New Album! & c.1925 Lyon & Healy Camp Uke

First of all, I've gotta tell you all that I've uploaded a new album of mine to my website called The Wood Wives and I think you'll like it! I've also spruced up my site to include most of my previous albums since 2005, too, so you can take a listen in the archives!

Check it out: http://www.jakewildwood.com

Now, onto your daily bread:

This is pretty much identical to a previous Camp Uke I've worked on, both of which are the nice-quality Camp Uke made entirely from nyssa (black gum/tupelo) and with a turned-wood "resonator" style back. This one sounds great! Bright, loud, and snappy. It has a nice "bite" as it were.


I had to reglue the neck on this one and fill in a number of surface cracks (not all the way through) in the top as well as install a bit of extra bracing around the soundhole, where some hairlines had warped the surface a little down.

I love these moustache bridges. It gives these Camp Ukes the look of a one-eyed Monopoly man.


Simple oval hole.

Brass frets and recessed (painted?) position dots. The other CU I worked on had inlaid bakelite black dots.


Headstock with famed Camp Uke logo. Ebony nut.


Side. Love the grain.


Celluloid black binding. Here you can see some of the resonator-style back.


And those characteristic bakelite Lyon & Healy patent pegs (brass shafts).


Heel join. When built these only have a screw and a light amount of glue to hold the neck in, and what's happened here is typical: the screw held but the glue let go. I've reset this neck with more glue, a dowel in the old screw hole, and the old screw in a lower hole in the heel. I've also filled those hairlines caused by the previous separation. This should be good to go for another 100 plus years.

The color tone of wood is so nice on these Camp Ukes... a nice creamy-brown. As you can see, the finish is in pretty good shape.


Gotta love the turned back!


Pegs.


Side.


Side detail again.


The side is all one piece of wood, which adds to the charm. I had to reglue the entire bottom on this uke, in addition to the neck, too.
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Comments

J-Hob said…
Very much enjoying what I've listened of the album so far. You have some prolific output going on there! A whole album written in one evening, wow!
April 10, 2009 at 5:08 PM
Antebellum Instruments said…
Thanks! But tell me about it... you know there's something wrong when I start to forget songs I've written only a year ago... I now totally understand when I asked Holly Golightly to sing an old song of hers and she couldn't remember it at all. It's so easy to let them slip!
April 10, 2009 at 8:15 PM
Pastor Dan Landin said…
What is the tuning for this instrument? I found one in my uncle's house and don't know much about ukuleles.
July 3, 2009 at 11:18 PM
Unknown said…
While researching on my Camp Uke, I came across your very informative site. I had to reglue the bridge on mine as soon as I got it, and now the action is high: almost a 1/4" at the 12th fret. The strings are 7/16" high at the saddle, which is a separate piece (of ebony?) riding in a slot in the mustache bridge.
Intonation is not good. Did you have to adjust the action on your 2 Camp Ukes.

Thanks for the good material.
Mario
November 7, 2010 at 4:13 PM
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