Hub cap of a Holden car possibly an EJ or EH model circa 1962-65? chrome plated steel. Holden is the Aussie GM made car.

That makes this uke even more exclusive and authentic!
A very inspiring build, indeed!

Now that is certainly not crumby, it is a real cracker and I reckon it would be great at picnics and BBQ's.

Jim