New Steel String Electric Ukulele. On Sale This Week!!! $475.00
ON SALE THIS WEEK. $475.00
This is a New Spalted Hard Maple Electric Ukulele .
The wood came from a very old tree from a remote island in the San Juans. This and all my ukuleles are hand made in America. Most all the wood used in Monkey Wrench Ukuleles are grown the USA . The fret boards are made from Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry) which is a sustainable growth hardwood and is not endangered. Jatoba is an extremely hard wood it wears well and makes for a great fretboard. This is a quality instrument and is made to last. I am currently building a Baritone model and a long scale tenor. Both will have the same quality features with added tone controls and adjustable truss rods which is needed with the longer 21-1/4″ scale on the baritone. Again These ukuleles are Hand Made in the USA .
If you have any questions about this or other ukuleles Please email me.
I had a nice visit to the Kamaka Ukulele factory with a 2hr tour and history lesson with 86 year old Fred Kamaka. It was great! I will write more about it later.
I started building ukuleles to chase sound. I have played a lot of different ukuleles and most of them sounded different; except for the mass produced plywood crap. Those are just like MacDonald hamburgers in that they all look the same and sound the same no matter where you buy it. I can understand the need for a lower priced ukulele, but those I have played don’t have that good unique sound that I have found in solid wood ukuleles. Many of my guitar playing friends have experienced the same with guitars. From my experiences I have found that solid wood instruments sound better than plywood ones.
Time Takes Time
From experimenting with different woods with different thicknesses, I have come up with combination’s that I like. What I also have found is that they get better over time. The Uke that I play today I built three years ago. When I first strummed it, I did not really like the sound so I put in the closet for 6 months. When I got it out to show someone I strummed it again. It was one of my best sounding ukuleles. In fact it is almost the only one I have played for the last 3 years. I play it so much that am starting to wear a hole in it. On the other hand I built a Uke for a friend that when I was done I almost did not give it to her because it was the most beautiful sounding ukulele right off the bench. Since I mill my own wood (some from green logs some from billet stock) I can keep sets that match and can work with combination’s that I know sound well together. I am finding that it takes time for most solid wood Ukuleles to relax and move to reach their full sound. A laminated plywood instrument will never achieve this.
The Metamorphosis of an Uke
A solid ukulele starts with a piece of wood that has taken many decades to grow. Much of that wood has been at the bottom of the tree and has had enormous weight and pressure put on it . It may have been a branch that stretched out again with weight and stresses on it for years. In my opinion (or theory) this puts enormous stress and pressure on the wood cells and molecules. We as luthiers start to relive the stresses… but…we put it under other stresses such as steaming and bending sides, molding slight arches in
the tops, and larger arches in the back. These bends may have been in the complete opposite direction that the tree had grown. So when taken out of the mold these instruments begin to relax. Slowly they take their new shape and then we combine these stresses with the vibrations of the music we play, and the wood begins to relax and move to accept the shape that we have given it. As the vibrations start to warm up the wood, so does the tone and over time each instrument becomes truly and completely individual. No two can ever be the same. Each will have it own unique sound that cannot ever be completely duplicated. I believe that this can never be achieved out of a plywood or plastic box.
So I continue my quest for great sounding Ukes. Each time a brand new instrument leaves the mold, it has the potential of becoming the “perfect” Uke. You never can tell. The only thing for certain is that it will not be a cookie-cutter duplicate of the thousands of other Ukes on the market. So if you are truly looking for something that is a one of a kind instrument that can compliment the music you are playing there are many great U.S. luthiers that can help you achieve this goal. Go look!
James Hellar
Maker of Monkey Wrench Ukuleles- lives, works and plays on
Orcas Island WA.
Reach him at www.monkeywrenchmusic.com )
Intonation, as taken from the definition of Wikipedia, states: “Intonation, in music, is a musician’s realization of pitch accuracy, or the pitch accuracy of a musical instrument.” Having what is known as “bad intonation” means that the musician is playing or singing out of tune. Intonation can also refer to tuning.
Strings
When it comes to stringed instruments, intonation matters a lot more than with other musical instruments. Since majority of stringed instruments are unfretted, the note can easily go out of tune in the event that a finger is too high or too low, even if it is less than an inch. In order to have good intonation, a musician needs to have years of practice and experience, which makes this the most difficult part of mastering a stringed instrument.
Ukulele Intonation
There are some individuals, more commonly guitar players, who often ask me if there is a ukulele which has superb intonation but costs little, I always tell them the same thing over and over again: “Forget it…”
Despite the majority of ukulele fretboards manufactured today being cut precisely by computer-guided laser cutters, issues sometimes exist in relation to the free string configuration of the ukulele, which is extremely short, and makes perfect intonation quite hard to attain. Also, ukulele strings which were made from plastic materials like nylon are not very precisely constructed as compared to their steel counterparts – those which are usually installed on banjos, mandolins and the ever popular guitar. Strings made of plastic tend to expand and eventually become flat, making them quite hard to use during the initial stages of use. And if that’s not enough, getting the right intonation greatly depends on the skills and experience of the musician. Intonation will also change in relation to the key played.
Ukuleles have long been known as the instrument of “innocent merriment”, period. They provide hours of fun and enjoyment with every use, although they can’t be considered as acoustic physics laboratories having small sound chambers.
With guitars, most people will usually invest a lot of money making modifications in order to have better intonation, and the ukulele not much that different. Even if the ukulele you are looking at right now is said to have the “prefect intonation”, chances are there is something fishy about it.
If its the intonation of your ukulele that is giving you headaches, it may be a good idea to purchase strings of better quality such as well-known brands Worth and Aquila. You may be surprised on the really big difference this change will give.
Intonation can also be achieved based on how relevant the note played is to the pitch as the musician moves up the fingerboard. In order to check the set-up of your ukulele, the 12th fret needs to sound exactly the same when played on an open string at a higher octave. For example, open A string first course 440Hz, 12th fret 880Hz). Playing a 12th fret harmonic and comparing it with a fretted 12 fret note is also a good way of checking your ukulele. A good instrument will always be able hit each note played exactly to the required frequency. Example is G=392 Hz, C=261.6 Hz, E=329.6 Hz, etc.
When constructing a good instrument, intonation is always an integral part of its overall quality. Playability is also another important factor considered by musicians. How do we actually acquire that much needed intonation? Most people will tell you that it is just as simple as making the measurement from the 12th fret doubled, but the truth is, it just does not work. Always keep in mind that the instrument you are using contracts and expand, and that wood also breathes. The playing style of a musician can greatly influence the intonation of a instrument – someone who strums hard and bends the strings too much when playing the instrument makes more of a noise rather than music. On the other hand, a good musician will do the exact opposite and you feel like the instrument and the musician playing as one.
There is a new Monkey Wrench Ukulele for sale. It is a Nylon string solid body electric. It has a piezo pickup with a built in adjustable 0 to 25 db clean gain preamp and an Onboard 3-Band Equalizer. This allows you to dial in your uke and amp setup. Add some bottom, mid or high end this allows you to personalized your ukuleles tone.
Here’s the first video of the Electric ukulele being played.
Leave a comment about the video and your entry could be chosen to win a prize. The comments can be Good, Bad, Funny, Sarcastic, Demeaning, Critical, or Poetic.
ON SALE THIS WEEK. $475.00
