African Queen Super Tenor Ukulele - Custom Build-Sold
Black and tan, this is the African Queen Super Tenor Ukulele.
Salvaged Port Orford Cedar Sound board.
The Woods
I’ve had this super cool set of West African Ebony for about 6 years or so. It came from the old Allied Luthiers in NorCal and is a broken guitar set. I love having suppliers keeping me in mind for these rarities. I’ve yet to see another.
West African Ebony back and sides.
I’ve been cautious about this wood because ebony is notorious for not bending well so I started the build with the idea that if I could bend the sides then it would would be a go. It bent beautifully. Go figure! All that worry for nada.
Salvage Port Orford cedar story wood.
Next is the top. The latest craze, at least with my clients, is salvaged Port Orford Cedar. This is a different look with straight and tight grain, and dark spalting thru the center. It is supposed to be salvaged bracing from an old mill construction? This set has a brighter tap tone than the curly, stump wood salvage.
West African Ebony finger board and bridge.
I had some left-over pieces from the back and sides and they were just barely thick enough for a finger board. Super!
The bridge was another concern though, so I laminated the black and tan to a piece of black ebony to make it thick enough for a bridge–just barely.
The Rest of the Build
Originally, I was thinking of Curly Koa for the binding and back strip, but I’ve used that a lot lately, so I decided on blond, plum pudding Bubinga–another African wood. This I paired with a dark, cardinal red maple purfling accent.
African Plum Pudding Blond Bubinga Binding.
I did use curly Koa for the accent pieces though.
The Honduran Mahogany for the neck is a natural since it is a perfect match for the browns of the Ebony back and sides. The neck has a mat look but it’s actually a sanded gloss. My clients of late are really digging the smooth action and feel of this feature so I am making it a standard now unless gloss is requested.
Sanded Honduran Mahogany neck with curly Koa accents.
Black Gotoh tuners, Pepe Romero wound low “G” strings and “how low can you go” fret board action make for a finger picker special.
I’m trying to package all the supers in a Crossrock fiberglass case. Blue is my color. This one has a bordello red velvet interior. Yikes! Perfect for the African Queen Super Tenor Ukulele.
