DIY Miniature Ukulele

Assembling a DIY guitar with ukulele conversion

BIG BRAIN SCIENCE
BUILD A MINIATURE DIY UKULELE FOR SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS

This is the first installment to describe our DIY kit assembly of a very tiny miniature guitar that will be converted to a ukulele for Big Brain science. This tiny instrument fits in one hand and can supplement the larger Quantum Uke, potentially reproducing a larger range of upper octave scales.

Punch-out shapes on 4 balsa wood sheets

Photos are the best guide for assembly

This "made in Taiwan" kit is in half English and half Chinese languages. Instructions are on the box and include a very general overview which is not intended to supply any significant detail or useful information for assembly.

You'll need to refer to the photos and try fitting the pieces. This is where a complicated point arises. There are several pieces that do not fit.

The insertion tabs are over-sized so these need to be trimmed and sanded. The diagram shows the punch out parts found on the four balsa wood sheets.

This section was modified

The tiny photos (use a magnifying glass for viewing the details) may be the most helpful during assembly. The enlargements presented here may be helpful. Note, the guide for string the guitar strings was abandoned as this section was originally non-functional. White wood glue, like Elmers Wood Glue, is not included. We had the Chinese translated to English and again the wording was not useful for assembly - so don't be too concerned over this. Just follow the photos.

Use extra care in punching out the parts. If any sections are difficult to remove from the surrounding balsa wood sheet, remember to use a sharp tipped hobby Exacto knife. Note the section that was modified, to provide actual string tuning pegs. These are small screws fit into glued left over wood pieces. We also substituted taught rubber bands in place of the supplied thread.

Tiny guitar conversion does not need six strings

A Uke has 4 strings and a classical guitar has six. This instrument also works with one string fingered like a violin. Replace the thread with thinner, smaller taut rubber bands. Cost for this project is $6 for the kit, $1 for the glue, plus a Mass Railway Transit fee.

Material
Dimensions
Assembly
Purchase
Instructions
Modifications
Sources
Punching
Refinements
Stringing
Frets
Resonator Chamber
Tuning
Materials

Quantum Ukulele

ESTABLISHING A QUANTUM UKULELE

Ukulele used for quantum experiments

Effects of a wave form nature can be created, duplicated, and simulated to explore the quantum world using the sound from a musical instrument.

One musical instrument is like a tiny guitar - the Ukulele, which has origins from Hawaii. They are available with four strings in various sizes (soprano, concert, tenor, baritone), generally one of the smallest sizes is called a Soprano. The Soprano Uke obtained for the Big Brain Project is 21-inches long and has a 13.5-inch bridge rating. It resonates with a mahogany wood construct, and is especially well designed for stability and a more humid environment.

The project begins with an acoustical uke and some preparations to convert it into an electronic instrument. The first step is to install a pickup to transfer the sound into an amplifier or computer (or other machine for processing. There are several ways to create an electronic pickup - some work and some will not work with gut strings. Magnetic induction pickups work with metal strings, however a piezo based pickup, which is based on acoustical vibrations, will work. Another method which is quick and simple is to place a directional quality microphone near the resonance aperture. Waves are then captured, and can be recorded, modified, and transformed. Techniques such as capture, transforming, reflecting, modulating and applying effects can have designs and introductions into the system.

String tuning is accomplished with a modern electronic tuner. This is a small electronic battery operated device with a display that shows the key note of the plucked string and the direction to tune it.

It's possible to apply and connect the QuadLyzer and introduce the study of Quantum worlds simulated with the Uke.