Classic Cantabile UC-210 DIY kit Soprano Ukulele

I think this kit is just awesome :0))) I've redesigned it a bit because I totally love playing the violin and was looking for an alternative to practice violin on the go, why not pluck it instead of using the bow. A real violin is very delicate and I prefer to leave that at home. I freed the fretboard from the fret sticks, you can do with pliers, and glued it on upside down. Because I don't need them. The scale length I have adjusted as on the violin, which is 32.5 cm :0)))) I took strings from the concert guitar. It just works great for me. And also sound mega strong, really :0)))) Exactly, that's what I wanted. Now I will build another concert ukulele, also with violin tuning, with pickup, am so excited :0))) I am looking forward to it :0))) There is quite a bit to grind and do, but it's really fun and also allows you to create a little yourself. That's just super :0))) Patience you learn also, because you have to wait a lot until you can continue, because of glue dry or colors. It took me like a week to do this, but it turned out beautiful. Here is a link to my blog entry, there you can learn more about the career and stringing of this craft set :0))) I say thank you very much and will build one from here more often :0))))
https://heikesgeigenblog.blogspot.com/2023/08/ich-habe-ein-instrument-gebaut-0.html

In direct comparison to the Thomann Ukulele for 20€.

The Kirstein variant is better processed and the instructions explain more detailed and accurate how to do what.

The Thomann ukulele is but (minimal) foolproof pre-assembled. But that has advantages and disadvantages!

You can build the better instrument from the Kirstein ukulele.
The Thomann ukulele is better as a gift / handicraft.

The UC-210 DIY kit is a solid and good kit for all who want to build a ukulele.

I was looking for a nice body, the neck and fingerboard was not so important in this kit, because I have used a concert ukulele neck here.

So I decided to go for this kit, hoping that the body is well made. as it looks quite deep in the pictures.
And yes, it is really well made, has a nice depth and, what I also find great, it even has a slight curve on the back for a better sound. Also, I find these direct pegs nicer than the open or closed tuners.

The wood does not have such a nice grain as on the pictures but the ukulele was stained with Clou stain walnut dark. What unfortunately happened here is that apparently on, or in the wood layer in the body glue "soaked through" or some of the fibers of the wood used are very hard. This means that the stain was not evenly absorbed! It really doesn't look nice at first, BUT, if you take a closer look and varnish it, it gives the ukulele a certain naturalness and the wood doesn't look like cheap lime wood anymore, but more like a more expensive hardwood :)
What I want to say is, if you don't mind these little "blemishes", you can stain the kit. If you want to have an even color, you should use acrylic or real lacquer paint from the beginning.

Unfortunately I can't use the nice direct pegs now, because the holes for the machine heads on the concert neck have a diameter of Ø 10mm.
The holes of this kit are Ø 8 mm and here the tuners fit perfectly. I can use the neck and the tuners for another ukulele :) The tuners work great, tried them on a trial basis when I was figuring out the correct position from the bridge. They have to be pulled really tight, then they hold the tuning as well.
What I also don't like is the finish of the rosewood fingerboard. It is not made of one piece of wood but it looks layered, like many small wooden sticks. This is the case with some cheap Chinese ukuleles and is still 1000 times better than a plastic fingerboard.
But the playing is not affected by this :)

The ukulele is not finished yet but I am very curious how it sounds and how it plays.
The ukulele is stained in dark brown, has a light maple fingerboard with concert scale, an armrest made of several layers of core maple laminate and gets a small pickguard in white permutt effect.
Strings will be Aquila Red Series with a low G string. The Red Series are my personal favorite sides.

Too bad you can't upload pictures here. After all, it would be inspiring to see what others are doing with the kits.

This is a great kit that you can assemble with few tools and some craftsmanship. The mechanics I have replaced by Grover mechanics where you can choose the handles in white, black or chrome. For the strings I have also chosen higher quality strings.

Overall, I am satisfied, the parts were all very well made and it could be assembled without greater know-how and with few tools.
Only 2 small criticisms:
- Unfortunately, the fingerboard did not fit perfectly on the neck of my set. With a little sanding and tricking it could be fixed halfway, but if you want to build a perfect instrument, you probably wouldn't be satisfied.
- The enclosed pages were not labeled, as a layman it is very difficult to tell which is where.
But all in all I really had fun painting and assembling the ukulele, that's the main thing and also the reason why I ordered this set. I'm already thinking about whether I would not like another...