A New Hula Hips Tenor Ukulele

I’m, again, behind in my posts.  Here’s A New Hula Hips Tenor Ukulele delivered the week before last.

a new hula hips tenor ukulele

Vertical scratch bear claw sitka spruce sound board.

 

I’m starting to drift a bit towards more standard guitar type builds of late.  Maybe it is just boredom looking at all Koa– who knows?  This instrument was a specific request for a more classic look.  Bear  claw Sitka Spruce sound board and a compression curl Koa back and sides.  That works!  Fortunately I still have some vertical scratch Sitka Spruce.  The vertical scratch sitka is a bit hard to come by but fortunately I have a few sets in my stash waiting for this type of request.  We settled on some compression Koa for the back and sides.

For those of you that haven’t followed my builds, a “hula hips” tenor ukulele is a bit wider in both the upper and lower bouts than a standard tenor ukulele.  The result is usually an instrument with a bigger sound and more sustain.

a new hula hips tenor ukulele

Compression curl Koa sides and back.

By request, I added some inlay work: plumeria flowers on the head stock in white mother-of-pearl and paua abalone and a “makau” on the fret board with the same materials.  Blue Paua Abalone purfling and rosette accent the sound board.

a new hula hips tenor ukulele

Plumeria flower head stock inlay.

a new hula hips tenor ukulele

Paua abalone rosette and purfling.

Cutting to the chase, this instrument has Worth “Brown” strings (high “G”) with a Thomastik steel wound “C”  (strings provided by new owner).  I didn’t have a clue what this would sound like but when the strings stretched in a bit, I found the sound to be very balanced and bright.   I’m thinking I may have to be a bit more open to alternative string combinations.

a new hula hips tenor ukulele

This Koa is from Kauai.

Plumeria+Makau+Koa+Bear Claw Sitka Spruce=A New Hula Hips Tenor Ukulele!