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The Art of the Cigar Box Ukulele

Les Tussing has an unusual hobby. He makes ukuleles from vintage wooden cigar boxes.
 
He didn't like the sound and learned from one of the VUS leaders that an passive electronic pickup could be added.
 
Vince Vince Migliore of the Valley Ukulele Society admires the craftmanship of Les Tussing's ukuleles from vintage wooden cigar boxes.


Les Tussing has an unusual hobby. He makes ukuleles from vintage wooden cigar boxes.

A long time woodworker, about a year ago Tussing was looking to play an instrument—and he thought that the ukulele would be a good place to start. "I figured the ukulele would be easy—four strings."

This was in Folsom, California, where the local music store is Nicholson's. It turns out that the Valley Ukulele Society often meets at Nicholson's and they were playing in the next room over when Tussing came to Nicholson's to look for a ukulele.

He heard the VUS having a grand time and was hooked. They offered a beginners class and he signed up.

Shortly afterward, he was on a trip to Oregon. "I went to a street fair where a man was selling electronic cigar box ukuleles," Tussing said. "They didn't have a sound hole in them."

As a woodworker, Tussing decided that he could make his own.

"I went on YouTube and watched a couple of video tutorials," he noted. "It's not difficult. There are certain distances you have to hold exactly. The most critical part is to build down the knot in the saddle so that you have the right action."

 

 

 

 

 

"I started making them and it became addictive," he said. "It became a passion."

He didn't like the sound and learned from one of the VUS leaders that an passive electronic pickup could be added. He also wanted to create a distinctive Art Deco design. So he shopped for antique cigar boxes, antique tea strainers, and assorted ukulele parts on eBay. He found some parts as old as 1880.

"They all sound different," he continued. "Because you don't have a box with a large volume, the sound doesn't resonate well."

"But with the electronic pickup hooked to a large amplifier, you turn it on and you feel like a rock star."

For additional information, contact
Les Tussing
lltusing@gmail.com
Dragonfly Custom Folk Art

~ Al Zagofsky

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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