Hula Hips Ukulele with Rosewood and Engleman Spruce

Here’s a Hula Hips Ukulele with Rosewood and Engleman Spruce. The Hula Hips Tenor is a wide body tenor–in other words, a Grand Concert Tenor.  I added a little to the upper bout and 1/2″  to the lower and also lengthened the body by 1/4″.  This is the pattern I used for my first ukuleles back in 2000.  The body was thinner then at about 2 3/4-7/8″ in the lower bout but I have increased that to my standard of 3 1/8″ at the present–any wider and the look just isn’t that appealing. The end result is an instrument with more volume, more note character and more sustain than the standard tenor.

This Hula Hips Tenor is made with a certain South American Rosewood provided by my client.  According to his documentation, this wood was originally purchased for a guitar and has been in the States for well over 50 years.   The engleman spruce is a good compliment for this finger-style instrument.

The neck  and binding are Hawaiin Koa and the top and side purfling are blue Paua Abalone–the look  a little Martin D45’ish. The accent wood is Maidou Burl.  The tuners are gold Gotoh open design 15:1.  In addition I added a blue purfling to the neck and head stock.  The strings are black Fremont flourocarbon with a  wound low “G”.