Ukulele 002

This Ukulele is one of a batch of three built from a poplar tree a friend of mine harvested from his property and generously gave me a few years ago. The fretboard is a piece of scrap cherry, and the nut and bridge are made out of leftover Corian samples.

I made this particular instrument for my father, who gave me an early start working with tools and taught me not to be afraid of stepping into the dark unknown of learning a new skill.

This being only my second instrument built, I have a lot to learn, so far my biggest takeaway has been to concentrate on each step of the process individually. If I try to think through the entire process at one time, it can be overwhelming, and I tend to get lost. If I take each step one by one and do my best at each process, then the next step becomes apparent as I complete the prior one. To quote Ozomatli, “Giant steps are made in inches and snakes tend to scurry.”