Short Stories: Snailele

Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods
celentanowoodworks

Story by celentanowoodworks

Published on June 27, 2012 in Read

Here at Etsy, we believe that the story behind an object is often just as fascinating as the object itself. Short Stories is our series dedicated to telling the tales behind extraordinary pieces found or created by Etsy sellers. 

Today, Paul Celentano of Celentano Woodworks shares some details about a truly unusual musical instrument.

The snail ukulele is perfect example of how much fun my job can be. I like to ask everybody I work with one question: “What’s your favorite food, animal, or object?” I’ve heard a lot of different ideas for instruments, including a toaster, octopus, and even a ninja riding a unicorn. Every time, I smile and take it as a new challenge. Some ideas work and some don’t, but you never know the possibility until you try. It’s led to some pretty awesome collaborations with some pretty awesome people.

The story of this instrument started when a talented musician asked me if it was possible to make her a ukulele that looked like a snail. I said excitedly, “It’s definitely a possibility.” And then the sketches and research began, to come up with a design that works functionally as well as being visually appealing. After deciding on the size, color, painting style, and minor details, we finally came up with a plan and the project launched. After many months, the snail ukulele was born. This ukulele is made from of hard maple with soft maple for the top, and lightly hand-painted with watercolor sunburst accents, leaving the grain to show. It has an under saddle pickup with a built in preamp with volume and tone controls.

You can see it in action here.

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