Konilele コニレレ

Most of you might not know it, but the reason why I ended up in Japan was my love for Sumo wrestling. During the research for my master's thesis back in 2006/07 and 2010, I made contacts in the Sumo world, and wonderful people — superstars — were kind and helpful, giving interviews, taking their valuable time, and answering the questions of a nobody university student. I will forever be grateful.

Back in spring 2024, I approached a hero of mine (now a dear brother), Konishiki, who was one of the reasons I could graduate university with an M.A. in Japanese Studies — the door opener that allowed me to settle in Japan. I was starting my 4th year at ESP Guitar Craft Academy Tokyo's weekend course. The curriculum had been finished after year 3, so I could freely choose what to build. An electric ukulele was the goal. Himself a gifted ukulele player and artist, I asked if my next school project might be dedicated to him. I had already started making fellow e-ukulele Sushi Baby and could show previous work, like LED-guitar Leo Paul. He said that it would be cool to have an LED ukulele with Rikishi (Sumo wrestlers) doing suriashi (training where they squat-walk in a circle to strengthen their lower muscles). If the LED light moved in a circular motion, it would look as if they were actually moving. He also told me the color he would love — "orange, bright as the sun".

I was already working on a concert ukulele, the size I play myself, but he said he preferred tenor — and double-stringed.

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So now here was my curriculum, ladies and gentlemen! A double-string LED tenor e-ukulele in bright orange with a scene of Sumo wrestlers during training. He said nothing about the Hawaiian elements, so those came out of my imagination, since he is one of the famous Hawaiian Rikishi who made history in Sumo.

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I had already made a guitar body with LEDs, so how to do that was clear — I just had to downsize it.

Ukuleles usually have 4 strings and guitars 6, so making a headstock was basically guitar-head plus two — no big issue either.

I had always wanted to learn woodburning as a craft — this project finally gave me a reason to buy the machine! The design is not only carved, but the Rikishi and Dohyo are also "drawn" using woodburning. That was a first.

​Double strings — I had to do the calculations and ask my teachers.

Making my first wooden bridge was fun too, but guess what... you somehow gotta earth the strings if it is an electric instrument... bummer! I made a saddle with brass, drilled a hole from the bridge through the body, and inserted an earth cable connected to the pots.​

Seemingly everything I ever make has a sunburst, but bright orange on mahogany meant spraying a white base — another first.​

Incorporating my logo with a burning iron went well, but the shape of the head... with the star on top, it kinda looks like a Christmas tree (or a squid?). And trust me, carving, painting, glittering, coating, and polishing a star... oh dear. A good part of the reason why making it took so long was exactly that.​

I had worked with glitter underneath the topcoat before, and sure as can be, it stuck out. I had to give the ukulele — especially the headstock — another coat and chose resin. You must be very careful adding resin on top of urethane or any other base. It must be totally clean, hardened properly, and you mustn't use compressed air to clean the dust off (the layer on the head flew right off and weeks of work were blown to the wind...). Better hand-polish it, too. Buffing machines might be too fast, and the resin does not get clear because the heat keeps melting it....​

Tenor ukuleles have huge string tension. I lowered the saddle as much as possible to get it down to a playable level. Gave me big issues. OH YEAH, I LEARNED A LOT!!!​

What I did not expect was the lid in the back of the ukulele covering the battery box changing size as much as it does. During the humid season, it becomes so big that you can hardly open it to switch on the LEDs. During dry season, it shrinks so much it almost opens on its own. Not happy about that, and I will find a solution when building the next one. Once I have, Konilele will get an upgrade!

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This is by far the project that took the longest to make in my still-young career as a luthier. It took so long because of all the mistakes I made and boy, what a learning curve! This made me a real instrument maker. Yet again, thanks to this awesome and gentle person.

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Thank you, dearest brother Konishiki!