Claro and Swiss Super Tenor Ukulele - Custom Build-Sold

When you’ve got world class Claro Walnut and Swiss Moon Spruce you just can’t go wrong. This is the Claro and Swiss Super Tenor Ukulele.

Swiss Moon Spruce sound board.

The Woods

The back and sides are a new look in Claro Walnut. I’ve already gone thru the original billet and I now have three similar sets in this new look. Got color, got curl, got cool looks for sure. I doubled up a red/black herringbone design for the back strip and lower bout graft.

Ouch! Colorful, curly Claro Walnut back and sides.

The top is another set of Swiss Moon Spruce. No figure here, just straight grain. Going for a classic guitar-style look.

Swiss Moon Spruce and bloodwood.

The binding is Central American Bloodwood. This is a first for me.

The fret board and bridge are also Bloodwood. This wood is pretty dense. I think it has a better tap tone than ebony–more like rosewood.

The neck is American Black Walnut probably from California orchards. At first I thought it a bit on the grey side but with finish it turned out to match the medium colors of the Claro perfectly. There’s a bloodwood and black fiber lamination as well.

Caliornia black walnut with bloodwood lamination.

The backstrap is Oregon Black Walnut Burl.

The Nautilus Shell in white and gold MOP really added some class.

Nautilus shell headstock inlay in white and gold MOP.

The Bottom Line

I’m learning a lot more about Swiss Moon spruce. Even though I believe most of the clear sets that I have are from the same tree I’m finding that they do tap out differently. I believe they are all medium to low density and tonally much like Lutz Spruce. I initially thought the tone of this instrument would be warm and mid-range especially with that walnut back and sides. But, I was pleasantly surprise to find the instrument to be brighter than expected with a lot of note clarity. This was confirmed by the client when compared with her standard tenor Kimo in Koa.