Polychrome Uke

For a long time I only did crystal finish refinishes. Marc got this project and asked if I was interested. I was intrigued and decided to give it a try. It took me a very long time to wrap my head around this thing. I studied as many of these finishes as I could, trying to figure out what makes them look right. Then, when I was ready to begin, I had to draw and hand cut the stencil for the palm tree art. I took my time. When I finally got everything together, I did a couple of paint tests and then went for it. The first try was just not right. So I stripped it and did it again. Bingo! It looked great! One thing that complicated things was the fact that the neck retained it’s original finish and a maroonish/purple color was used on the neck joint on both the body and the neck. That had to match without applying new finish to the neck! In the end, I think there are 12 to 14 different applications of finish on this little beast. That meant a lot of spray gun cleaning. Yuck!

Also, note the nice B•Fanatic, reproduction coverplate screws. Just like the originals!