Hulbert's electric balalaika

This balalaika was built by Daniel Hullbert, in Utah, U.S during 2011.

This balalaika is smaller than a prima balalaika, so the best classification for it is probably a piccolo electric balalaika. The neck is made out of oak and the body is made out of pine. The pickup is a Stratocaster-style single-coil. The bridge has been custom built from an angled piece of aluminium and with three normal saddles attached.

The neck is attached with two small bolts. The neck mounting plate is an oval jack plate, the hole where the jack normally would go is used to attach the shoulder strap peg. The strap peg screw goes through the body and into the neck. The neck was fashioned out of two pieces of oak molding, two pieces of oak quarter round molding were glued together to form a half round moulding. These pieces were then cut at a 20 degree angle, to make place for the headstock. Then, the oak headstock was glued onto the half round neck. The fretboard is a piece of oak stained dark brown.

The total price for all of the parts and supplies was just under $100, approximately €80 or 700 SEK.

Here you can download a soundclip from the instrument: Piccolo.mp3
At the bottom of this page you will also find a YouTube video with this instrument.

Pictures:

Youtube video: