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Ukulele
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UK
Ukes -Koa Concert Ukulele Kit Review by
Kevin Crossett
Although
I had been dabbling in building some uke parts and building
semi-solid body electric ukes, this Pete Howlett koa concert
kit that I assembled in April 2005 was my first experience
in building an all acoustic ukulele. At the time I purchased
it, I felt that it might be my only chance to build a real
uke, as the concept of bending my own sides scared the heck
out of me.
 I
became familiar with Pete Howlett's luthier work through bulletin
board discussions at Flea
Market Music. I had also seen Pete's offerings
on eBay. Pete sells completed ukes as well as the uke kits.
This kit is patterned after the Ditson ukuleles that were
built by Martin.
The
UK Ukes koa concert ukulele kit contained the following items:
Cedar neck; cut and rough-shaped with the scarf joint cut.
I had my choice of a 12-fret or 14-fret neck; I chose the
14 fret. The headstock was shaped pretty much like you see
it. Koa rims just less of finish-sanded to approximately .080"
with sides bent, heel block and endblock glued in, triangular
kerfing glued in and sanded. Bookmatched top and backplates
approximately  .080",
left slightly oversize in shape for final sanding. Koa headstock
overlay. Ebony blanks for nut and saddle. Ebony fingerboard,
slotted but not fretted. Shaped and slotted bridge. Braces
for top and back, radiused to create slight doming effect
for strength. Backseam material. MOP position markers to be
inserted in the fingerboard. The neck heel and body were fitted
to be joined by a biscuit (small wooden disc that mates and
holds the neck to body in the correct position).
The
parts that I supplied myself include; tuners, strings, glue,
tools, lacquer and fretwire. I used StewMac
#147 fretwire because it's my favorite; it's a little meatier
than the skinny vintage wire you see on some ukes but still
in the category of small fretwire suitable for mandolin, banjo,
dulcimer or uke. The woods Pete used for this uke were stunning,
beyond what my photos do justice for. The neck is a 14.75"
concert scale length. Pete included instructions with pictures
to guide the user through the assembly process. In a phone
conversation I had with Pete Howlett, he said "Don't
make a bigger deal out of it that it needs to be; it's pretty
straightforward, just follow my directions and it'll come
out fine." Pete was right.
 Overview
of Pete Howlett's UK Ukes concert ukulele kit: This all koa
uke sounds and feels great, and it's super-light as well;
the mark of a well-made ukulele. It's an easy kit for anyone
with an intermediate level of instrument building, but I think
could be done by a beginner with positive end results as well.
Everything is fitted, you just glue the pieces together like
a model car. Well, you will need a few tools, and don't forget
to have lots of clamps on hand.
This all-solid koa wood kit was well prepared, made with excellent
quality materials, good documentation, good support, and the
parts all fit together with ease. The bookmatching and grain
matching of the top, back and sides is beautiful. The final
result was a very nice ukulele that would have cost me twice
as much to buy fully assembled. It also gave the confidence
to continue my own building by giving me the experience of
picking it up halfway through the assembly process.
Although the kit is partially assembled, there's still  room
for your own creativity. I like the headstock is it is, but
you could make some changes there if you wish. You would still
be able to alter the radius doming of the top and back if
you had a preference. I used a waterbased gloss lacquer from
LMI
but I also think this uke would look stunning with a flat
finish, French polish or lightly applied Tung Oil. You could
adjust the shape of the end of the fingerboard, and you can
shape the neck heel any way you like. There's also plenty
of opportunity to install any type of pickup with ease, since
you have full access to the insides before assembly. (Not
to say any pickup cannot be installed later, the key phrase
is with ease).
More information about Pete Howlett and his work can be found
at http://uk-ukes.com/
or email
Pete directly.
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