Custom Koa Baritone Ukulele - Sold
Here’s a new Custom Koa Baritone Ukulele.
Koa no ka oi!
It’s All About The Wood
Body: Curly Koa. This is a big baritone shape. I still have my original smaller body baritone mold (just in case) but doubt I’ll ever build one that size again.
Curly Koa on big baritone shape.
Sound Board: Old growth Sitka Spruce. Braced with Sitka Spruce.
Old growth sitka spruce soundboard.
Neck: Honduran Mahogany with carbon fiber truss rod.
Binding and Accents: Pomelle Sapele with black/maple purfling. Good color match with the Sapele/Koa combo.
Figured pomelle sapele binding and accents.
Finger Board and Bridge: Brazilian Rosewood. Radiused with gold Evo frets. 20″scale. !.5″ nut width. One of my wood vendors/luthier friends once told me that every piece of wood in the instrument should be chosen for it’s tonality and complimentary use in the build. There is no question that Brazilian has been one of the ultimate choices for acoustic guitars and for fingerboards and bridges. I feel fortunate to be able to provide this very old wood for this purpose–at least for the near future. It blends nicely with almost all wood combinations and the tap tone–no ka oi!
Brazilian rosewood fingerboard.
The Rest Of The Build
Tuners: Gotoh 501 super-mini 15::1.
Gotoh 501 super-mini tuners for the baritone.
Strings: Oasis Linear with wound D/G.
Nut and Saddle: stained bone.
Fret Board Markers: white MOP.
Amplification: Mi-Si.
Case: Crossrock ABS.
And
On the last couple of baritone builds the scale was 21″ because clients wanted more string tension. On this build we decided to use the standard “tried and true” 20″ scale. To be honest I personally like this scale better. It’s easy on the fingers and since I’m not a heavy handed player it suits me better. I also braced the top with sitka spruce and not Adirondack. With this very bright top, I believe the sitka provides a more pleasant tonality. I truly believe that this old spruce top is going to prove to be a winner as the instrument is played a bit and the strings finally settle in. And, who doesn’t like curly koa on a Custom Koa Baritone Ukulele just for looks alone!
