Brush With Greatness

Every time we get through a difficult phase of construction, Mike says we're "home free." With only one day of class to go, there aren't many more chances for us to make mistakes. But then Mike tells the story of a former student who--on the last day of class--accidentally knocked his uke off the workbench and it popped like a balloon. The only thing he had left to do was to put strings on it. Ouch.

Today, in addition to a lot more sanding, I fit the nut between the head and the fretboard (not the "fletboard") and glued the bridge to the body. Mike estimates that the tension of the strings on the bridge amounts to about 53 pounds, so a few dabs of glue seems insufficient, but that's how you do it. Not that every part isn't important, but if the bridge is off by a 16th of an inch, the strings won't sound the right notes as you move up the fretboard, so I was extra careful with this. The old carpenters rule is "measure twice, cut once," so I figured measuring eight or nine times is even better. That's the obsessive-compulsive in me, and it takes a lot of time, but at least I'm sure, right? Tomorrow, I finish construction and string it up. Lately I've been having this vision of plucking the first note on my newly built uke, and hearing a dull thud. Not so much a vision as a nightmare really.

I guess you know by now this has not really been a beach-related trip for me, but after class I went for a swim at Waikiki beach for the first time. Played my Fluke uke there too and I think the saltwater air is rusting my tuning pegs, so I don't plan on taking the one I'm building for a swim.

Tonight I saw my music teacher, Byron Yasui, play his regular Thursday gig at the Pacific Beach Hotel with ukulele jazz great Benny Chong. Benny is famous for his unusual chords that span seven or eight frets. Not the little frets at the high end the fretboard either. The big frets. Benny was in Don Ho's band during the show on Sunday, but this was my first chance to see him playing real jazz, and it was downright impressive. He let me hold his uke and that is, I'm sure, as close as I will ever be to playing like him.

Peter from my class was there too, and was wearing the same uke-themed shirt as Byron. Even the clothing selection in the ukulele world is small. I wasn't surprised to see him there because he had told me earlier he was going to see "Byron and Benny" tonight. He didn't need to tell me which Byron or Benny. As with all the personalities in the uke community, one name is sufficient for everyone to know who you're talking about. No one knows Taimane's last name, and if you tell a uke player that Jake is playing tonight, they'll know who you mean. It's not like we're talking about mega-celebrities like Cher and Madonna. It's more like the ukulele community is one big family, so last names are an unnecessary formality.

After the show, I visited the uke shop at the same hotel and saw something I've never seen before, a phono ukulele, which is essentially a disembodied uke with a phonograph-type horn attached. Interesting to look at, but it sounded like a rock hitting a garbage can--funny enough, just the way I fear my uke will sound tomorrow.

[view today's photos]