Hawgfiddle65 - Posted - 01/09/2013:  08:34:25

Hi all

Thought you folks would like to see two banjo ukes I have just finished , a soprano uke and a baritone uke. Both have mahogany necks reclaimed from some old shelving an colleague saved from the firewood pile. Both have flamed beech pots  which came from an estate 5 minutes from my home. Both have beautiful Bill Rickard pot and dowel hardware including  Dobson tone rings.  Both have rosewood fingerboards (19 and 13 &7/8  ) The baritone has a 10 inch pot and the  soprano an 8 inch pot.  Rim caps are rosewood with abalone dot inlay. The baritone has a ziricote head stock veneer and heel cap with an abalone heart inlay . The soprano has a palo escrito head stock veneer  and heel cap again with an abalone heart inlay.

Just have to learn to play them now!

Jim (hawgfiddle65)

baritone uke banjo front view	baritone uke banjo side view	baritone uke banjo rear view	baritone uke banjo ziricote headstock
soprano uke banjo front view	soprano uke banjo side view	palo escrito soprano uke headstock	soprano uke banjo rear view

jduke - Posted - 01/09/2013:  08:47:52

Quick! Learn how to play the uke.

You have two very nice instruments there.  Nice work.

Jeff

KingStudent - Posted - 01/09/2013:  09:24:53

Beautiful!  How will you tune them (that is, what tuning(s) will you use)?

LNP - Posted - 01/09/2013:  09:28:33

Very Nice

shannonhearne - Posted - 01/09/2013:  11:20:39

Nice Job!

How do they play, and how do they sound?

Hawgfiddle65 - Posted - 01/09/2013:  16:05:15

Hi all

Thanks for the nice comments. I have tuned the baritone in Chicago tuning DGBE. . Tthe soprano ,I have tuned in C tuning, GCEA rather than D tuning ADF#B. Sounds so much richer in the lower tuning .Very impressed by the tone rings they give so much volume and pop.

I need at some point to reset the neck of the baritone as I got the centering slightly off. Still plays nicely though so I'm not in a hurry .Just want to enjoy my new toy at the moment!

These are my second and third banjos and were an absolute joy to build. Already planning more!

Jim (Hawgfiddle65)

Kevin B - Posted - 01/10/2013:  12:14:40

Very nice job.  I like the uniqueness of your banjo ukuleles.  They seem to have a lot of individual touches to them.

Hawgfiddle65 - Posted - 01/11/2013:  01:38:36

Hi Kevin

Thanks.I just put in things I liked from other banjos and tried things to stretch me skill-wise. The head stock on the soprano was shaped using a veneer from the head stock of an old English Matthews banjo I have as a template. The baritone has a Dobson head stock which I decided I liked after cruising banjo eye candy on the web. I really enjoyed cutting them out on the bandsaw and shaping them by hand .The Dobson tone rings I just love the sound of after hearing them on the net. I wanted to try and carve a heel  with heel caps, which frankly scared me to death a bit but in the end ,especially on the baritone came our really well. For heel inlays, I picked up some 16mm heart shape abalone beads from Ebay which were really cheap and looked great.  I wanted to have a rim cap. I used rosewood from a fret board blank and added these to the  block rim before turning . I must add that local craftsmen  have been really kind to me with their time, advice and access to tools i could never afford. The thing I  am most pleased with is the heel cuts . My previous one I shaped by hand using a oscillating sander, this time with a friend we built a jig, and canted the blank at an 3 degree angle and cut the heel and notch using 8 inch and 10 inch  circular saw blades mounted horizontally in a router (plus 8 and a quarter and 10 and a quarter blades for the notches for the tension hoop). Bill Rickards brass hardware looks absolutely gorgeous with the  flamed beech pot. Bill and Co were absolutely fantastic with their help and advice.

 I'm planning a couple more banjos , and these will incorporate other things I like but will again be an exercise to learn new skills .For instance I have never installed a  truss rod, so I will buy a router or get the lone of  one, for these. I was left some engineering tools by my father so it would be nice to build one from scratch. I  also like the idea of brass inlays using photo etching, so am playing around  creating masks on the computer with the idea of creating some logos personal to me . In the very  end ,these banjos are for my kids and if they have something individual linking them to their old man so much the better.My progress with these banjos have really fired up my imagination , a year or so ago ,I have never done more than put up a shelf, so the  satisfaction and boost to self esteem has been fantastic. This is largely due to the inspiration and vast amount of freely shared advice and  knowledge on BHO

cheers and thanks to all

Jim (hawgfiddle65)

Edited by - Hawgfiddle65 on 01/11/2013 01:50:16

Kevin B - Posted - 01/12/2013:  05:59:35

Jim, Did you have to fabricate the Dobson rings.  I read you made both 8" and 10."