World’s Largest Ukulele, According to Guinness

By Greg Olwell

Though the title of “world’s largest ukulele” may be an oxymoronic concept, like “jumbo shrimp,” it’s a real thing and now belongs to Larry Stump for the massive ukulele he built. According to Stump, the 13-foot, one-inch long ukulele was recently recognized by Guinness World Records and will be included in the 2017 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.

Stump says that the new title-holder measures 13-feet, one-inch long, which is almost six feet longer than the previous record. (According to Guinness, the prior record was for an instrument that measured “2.27 m (7.45 ft.) long, 0.85 m (2.8 ft.) wide, and 0.25 m (0.83 ft.) deep…”)

Stump told Mighty Uke Day:

“After helping my son build a ukulele for a science class, I thought it would be interesting to build one on a larger scale. After doing some calculations I ended up at 4′ by 6′ for the body as this used as much of a full sheet of birch plywood as possible. The neck and head were formed using 2″ by 2″ boards glued together then shaped by hand. The design and construction method is the same as any standard size uke but was somewhat more difficult due to the size. For the strings I used archery bow string and paracord which produce a pretty good tone considering.”