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A summer whimsy: Some friends we have are really into canoeing. They also have a very nice cottage where we've been several times canoeing and kayaking. Their cottage has some beautiful butternut wood beams and around the wood stove and they gave me a left over board. So I got a canoe paddle from Canadian Tire, shortened the handle, thinned out the blade, attached a box made from the butternut wood and made a canoe paddle ukulele. I call it a padukule. The fret board and bridge are a little more exotic woods: Macassar ebony and Brazillian rosewood. It sounds good. Just like a ukulele. We'll be giving it to them next month when we'll be up at their cottage again. It should go well there. Here's a picture:



Thanks for looking,
Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

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Really cool. Great idea. Must admit I thought it would be a padauk uke.

T

That is awesome. Good for you.


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That's really thinking outside the box, and a nice thank you for your friends hospitality, Pat!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

That's a great idea and a real nifty uke.

I thought I was going to be looking at a Padauk uke too.
Not only does that Uke look cool but sounds like you had fun coming up with the idea?
I like it.

Nice, Pat! Someone will be very happy!

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Waddy

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I like!!!

ha great!!

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Thanks for the nice comments. It was a fun little project that I think our friends will like.

As a side note, I had bought (but ended up not using because the head ended up too thin for them) a set of the deluxe friction tuning pegs from Bytown Ukuleles here in Ottawa. I bought them on the basis of having briefly tried them on a ukulele and thought they felt nice. The on-line description of them is kind of sparse but I was pleasantly surprised to find that they are quite high quality and use a spring to create the force for the friction so it is the right amount and consistent. And the price is significantly less than the spring type friction tuners sold by Stew-Mac. So I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these tuners as an alternative to the geared tuners if that's the look you want for your uke. You can see them here: http://www.bytowninstruments.com/collec ... s-set-of-4 For those of you in the USA, I believe the same tuners are sold by Mainland Ukes.

Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

Pat,
I pretty much passed this thread up because I am not so into uke's.

I also thought it would be a padauk uke but was pleasantly surprised to see the creation you have come up with.

Great idea and quite innovative on your part and it looks cool to boot!

I am sure they will be quite pleased to see what you have come up with out of the chunk of wood and a paddle.

Cheers,
Bob

That's great, Pat! Very innovative.

Agree with others; very inventive - what a neat gift.

Does the top overhang the body? Maybe it's just the photo. I like it

Glad I stopped in to look. Nice job on a fantastic sentimental piece. I'm sure they'll treasure the Uke and its reason for existing.

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Thanks again for the comments. Yes, Kevin, the top does overhand the sides. I debated trimming the paddle flush to the sides but then decided it would look better if you saw nothing but paddle when looking right toward the top and the little overhang helps with that.

Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

Nice...its a cool look.

great idea & look Pat

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Mike McNerney