The
Fun
'Ukulele
Co.
The brother-sister team of passionate ukulele players who design and build the finest custom ukuleles from sustainable and reclaimed materials.
Aloha Jason! Thank you very much for your order. This private page is where I will post updates and photos of the build process.
9/23/18
Concert ukulele:
• Juglans hindsii back and sides (Claro walnut)
• Chamaecyparis top and neck (False cypress)
• Cordia dodecandra fretboard with contrasting fret indicators (Ziricote)
• Black polymer bindings with black and white fiber top purfling and rosette
• Bridge material and headplate pending to match fretboard. Likely to be Cordia or Swartzia species, possibly Diospyros celebica. (Ziricote, Moridero, or Macassar ebony)
• Hand-polished varnish finish
• Grover 8N open-geared tuners, chrome and brass with black buttons.
Price including a basic case: $1,620 CAD plus freight
(Finish date updated 8/1/2019) To be completed no later than December 2 for shipment by December 4th pending completed payment. Fun Ukulele serial #1872
Another deadline success for the Fun team! We (Amy and I) completed your instrument on Dec 1 and shipped 'er Dec 2. Thank you so much Jason!
10/1/18 Your Chamaecyparis top:
10/1/18 Here is your Cordia dodecandra fretboard. It will darkens considerably once it is polished and oiled, which I have shown in the second photo by rubbing it with some ethanol.
10/2/18 Chamaecyparis top joined. This wood smells awesome. I think it would pair well with neroli and vetiver, maybe some orange.
10/3/18 Juglans back joined, sides profiled. This is the back, joined and sanded to 100 grit:
10/3/18 The sides, wetted with glycol ethers to show color and figure:
10/6/18 Chamaecyparis neck roughed out. Scarf joint cut, leveled and flattened.
10/7/18
Sides bent
10/16/18
Top thicknessed, rosette routed and installed. Braced and labeled back viewed through roughed-out sound hole;
10/18/18
Neck rough carved, headstock laminations complete. The front of the headstock features layers of maple and Claro walnut and the rear features a few mm of sycamore 'north american lacewood.' I am considering staining the blonde Chamaecyparis neck to a mahogany-esque color. Let me know if you have any thoughts.
10/23/18 Sides joined, linings installed.
10/24/18 Side ring profiled, back glued up.
10/25/18 preparing to 'close the box,' e.g., glue on the top
10/26/18
Reclaimed bamboo fret markers inlayed, fretboard sanded and profiled:
10/27/18 frets installed
1/10/19 Order cancelled by request.
7/30/19 Order rebooted.
10/18/19 "closed the box," completing the basic structural assembly of your ukulele's body.
Mid-late October - As the finish deadline approaches I spend more time working on the uke and fall behind a bit on
uploading progress photos. Here is the neck as I carved 'er:
I stained the neck with an alcohol-based 'mahogany' color and hated it. So I stripped it and tried again with an amber tone. Hated that worse. The natural color of the wood, particularly matching the unique fret markers really spoke to me better once the thing was at the finish state. Made that artistic judgement call and preserved the natural color.
Early November 2019 - I routed the binding 'shelves'
Mid November - I started finishing her up, but I'll leave pics for later so that I don't spoil the experience
until after you've received your instrument. Cheers!