Nina KalininaMar 8

I'm sick (again!), and so I'm reading old magazines as a comfy way to spend time. I have procured scans of 1961's magazines (that's 65 years ago!), and will share some interesting findings in this thread.

The Workbench magazine features a DIY ukulele on the cover, that sounds... incredible? I wonder if the instrument itself sounded good. We'll find out, I guess?

Show threadNina KalininaMar 8
"Workbench" features a catalogue of patterns for sale, from "unusually cute designs" to "electroplating baby shoes" and a gun RACK (edit: it was a gun rack!). I wonder if baby shoes must be in a "never worn" condition for this to work.
Show threadNina KalininaMar 8
After all, who wouldn't want a DIY transformer, right?
Show threadNina KalininaMar 8
We're back to the ukulele-making article! Now I know why I'd want to have a bandsaw in our local hackspace, huh.
Show threadNina KalininaMar 8

Aha, they're using pre-made fretboard. I imagine making a decent fretboard is probably one of the biggest challenges in making an instrument like this?

Surprised that strings and pegs were considered "difficult to obtain"

Show threadNina KalininaMar 8
Darn, I take my words about "fretboard is the most difficult part to make" back. They're making the ukulele body by steaming the wood and forming it in a mold.
Show threadViktor Goryainov
@nina_kali_nina I know some Soviet-era booklets and magazines have published manuals and drawings for DIY electric guitars, both solid-body and hollow-body. But since an acoustic instrument relies even more on its shape, this had to be more difficult, I guess...
Mar 9 at 4:39pmWeb