Sugi And Koa Big Baritone Ukulele
The latest build is this Sugi And Koa Big Baritone Ukulele.
Curly, Hawaiian grown Sugi soundboard.
It’s All About The Wood
Body: krinkle curl koa. Now I do like my stacked curl, but my favorite koa curl is the krinkle. It just seems to me to be more bang for your buck.
Krinkle curl Koa body.
Sound Board: Hawaiian grown, curly Japanese Sugi. This is sometimes called Japanese Cedar but it is actually a cryptomeria. This is a very “woodsy” build with few frills.
Binding: curly Hawaiian Mango with maple/black purfling.
Neck: Honduran Mahogany with carbon fiber truss rod.
Accent Woods: mango and koa.
Finger Board and Bridge: radiused Brazilian rosewood. This rosewood is super old, legal and has an exceptional tonal quality.
Brazilian rosewood finger board and bridge.
The Rest Of The Build
Tuners: Gotoh 501 mini for ukulele.
Gotoh 501 mini tuners for ukulele.
Strings: Oasis with smooth wound D/G.
Nut and Saddle: unbleached bone.
Fret Board Markers: gold MOP.
And
This is a combination that really performs. The Sugi is big and warm and the koa gives a bit of crispy note. All in all, a good combination. Unfortunately there were some issues that occurred during the build. Stuff happens! After I glued the Sugi to the body and final sanded I noticed some fractures in the wood that did not appear before. This was a big disappointment. Even though the fractures are fully sealed and bonded with epoxy, I just could not pass this on to a potential client. Oh, not so bad, I’m keeping it for myself. I don’t have a baritone here anyway and it’s going to be nice to have an instrument that I can use as comparison for coming builds. I do like me a little ki ho’alu on da baritone fer sure. So this Sugi And Koa Big Baritone Ukulele will just have to be happy in my hale.
