Well, it has been some time since I put any photos up here, but that does not mean that I have not been working.
I had been wanting a baritone uke for some time. My mom had one (still does) when I was small, and she played it for us and we sang together, so I had been waxing nostalgic about it for a while. This particular cigar box came into my hands, and I was really surprised by how good it sounds. The top is solid cedar, and although it is a little thicker than a guitar or uke top should be, it really has quite a nice sound.
Number 50 is going to be a real player, I can tell. Took it to the uke jam this past weekend and it really held its own well. And I like the baritone uke scale length. It is just a bit shorter than a tenor guitar, but similar in most other ways, so very easy to play. And it says "Fabuloso" right on the front. What more could you ask?
Hello Zeke:
ReplyDeleteI do a blog called Humble Baritonics which is all about the baritone ukulele. There really hasn't been any great focus on the baritone ukulele anywhere else on the internet. My oldest son taught me about the extra google search tools and your site was the first one that came up.
I enjoyed your playing. There seems to be an old-timey-ness to it. Is that your natural, untrained playing by ear or do you have a musical background?
Hi there!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment and repost. I mostly learned to play by listening to old records and other players. Guitar was my first instrument, and was what I played for years, but lately it have moved on to ukes and tenor guitars, which is where I have been living for a couple of years now.
So you could say I have a musical background, but I can't read music to save my life. I checked out your blog and it is great!
Zeke:
ReplyDeleteI have made a diddley bo for my son a couple of years ago. I have started a few others but I've had to make some priorities and playing has taken precedence over building for now. You can see my collaborative work with my wife's painting here: http://humbleuker.blogspot.com/2010/12/humble-uker-builds-his-first-instrument.html
I have been thinking about a tenor guitar for some time. Are you using Chicago tuning DGBE on those as well? That makes the baritone playing a whole lot easier.
Jeff
Love the diddley bow. That is a high-dollar model for sure! Pretty nice.
ReplyDeleteI do tune them DGBE, it is just easier than learning a whole set of new chord structures. I really like the shorter scale. But uke is too short, you know? So the bari feels more right.
One of these days I will have to try an open G, but that is for later when I have time to wrap my brain around a whole different set of chord structures...
I just committed to reading your blog, start to finish. And this post, this uke, is a real turning point: all of your instruments have sounded great, but this one hit a new level of tone and intonation. Really, really cool stuff, Zeke. I'm enjoying reading all your posts and am bursting with inspiration.
ReplyDelete