Koa and Maple Custom Tenor Ukulele

Ok, ok!  Time to get back to the grind.  Here’s a Koa and Maple Custom Tenor Ukulele finished late last year.

 

I like getting requests for instruments with different combinations of wood.  I’ve used Maple back and sides before with a variety of top woods, but I really like this particular combination–a little bit of Aloha on an instrument that, otherwise, would look very guitar-like.  I have a selection of orphan Koa tops that I save for use with a variety of back and side woods as you see here.   This particular set of Maple exhibits both warmth and interesting curl and is especially attractive pared with the contrasing curly Koa top.

The neck is Honduran Mahogany, the binding is India Rosewood, the radiused fret board and bridge are Amazon Rosewood, and the accent wood is Vanuatu Maidou Burl. The purfling is black and white maple.   I  used a set of Romero low “G” tenor strings since the client wanted a wound low “G”.  The tuners, of course, are gold Gotoh UPT’s–my go to for tuners these days.   Mi-Si amplification.

So, if you are in the market for a new uke, don’t overlook the alternatives out there these days.  Restrictions are becoming more and more widespread and new imports of rosewoods and other exotics  may become a thing of the past.  Not only do these instruments look great but they sound great as well.