Goofy Foot

so it’s Christmas Eve and I’m having a quiet night with Smithers.

Just finished baking biscotti, the fire is crackling, I’m enjoying a beer and I’m thinking about dinner. But first, I wanted to show you the Goofy Foot.

A few weeks ago, my band played at Williams Hardware in Traveler’s Rest. We don’t have a drummer but, during practice, we get all the rhythm we need by tapping our feet on my wooden floor. How to reproduce that at the gig? Kyle mentioned that when Marshall Crenshaw played at his brother’s club he just miked Marshall’s cowboy boot tapping the floor. Being a luddite, I decided to forgo the electronics and make a percussion pedal.

I give you:

The Goofy Foot.

We played the gig and it worked great – a little too great in fact. The fellas actually complained that it was too loud! Well, Tucker and his family were in the audience and he took a liking to this new pedal. His folks asked  me later to build him one for Xmas. I revised the design and came up with this little gem. I didn’t think about photographing it until I was about to hand it over to Santa’s helpers. So here are some quick and dirty shots from my cell phone.

The sides are cherry, the top is western red cedar and the foot is quality plywood.

The clapper is a resonant hardwood that I got from a pallet from India. I used JB Weld to hold the spring in place.

I’m pretty sure this is an original concept as I’ve found nothing like it on the dreaded internet. If you would like me to build you one, send me an email. $50 + shipping.

Happy Holidays.

 

Videos of #14

I thought you might enjoy a few videos. The first is a description of the woods I used.

Here is a sound sample. I am playing That Hawaiian Melody by Jim Beloff

Another sound sample – Hesitation Blues -  an old blues standard. I stole this version from Aaron Keim

Birth of Number 14

My latest resonator ukulele is now finished!

Behold-

Can you tell I’m proud?

The sides, back, resonator cover and headstock veneer are air-dried Black Walnut. Just look at the beautiful variety of colors in this wood.

The top is mahogany accented with lovely two-ply binding.

I like repeating themes. This uke has walnut sapwood stripes in three places.

Well, here it is – the scratch. This is part of the risk involved in being a craftsman. I handled this uke almost daily for about a month and managed to scratch it on the last day of work while I was putting strings on it for the last time. The good news is that it is hopefully the first scratch of many. I build my instruments for players. I want them to be played and loved. I want them to develop a warm, glowing patina from being handled – a lot! What is patina but a bunch of small scratches and bruises that have been rubbed and caressed with skin oil and dirt and maybe a splash or two of beer. So here it is. No extra charge for this first scratch.

Equipment Kaputt

They say things come in threes, don’t they? Well, let’s hope it stops there.

My lovely belt sander bit the dust last week. I was sanding something and was wondering why there was so much sawdust in the air. It wasn’t sawdust – it was smoke! The motor gave up and I haven’t had the heart to do an autopsy. Hopefully it will be repairable but the pessimist in me doubts it.

Look at the date on the bottom: J3 48. I’m guessing October 3, 1948. Lord, I love old tools. I pains me when they die.

That’s one. Up next is my air compressor. My friend Tiby gave it to me years ago and it has served me well. To be honest, I mostly use it to blow dust off of me but it gets its fair share of workout when I use my pneumatic nail guns. My addition to the shop (previous post) must have done it in.

I couldn’t get it to come on the other day and I was hoping it was something minor. As I was dragging it from its corner, I heard the sound of metal pieces clinking around – broken metal pieces.

These pieces are supposed to be attached.

Just look at this shrapnel! The rings on the bottom were once a sealed bearing with about 15 ball bearings. I wish I had been in the shop when this thing let go! I bet it sounded pretty spectacular.

That’s two.

Up next is my old washing machine. Now, I have to say that I got it free (Thanks Jen!) and it was rusty and it did kinda smell like cat pee, but it was a faithful washer. Recently, it has been spewing motor oil and leaking water. I guess it is fixable but I’m gonna retire it. It’s a judgement call and I’m Caesar and I’m giving it a thumbs down. Sorry old G.E. but it’s time to go on Craig’s List and find another. Oh – and an air compressor. And maybe another sander motor. I’ll let you know what happens.

Shop Addition

We have had a nice spell of mild weather but Winter is coming.

I found this dude in the woodpile soaking up the sun.

In an effort to make enough room for a new woodstove in the shop, I decided to do a little rearranging. I talked my friend Neil into buying an extra thickness sander that I made. That allowed me to move the planer into that space. Now, if I could only find a place for this dust collector…. And then it dawned on me – I could remove the side door of the shop and frame-in the little landing outside of that door.

Not very sexy but very utilitarian. Utilitarian can be sexy though, right?

Check out the window – a nice double paned sash for 5 bucks at Habitat for Humanity! I framed the window and the eaves with iron wood that Tom Kelly gave me. He was building a deck out of it and had a lot of ‘drop’ left over.

As with most woodworkers, I think I’m done but I still need to paint. The finish is always the pain in the butt.

Ipu Update

It’s been an interesting week. I have been building things, I have been breaking things and I have been finding a little time to make a little progress on the ipu ukes.First things first – let’s have a look at the ukes.

Here you can see I’ve added the end grafts. Not only do these look good, they also hide the potentially ugly butt joint (where the two sides meet). Notice the hide glue glob on the top body. Add some hot water and it’s gone. I usually wait until the body is done before I deal with any globs.

There won’t be a whole lot of room on the top of these ukes for sound holes. The resonator will be taking up a big chunk of real estate and the fret board will extend deep into the body leaving not a lot of room. Solution? Sound hole on the side! I like these side sound holes because they serve as a personal speaker for the player.

The holes are reinforced on the inside.

The concert Ipu has received its top.

Ipu Resonators – getting started

Ken and Eileen want their ukes to have curly maple bodies with mahogany necks, ebony fretboards, walnut appointments and planetary tuners with ebony knobs.

I decided to go with laminated curly maple linings for the inside of the body. I think it will help make a more rigid body.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice how the body on the right is holding its shape and the one on the left kind of sagging. The body on the right has the lining glued in which is helping to hold everything in place.

These are tone rings that I turn on the lathe. The wood is poplar. The resonator cone sits on the tone ring.

Tomorrow I hope to:  finish sanding these tops and backs, cut the side sound ports, glue in the end grafts and generally prepare everything for gluing the body together. Whew!

Ken & Eileen’s Ipu Resonator Ukuleles

It all started with an unusual request: “I want a six-string baritone resonator ukulele with a soprano body”. The sender was a retired fireman named Ken. Ken lives on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. After several emails, we settled on a design that was attractive and very different.

It occurred to my new customer/friend that this new uke looked an awful lot like an ipu. “What the heck is an ipu?!” you ask. Well, first of all, it’s pronounced ee’ -poo. And secondly, it’s a traditional Hawaiian drum. It is made out of a gourd and some of them are constructed of two gourds attached. The double gourd models are called ipu heke. They look like this:

Remember that Hawaiians didn’t use stringed instruments until the Mexican cowboys brought the guitar and the Portuguese brought the braguinha (which would later morph into the ukulele). Prior to these outside influences, their instruments were primarily percussive. The ipu was one such instrument.

Check it out:

 

Do you see it? Being a fruit, all gourds are slightly different. I totally see it.

So, let’s move on with our story. On day Ken casually tells me that his friend Eileen is going to call me and order one of these unusual ukes too. Sure enough, the next day Eileen called and we had a nice chat and she placed her order! I have my work cut out for me.

I have just started Ken and Eileen’s ukes this week. I am also building a concert Ipu resonator that is currently unclaimed. It could be yours!

Stay tuned.

 

Ukulele Melee

Howdy friends,

Sorry I’ve been absent but it’s been a busy few months. I want to thank everyone who came out for our first annual Ukulele Melee! We had a healthy crowd (about 50 folks) we successfully celebrated the ukulele in grand style.

To start things off, I put on my teacher hat and we all learned 3 chords. Amazing what you can do with three little chords.

A big thanks to Mike McMillan for furnishing a nice handful of loaner sopranos to our budding musicians. Nothing sounds better than a bunch of ukes playing together!

After our lesson, I spoke a bit about the process of building a ukulele. It’s a lot more involved than some people think.

The highlight of the evening was our chance to watch Mighty Uke. This is a delightful documentary about our favorite musical underdog. If you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend it.

I want to thank Michael & Alice McDunn for graciously allowing us to convene in Mike’s beautiful workshop. An extra big thanks to Joel Wilkinson for going the extra mile to help put this whole thing together.

I’d like to remind everyone that there is a vintage ukulele display at the Michael McDunn Gallery. Each ukulele on display features an informative history of its origin. The exhibit will be on display until November 5. Gallery hours are 10am to 6pm Tuesday through Friday and Saturday, 11am to 4pm. Admission is free. Gallery info = 864-242-0311

 

Wood and Weissenborns!

One of the advantages to being a wood geek is that  you develop the ‘wood-eye’. If there is freshly cut wood on the ground within 50 feet, I see it. I once spied several large hunks of wood in a overgrown lot at dusk and knew instantly that they were cherry. I don’t know why – I just knew. Those logs are some of the most beautiful wood I have ever found. They had been bucked-up into 3 foot lengths and left to rot. Go figure.

Last week, I was looking at an apartment complex across from Harris’ house. I noticed what looked like a bunch of trimming along the power lines. On my way home, I pulled in to have a look. Laying nearby, amidst a lot of trash and abandoned liquor bottles, lay a gorgeous sycamore tree. I have been looking to get some more sycamore for a long time. I was excited! The tree was about 30 feet long and 21 inches in diameter at the base – perfect for a specific project I have in mind.

This beautiful creature is a Hawaiian steel guitar. It is played sitting down with the back of the instrument resting on one’s lap. Instead of forming chords with your fingers, you use a metal slide.  They are frequently called “Weissenborn” guitars because a dude named Hermann Weissenborn was a well-known builder of them during the 20′s and early 30′s. These guitars are unique in that most of them have hollow necks which give them a larger sound chamber thus improving tone and volume. No one is sure who invented these lap guitars but Chris Knutsen and Weissenborn played a big role in their creation.

So what does this have to do with a sycamore tree? I want to build Hawaiian steel guitars and offer them for sale. I am captivated by the way they look and I am infatuated with the sound they make. Just listen to this:

BUT. . .  there is a problem. Most of the wood I have hoarded is sized for ukuleles. The wood required for a Weissenborn needs to be a LOT longer and a LOT wider. I hardly have anything that will work. This sycamore tree is just what I need. My friend Neil and I cut the tree into 50 inch lengths and managed to load three of these big logs into my old truck. I wished I had brought my camera because it was an interesting project. Neil is the perfect man to have around when on such a project. He is creative, knowledgeable, a great problem solver and, last but not least, he’s strong! Not muscle-man-strong but wirey-strong. He told me his secret is to eat raw pork chops. He generously offered me his last chop which I graciously accepted.

Once home, we unloaded the logs. Taking them out of the truck was a lot easier than putting them in! The next step will be to chainsaw them down the middle into two pieces. After that, I think I should be able to saw them up into lumber on my big bandsaw.