Lil Fuego, 2x4 Guitarkulele
RamblingMutt Sep 12, 2015
Is it a big Ukulele? Is it a tiny four stringed Guitar? I don't know, I don't have time for silly labels.
Built for the reddit 2x challenge, this thing was made from only construction grade crummy Douglas Fir that I found in the shop. And some aluminum, a couple tuners and some nylon strings, but mostly glue and 2x4. And stain and lacquer.
I found that for building the instrument the biggest challenge was the brittleness of the Doug Fir. It wanted to break and crack at every moment, the top and bottom are laminated pieces to give it strength, it has to many braces and I was worried about the acoustic properties of the wood, so it has volume on it's side instead. The body is 3" thick, and it stands a staggering 24" tall from the apex of the body to the tip of the head stock (18" scale, for those playing the home game) and since the fretboard doesn't have enough strength to hold frets, it's fretless. I made the hard pieces on the bridge and the nut out some aluminum stock.
It gets a little buzzy on the high notes, but sounds and plays a lot better than a guitar from Walmart, so I can't complain.
Crummy 2x4. Awesome hammer.
Cut it up into little 2x4s
Resaw all the things.
Planed and cut to rough length
At first I tried holding the curves with my hands, but I got tired. So I switched vacuum.
They said plywood was illegal to use in this challenge, so I built my own out of 2x4s.
Originally this was going to be a different shape, but I decided last minute to reverse one of the sides.
Sometimes I like to cut wood into smaller pieces, then glue it back together. Getting ready to make the neck here.
Back and top cut out on the bandsaw.
Making bracing
Gluing bracing.
Cutting out the sound paw
Shape shape shape senora, shape the neck and heel now, shape shape shape senora, shape it all the time.
Quick, more clamps!
There she be. Finally looks like a thing.
Fretboards need frets. This one doesn't have frets, which begs the question. What is it?
Glue the fretboard. Oh yeah.
Sand till you can't breathe, that's my moto
I stained my shirt, my hands, my table, and even managed to splash a little on the guitar
