Bear Koa Tenor Ukulele

I’m thinking of all the Bear, Bare and Beer jokes I could use here.   OK, guess not!  This is the Bear Koa Tenor Ukulele now at Hale Ukulele.

This is a standard tenor shape with a subtle curl Koa back and sides and a subtle Bear Claw Spruce soundboard.

I’m doing more traditional soundboard ukes this year.  Originally, I was reluctant to do many of these traditional tops primarily because most ukulele owners wanted the all Koa look.  When I changed my bracing pattern to the modified “X” I decided these instruments produced excellent tone and clarity without being overly tight.

Of course, not happy with the straight grain look, I have to use some of my Spruce Bear Claw stash.  To spark it up, I added blue abalone purfling and sound hole rosette.

That’s brown Australian Mallee Burl for accents.  I put it on the top of the headstock as well.

Bearable?