Golden Eye Myrtle Custom Ukulele
I have a tough time describing the look of some of the exotic woods I use in making custom ukulele. I liked that the Oregon Myrtle Wood used for the back and sides of this instrument should be called “Golden Eye” for the obvious reasons. This Oregon Myrtle Wood is provided by my friend Vince at North Coast Woods in southern Oregon. Now he knows what I’m talking about when I ask him for more. Yes, and also for the James Bond movie of the same title. Better than Gold Finger or the Man With the Golden Gun, I think! Of course, working in the shop all day does make one a little crazy.
Golden Eye Myrtle Back and Sides
Matching tops with these woods is getting more and more difficult. It would have been easy to put Sitka, or Cedar with this wood, but I couldn’t resist using an alternative top of “curly” blond Oregon Myrtle. This top set has a brownish spalt down the center which gives it even more character.
Curly Blond Myrtle with Brown Spalt
The fret board and bridge are a brownish Munn Ebony and the accent wood is Vanuatu Maidou burl. The binding is Curly chocolate Hawaiian Koa with red/black purfling for accent.
Lower bout graft of Maidou Burl
I almost forgot: the neck is torrified curly Maple with a center lamination of Hawaiian Koa. Check out the heal because it looks a bit like “Tiger Eye” Agate
Torrified Curly Maple Neck
Maidou Burl and Gotoh planetary tuners
At the present time I am using a combination of Sitka and Port Orford Cedar for bracing and kerfing. The Port Orford Cedar smells great and is super strong. Just in case you were wondering, I use a modified guitar-style “X” brace for all the center sound hole instruments.
This custom ukulele is currently in stock at Hale Ukulele in San Diego.
Hmmm! Now I think I’ll have to teach myself the Golden Eye them song on the ukulele.
