Black Walnut Koa Custom Tenor Ukulele

This is Fae’s new Black Walnut Koa Custom Tenor Ukulele.  Fae asked for something a little different and I suggested this combination of woods.  I have used this combination of woods before and  found the end result to be very pleasing in both sound and appearance. Unfortunately it is becoming increasingly difficult to find suitable woods for these builds and I was feeling pretty lucky when I received this set of Black Walnut. 

This particular instrument is built of salvage Koa wood from Hawaii and salvage Black Walnut/English Walnut wood from old groves in California. English Walnut trees are usually grafted to Black Walnut root stock and you can see where the two woods have grown together fairly easily on the sides of this instrument.

The Koa sound board is the last of three sets from the same billet of wood.  The outside of this set from the billet is so weather worn that  the color of the wood is greyed at least 1/4 inch into the wood.  Although the grain is a perfect match the color isn’t.  I was a bit reluctant to use this wood but Fae loved it and, you know, the customer is always right.  The top really does have nice curl.   I won on the back and sided set though.

Even though I prefer to focus on the woods and not the accessories, I have been adding some visuals to the builds.  Here I added matching  accents to the sides, under fingerboad, headstock and even the bridge in white/black Maple.  I am also mixing the colors and the variations a bit just to get a feel for the different appearances this might provide with the different colors of wood.   I also want to provide my clientele with some distinctive variations for their instruments.

The fingerboard is Macassar Ebony, the binding is India Rosewood, and the accent wood is Vanuatu Maidou Burl.  The neck is the lightest Honduran Mahogany that I have in stock.    Amplification is by Mi-Si.

Here’s a couple of Fae’s comments:  “I love it!”  “The sound is amazingly full and round and balanced.”