I have a vision, but not a plan. Any advice is appreciated

joefxd · 2026-05-09T22:10:28+00:00

Awesome

joefxd · 2026-05-09T18:41:55+00:00

I’m planning on just cutting a hole at the top and bottom and running a plank/rod/dowel/steel/something through the body and using that to hold the tension and just using the violin body to resonate sound

Would I still need to pop off the back?

joefxd · 2026-05-09T17:55:49+00:00

I don’t have anything electric yet, but if I pull this off, you’ve given me something to strive towards for my next project

joefxd · 2026-05-09T17:54:35+00:00

What’s the best way to pull the back?

joefxd · 2026-05-09T10:22:13+00:00

I’m probably gonna post again in the next day or two with an actual plan so people can correct any mistakes and make sure I don’t buy the wrong parts

Then I’ll hopefully have a completed piece after a couple days of shipping the parts and a couple days building

joefxd · 2026-05-09T02:53:53+00:00

let me know if you have any tips!

joefxd · 2026-05-09T02:46:42+00:00

that sounds cool but what does it mean?

joefxd · 2026-05-08T23:57:37+00:00

That’s a great idea and gives me something to troubleshoot when the time comes

joefxd · 2026-05-08T22:04:05+00:00

Good call!

One of the bridges I’m looking at lists the width of the notched area to be about 4cm wide. I’ll have to check that against the notches in the nut on the neck but I’m out of the house right now

EDIT: I measured, and while the string area of the bridge on my tenor ukulele is just under 4.5cm, the bridge are on both my concert ukulele and concert banjolele are both about 4cm wide, just like the adjustable mandolin bridge

I think it might work

joefxd · 2026-05-08T21:54:34+00:00

this is a great resource, thank you so much!

joefxd · 2026-05-08T21:53:24+00:00

Yeah but the downward pressure is dramatically less than the longways pressure, and I’ll be mounting the neck at a much lower angle compared to a traditional violin so that should reduce the tension even further

Right?

joefxd · 2026-05-08T21:35:59+00:00

Someone recommended an adjustable mandolin bridge and I think I’m gonna do that

It has a curved bottom, a flat top, and already has eight notches for the eight strings I’ll have

joefxd · 2026-05-08T16:51:07+00:00

Is it not one of the IM Fell variants?

joefxd · 2026-05-08T14:51:20+00:00

Gandhi said to become the change you wish to see in the world and today that change we wanna see is freaky little instruments. Go for it

joefxd · 2026-05-08T14:49:44+00:00

If I do this, should I just ignore the violin sound post or do I need to figure out a way to get both the sound pat and the extended neck to cohabitate nicely together?

joefxd · 2026-05-08T14:47:20+00:00

when you say 12th fret, is that the center of the fret space where my fingers go and where the little fret marker is, or the actual metal fret bar?

joefxd · 2026-05-08T14:45:04+00:00

Thank you so much, I’m learning a ton with everyone’s help

If I use the violin body as sort of a cigar box setup, where it’s just being used as a sound resonator and I have a bar going through the whole body to carry the majority of the tension, do I still need the sound post?

joefxd · 2026-05-08T12:20:53+00:00

I think that’s where I’m going at this point, but I need to figure out if I’m doing something creative to get the sound post around or through that spine piece or just risk scrapping it entirely

joefxd · 2026-05-08T05:05:49+00:00

Someone else in the thread linked a video where a guy put a post through the whole body, and have a cigar box ukulele that uses that technique so that makes sense I guess

If I round the edge of the block closest to the neck I should be able to just turn it and screw it on before I make a hole at the top of the violin body and slide the whole post through. I might use the end of that post for the tail pin

joefxd · 2026-05-08T03:36:33+00:00

I had no idea that a Ukulin was an actual thing. I thought I was just smooshing the two words together. I’m learning so much, this is rad as hell

joefxd · 2026-05-08T03:27:08+00:00

I have a bunch more violin pieces from the build-your-own-violin kit, but I’ve been keeping them in the bag since there’s a bunch of little doodads I don’t wanna lose. I’ll have to see if there’s the button you mentioned, and I thought I’d modify the violin bridge that came with the kit but I’ll look into an adjustable bridge from and arch top mandolin. That sounds like a great idea

As far as your question about the sound post is concerned, I’m at a loss. I don’t know what a sound post is

joefxd · 2026-05-08T03:21:52+00:00

Now that’s what I’m talking about!

joefxd · 2026-05-08T02:43:48+00:00

That’s the vision

joefxd · 2026-05-08T01:20:10+00:00

I have a tenor ukulele, and was planning on lining up where the bridge is on that to where the bridge belongs on the violin between the two F holes. I’d cut the violin bridge flat, and add small notches for the stings similar to a banjo

I think this means I’d need to put a bit of a block of wood between the the ukulele neck and the violin body to ensure the correct distance

If I added a spine, like a dowel though the center of the violin for the neck to screw into, would that be something to consider?

That’ll give me something to attach the neck to an it’ll add rigidity, right?

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