Make Your Own Ukulele: The Essential Guide to Building, Tuning, and Learning to Play the Uke (Fox Chapel Publishing) Easy Steps and Detailed Plans, plus Advice on Design, Acoustics, & Wood Selection

I love this book based on several things. First, how clear the writing and pictures are and the "Rope Binding" section.Although, this may or may not be the last book you'll need on becoming a luthier, it is very well written, clear and concise and you will learn in regards to building a ukulele.There is a section on choosing your tone woods that's very good. The author's statement of "Learn by observing" is right on! IMHO.There is a little history provided on the ukulele and some excellent pictures of other builder's instruments. As far as the "learning to play the ukulele" part, it's very minimal but there is an excellent version of "Aloha Oe" included in the book. Also included is a list of suppliers for tone woods and luthier's tools.As far as the building part, It starts off with a list of tools needed, a plan and steps to building a soprano and cigar box-style ukuleles, again with very clear info and pictures.All in all, I would highly recommend this as a great book to get started in building your own instrument.

Well done book on making your own ukulele. Would have liked a bit more in the construction segement. A big piece of the book is a gallery of potential builds. The book gives the information needed to build a ukulele in general but not plans for all the gallery of ukes.

This book is well made and the photos are in color. It deals with the history and also showcases some ukes built by others then the author. This book will definitely get you started in the right direction. Will it be the last book you need? Well maybe yes if you only want to build one. This book would also come in handy if you were building from a kit like the Stew Mac or some of the other kits out there.Edit: I want to add that the drawings contained in this book for use as a guide to make templates are inaccurate. They are undersized compared to the measurements listed for them. This can seriously screw you up.

I have to agree with the 2 star review, but I guess I got a little more out of the book than that person. Of course I have a little more experience, so I gave it one more star. This is NOT an essential guide. But the other book "The Ukulele" by Gilbert has its limitations as well. Fortunately, if you have a real interest in building ukes, there are Youtube videos and instructions all over the Internet. And the instrument itself is pretty forgiving, construction-wise. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't buy this book. But the pictures are nice. Also: I have to agree with the review that said the construction plans are undersized. This is true. Do not use them. But the dimensions listed (in a separate table) for the parts look OK.

I found this to be a good basic book as to the construction of a ukulele. It could perhaps use some alternative methods for bending the sides and attaching the neck to the body, but simplicity may be good for a first time builder. I found the various photos and articles on other builders very interesting. A good addition to one's ukulele library.

I have some experience with wood working, not really much more than Jr High wood shop, I got this book as kind of a joke. My brother and I ended up each building a box ukulele. They both turned out to be playable instruments. We didn't follow all the dimensions and made a few errors along the way, but in the end I'm very happy with the result. Mine still needs A LOT of setup work, but it's playable and actually produces a fairly nice sound.Don't expect a professional level instrument if you are not a professional luthier, bu t if you feel like making goofy project to make sounds, this can book can give you the chance.

Terrible book for anyone who works in imperial units. Also, none of the drawings are to scale. A half-hearted attempt.

if your looking to build Ukulele this could work for youit has a couple of builds one really basic and a more detailed one.

Exactly the info I needed. It's all laid out sequentially and covers the steps I needed to clear up some of the confusion about where to start

Having read other reviews on this book, I had been put off ordering it for several months. There is however so little out there available, I finally took the plunge this week. My advice - ignore the bad reviews as this is a lovely book. Well illustrated, informative and full of snippets of other Uke related information. Pictures of some great looking ukuleles in the introduction section to inspire for future builds.There are plans for both the ukuleles that the builds are centred around. I have never made a musical instrument but could certainly make one from this book. It includes ideas for jigs and fixtures to aid the construction process- have already ordered steel pipe to make the bender for the sides. The only unclear section to me is how to make the binding, but I am sure after a few reads this will also become clear. Even if you never go ahead and make one, it is a lovely informative book to have and to broaden your knowledge. Get a copy now!

Nice little book, good pictures. Construction details are a little sparse but it gives the idea and there are a few interesting techniques.

I bought this as I intend to make a ukulele sometime in the near future and whilst there seems to be loads of books written on Guitar making there is a dire shortage of Ukulele building references.The book does skim the surface of the subject somewhat. It also covers Uke history, how to play them and their building all within what is actually a very small book - so don't expect too much from it. On the flip side what is included is some very useful, practical guidance without too much waffle.In conclusion it could be better, it could however be a whole lot worse and given the lack of "competition" and the low price I actually highly recommend it for the novice ukulele maker.

Lots of nice photos but possibly too many examples of other people's work and not enough construction details.Overall, a helpful book for it's size and cost.