Make Your Own Ukulele: The Essential Guide to Building, Tuning, and Learning to Play the Uke – Bill Plant

I have so many hobbies that I would like to do that it borders on the ridiculous. Now I have to add in making my own ukuleles, and maybe guitars, and maybe banjos. Oh man, sometimes I think I’m a little nuts when it comes to varied interests.

Anyways, to build a ukulele you need to learn how to build one. There are many books on making guitars, but darn few about ukes. Of course, if you learn how to make a guitar, making a ukulele should be no problem, but I was looking for something specifically about ukuleles. (Which doesn’t mean that I didn’t also buy a scad of books on guitar making.)

The author covers making two types of ukuleles – a “cigar box” version and a traditional soprano. While some might argue that the book is a little light on details, it does give enough information for those with a bit of woodworking experience to build their own ukulele. If you want precise, extremely detailed instruction, this book might not be for you, but it provides good information and I think it is worth owning.

If you think you are going to learn to play the ukulele with this book, in spite of the title, this is not the book for you. It provides only a glimpse into beginning to play the ukulele. The author has written a separate book on playing the ukulele, too, but I have not read it. It’s not like you can’t find a hundred books on playing the uke, though, as well as a wealth of info on the internet.

And speaking of the internet, you can easily supplement the information in this book by seeking out videos and other instruction on-line for building ukuleles. What a great time to be alive if you are looking for information!

For what it is worth, the type in my edition of the book is terrible. They used a small font with a very light stroke that is hard for this old fart’s eyes to read. I needed just the right light and right distance to be able to read it. This obviously is not the author’s fault, but the publisher’s. What were they thinking?

There are at least two other books on building ukuleles and I would recommend that you get those and this book if you want to make one. It never hurts to have more information on hand when you get into a project like this. Those books are: Ukulele Design and Construction: A comprehenisve guide to construct a Hawaiian Ukulele For Any Woodworker by D. Henry Wickham and The Ukulele by Denis Gilbert.

Finished 3/24/18