Cardboard Ukulele (shoeboxulele)

[SireaGethrice]

cool

[TheUnfortunate9]

The sound is a dream.

[homegrownguitars]

Haha, sure you dont mean nightmare?

[xyFAILxy]

@homegrownguitars God, it sounds great! I love it ;)

[AvahHam]

Cool! I have a channel and I made an easy percussion instrument for k-3 COME by the NOTEFRIENDS channel and take a look!

[roboticstardust]

sounds better then my piece of crap $30 Uke. Maybe I'll make one

[nightslasher848]

the dislike bar is like lady gaga's penis u cant see it but u know its there

[pauldavid30]

nice playing on the Amazing ukulele i love ukulele too I have eleuke tenor spruce top but I just beginner your playing really inspiration to me. Thank you.

[JunkyardMelody]

That's great man. I'm inspired.

[warpedwiselegoman]

"Where there's a will there's a way" eh? awesome stuff

[iB145am]

Do you think I could make the bridge like a violin bridge so that I won't have to glue down the bridge itself?

If that makes sense

[homegrownguitars]

Yes. When I've made these in workshops with junior school kids, we've usually found a piece of old pencil works well. So anything will do, as long as it has a wider base than top, so it doesnt get pulled over by the string tension.

[homegrownguitars]

Sorry, dont have time but you can have some instructions

[d10ny29]

will you make a tutorial for this?

[Olhamo]

just lovely!!!

[preliess]

has a beautiful voice!

[ufoengines]

Very Cool!

[homegrownguitars]

haha, once you've got the bug it's pretty difficult to stop making things, unfortunately.

[tommyv166123]

great, now i have to build a ukulele in my basement now...lol, in the past month i have built a violin, and electric cello, and now i have to build a ukulele cause it seems so damn cool! thanks for sharing!

[haroldlihk]

It looks so funny when the words"The Hotter Comfort Concept " is written on the instrument, haha

Great Job anyways!

[angelofmusic477]

Wow, great. I see you have a off centered sound hole.. in fact two sound hole like the mele ukulele.I believe this is a good start to make the ukulele sound louder and better tonal sound quality. However the shape and the size of the sound hole may affect the sound volume and tonal quality.You can get lots of info on the internet regarding off center sound hole.Great job keep it up.

[skewjahbob67]

super uke idea trying to build my son one for his schools concert trip to italy and struggling how to attach neck to box .So any help would be very appreciative.many many thanks steve my emai is sj.hale1@ntlworld.com

[gutenschneider]

How do you attach the neck on the guitar, and make it very strong. I am making my guitar out of a cookie tin, and I would greatly appreciate any tips!

Also, do strings (steel and nylon) put a great deal of tension on materials such as cardboard, thin metals (like cookie tins)? Will they bend or break, or how should I reinforce it!

Thank you so much for opening the world's eye's to the future of instruments.

[homegrownguitars]

@gutenschneider The easiest way is to make the neck run right through the box/tin. Steel strings exert a much greater tension than nylon. If you'd like to give me an email address I can send some pdf files of diagrams showing ways of joining neck to body for simple instruments like these.

[w0sh1m3]

@homegrownguitars Hi there! Awesome homemade ukulele. I was wondering if you have step by step diagrams on how to make this?

[homegrownguitars]

@w0sh1m3 Hello there. If you send me your email address I can send you a pdf file of instructions.

[w0sh1m3]

@homegrownguitars Hey thanks for the reply. Okay i will send it via private message.

[IWantToKnowChrist]

@homegrownguitars hello friend, i'd really liek to get a whole mess of diagrams emailed to me about making instruements! i'm making mine out of fire wood, with a wood planer! my email is terryberry951991@AOL (dot) com

[jahnj1]

what song is this?

[homegrownguitars]

If I remember rightly, it's a slightly unusual arrangement - (not mine) of "Five foot two"

[bluetailskink]

Pretty neat but what did you use to sersure the neck? Also, do you use any dowel rods on the inside of the box? Feel free to check my music/slideshow vids anytime.

Thanks J.D. Brown

[bluetailskink]

@bluetailskink I meant secure my bad

[homegrownguitars]

@bluetailskink The neck just runs right through the box and is glued to the top of the box with impact adhesive.

[Jjjj187]

the name shoeboxulele is too cliche. try something like shulele :)

[ghettoswagtypewriter]

you were very helpful, thank you. i made a tin can uke just in time for my family Christmas party. my cousin loved it! i used the toothpick fret idea. best method i've used so far. better than nails and zip ties! thanks for the help.

[homegrownguitars]

@ghettoswagtypewriter glad it worked ok!

[0713mas]

Sounds better then my aloha

[ghettoswagtypewriter]

hey, how did you secure the toothpick frets on there? glue or... metal paint and nuclear ionic combustion magnetism or something?

[homegrownguitars]

@ghettoswagtypewriter Haha! just pva glue!

[ghettoswagtypewriter]

@homegrownguitars glorious! thanks.

[ghettoswagtypewriter]

@homegrownguitars right. now i'm an idiot. here's another zinger of an inquiry. what kind of pva did you use to stiffen the box?

[homegrownguitars]

@ghettoswagtypewriter just pva wood glue (evostick W), although wallpaper paste would be cheaper and work just as well.

[ghettoswagtypewriter]

@homegrownguitars thanks! one last question. how wide, generally, is the spacing between strings and, generally, how wide is the fret board at the top nut?

[homegrownguitars]

@ghettoswagtypewriter Well it depends on the width of the wood you use for the neck. On mine the neck is about 32mm and doesnt taper, with an 8mm string spacing. On a standard uke its normally 9mm with a 35mm wide nut.

[therockmannumber1]

@ghettoswagtypewriter , hey how did u attach the neck to the shoebox

[homegrownguitars]

hi no probs. let me have your email address and i'll send a pdf file.

[missINSERTCOOLNAME]

this is absoluteley amazing!

i was wondering, could i have the instructions?

i really want to make one but i have no idea how...

[mnmc10]

very nice ukelele!! nice playing too!

[familyjewls69]

woh. where could i get one of those made of a cigar box?

[homegrownguitars]

@familyjewls69 there are lots of guys in the US making these (I make them but I'm in the UK). Have a look elsewhere on youtube. Alternatively you could make one yourself (the same applies to the tin version). I can send you some pdf files of how to do it if you send me youe email address.

[jonicashhh]

this is fantastic!

[athecheat]

amazing!

[jonathanredmonds]

Excellent! I really like the project and the sound. May I also have some of the instructions?

[homegrownguitars]

@jonathanredmonds Hi. if you send me your email address, I'll email you a pdf file.

[shwrcrtn]

Wow that is awesome. Would love to do this with my Junior High kids here in TW. Just wondering do you have directions for this wonderful project?

[homegrownguitars]

@shwrcrtn Hi, thanks. If you let me have your email address I can send you pdf files of the written instructions I gave the kids.

[8000cheese]

@homegrownguitars u mind if i have some instructions? this is really cool

[homegrownguitars]

@8000cheese Hi. no problem send me your email address and I'll send you some pdf files. cheers.

[stinkylungs]

Did you put the neck through the box or is it just glued on the top of the box?

[homegrownguitars]

@stinkylungs It runs riht through the box and is glued to the underside of the top with impact adhesive.

[stinkylungs]

@homegrownguitars Thanks, that's a huge help.

[stinkylungs]

Seriously impressive (for a shoebox) :) I'm going to attempt to make one with my daughter.

[homegrownguitars]

@stinkylungs Hi, Im sure she'll love it. I've just done a junior school workshop building similar ones and a great time was had by all. Best of luck

[7mattyg]

does it matter where u put the toothpicks?

[homegrownguitars]

@7mattyg Yes, otherwise it wont play in tune. You have to use a fret position calculator (plenty available on the net)

[7mattyg]

how did you glue the wood onto the cardboard box?

[homegrownguitars]

@7mattyg Impact adhesive, dead easy!

[MissCaffieCaffeine]

can you please tell me the name of that lovely song??

[homegrownguitars]

It was the verse part of "Five foot 2 (eyes of blue)" before I mangled it.

[TheMediaCravingsClub]

amazing... :D

[WaltzingWithWalz]

Fantastic! Utterly magnificent!

[145inA]

Nice work!

[londonemski]

Superb idea - I may have to try making one. What governs the correct intonation - is it the position of the bridge (and the frets) or does the height of the bridge affect it?

Thanks again - love the other videos too. Inspiring stuff!

[homegrownguitars]

Thanks! It's the bridge position that counts. The distance from the 12th fret to the bridge needs to be longer than the nut to 12th fret (this is called compensation). In this case 2.5mm longer. The higher the strings the more compensation is needed , but 2.5 seems to work about right for soprano and tenor ukes with normal to low action.

[londonemski]

Thanks very much, Colin. I'll give it a go and let you know how I get on. Chances are I'll be ordering one off you! All the best. John

[UkesterBrown]

Pretty neat idea to use for a class. I lost the site, but there was someone a while back who had made one like it except used a $1 plastic bowl.

[CJbouzouki]

Very nice. Fascinating use of materials. I am not sure about one thing; what are the measurements for the fret spacing?

[homegrownguitars]

Same as on any tenor uke with a 432mm scale length. You can find the spacings using a fret position calculator, there are dozens on the web.

[TeleTubeee]

Say, that's not too bad.

Doug

San Francisco, California USA

[BobEnumber3]

I like the glue idea!