An Extreme Ukulele Intervention in R'dam North!

Marko & I will have our ukulele hands full in a couple of weeks!

A major Ukulele Intervention will take place in North Rotterdam... 7 weeks of lessons at 5 different locations ending with a super giga ukulele concert!

We have groups for all folks of all ages, but a limited amount of ukuleles per group so write in now and join us for what is sure to be big big fun!

Click here to see the original poster

I've Been Boing Boinged!

The niftiest thing happened. (Actually i didn't realize how nifty it was until my inbox was flooded with emails from all kinds of swell people saying the nicest things about me and my Cigarbox Ukulele. This nice fella named Mark Frauenfelder posted my video on Boing Boing. Amazing, In one day 10,000 some people watched it...whooooaaa! I had no idea that would happen if someone boing boinged you....neato!.
You can see the post here!

Hello & Thanks to Mark, Boing Boing, and all the people watching me, writing to me, subscribing to me, following me, & proposing to me. And i'll even thank that guy in Hong Kong that said i was ugly for bringing me right back down to earth, you big meanie!

The Jamboree is back and it's a Heartbreaker...

Ukulele Jamboree No.5,
The Heartbreak Edition!
Saturday Feb. 14th, Valentines Day
Café de Bel,
Gerard Scholtenstraat 61B
3035 SE Rotterdam

Come feel the Ukulele Love!...
BUT BE CAREFUL!
The heartstrings of the ukulele are bound to make you want to Fall in Love, Make Babies and/or Get a Divorce all in one night! Bring your handkerchief and a lawyer.



20:30
Ukulele Intervention, A Workshop
for Aspiring Ukulele Players.
Learn to play Heartbreak Hotel
with cool Rock 'n Roll licks!
22:00
Open Mic, Surprise Acts, &
Musical Interludes of Love
by your Ukulele Host, The Uke Box


Click Here to view the Original Poster

Another Video from Galerie de Aanschouw!

Check out Marko's solos....They are the Ukulele Business!

A Public Hanging Has Never Been Such Fun!

Just recieved these photographs and video of the unveiling of my Cigarbox Ukulele last Friday Night from my buddy Walter at Galerie de Aanschouw. Ah, look how sweet!

De Aanschouw is a very unique galerie. The smallest in Holland, maybe Europe, hell, maybe in the whole damn world. But, none the less, making a very big impact here in Rotterdam on the famous WittedeWith Street.

This was just such a night! Thanks to Walter & Frank from de Aanschouw, Norbert for showing up in his Oyster Shuckin' Gear,...

...Rinie for the Whistle Solo during 'Tonight You Belong To Me'(see video) and the great audience...you were all just swell! (By the way, our repretoire does exist out of more than one song! By coincindence, you get to here this, again...on the other hand, it is a favorite!)

See & Hear my Cigarbox Ukulele!

For detailed photographs and information about the materials that i used see the previous post.

Cigar Box Ukulele, No.1

Here it is. My first Cigarbox Ukulele...And ain't it sweet! In building it i had a rule: I wouldn't buy anything new to make it. Everything had to be found, given or second hand. The 'Romeo y Julieta' Cigarbox was given to me by van Dalen Rookartikelen, a really nice family owned tobacco specialist shop here in Rotterdam. The warning lable on the box is a hoot...it says that smoking can damage your sperm. Watch out Romeo!

The frets are made of bamboo which i cut out of an old placemat. This was very tricky work indeed. They have to be exactly the same height of course and boy did it take me a long time to try to get this right.

The neck is made of Maple and the bridge is made of some scrap trim i had left over from another project.

I was really at a loss about what to do for tuning pegs. During one of my weekly trips to the second hand market i found these 'thingies'. I had no idea what they were but i was pretty sure they might just work. I found out later that they are spools which are used to make lace. I bought a whole batch of them for 50 cents a piece. I think they look really neato.

The string guard was cut out of an old chinese tea tin. I love this part of the ukulele, really adds that extra 'oomph' to the whole design. And lastly, the part of the ukulele which i cheated on by buying something new, the cigar band on the fretboard just above the body. I really wanted one and i couldn't find one second hand so i had to buy a cigar to get it. That sucker cost me 10 euros! It is by far the most expensive part of the whole ukulele.

I think it turned out swell although I have to admit that two of the frets need replacing. They're not quite right and this causes a buzzing sound with some chords. But, for a first attempt, i think it's pretty damn good! If you'd like to see this ukulele in person and you live in the Rotterdam area then boogie on down to the WittedeWith Straat and stop by Galerie de Aanschouw where it is being displayed this week. By the way, the presentation party was absolutely fantastic. More about that later!

The Cigar Box and its' Musical Re-Use

One thing i truely love is beautiful re-use. You know, common everyday materials re-used in a clever way to make functional goods with an eye for aesthetics to boot. I think one of the loveliest forms of re-use is the creation of musical instruments from common household goods.

Around the end of the Civil War folks in the South didn't have much, but the cigarbox had come into being and it was a widely available item which could easily be transformed into a stringed instrument. Nearly everyone could get their hands on a box, a broom handle and a few strings or wire. From these materials people would fashion an instrument as well as their know-how would allow. With this said, some of these instruments we're extremely well crafted and even beautifully decorated. Guitars were made as well as more complicated instruments such as violins, banjo's and, you guessed it, ukuleles.

I can't imagine anything else that i could build that would better encapsulate everything that i love more than a CigarBox Ukulele; Recycling, Re-Use, Design, Music, The Ukulele. So, i've made one and i'd like to invite you to see it. For those of you in and around Rotterdam, it will be unveiled at Galerie de Aanschouw this Friday Night at around 20:30. For the rest of you, you'll just have to wait for my next post. Until then, if you'd like to know and see more about Cigar Box Instruments you can visit Red Dog Guitars or The National Cigar Museum. Or maybe you have aspirations of building your own Cigar Box Ukulele. Click Here for some building plans dating from around 1910!