Redwood Bubinga Custom Tenor Ukulele - Sold
In the air to a new owner is the Redwood Bubinga Custom Tenor Ukulele. This is a super tenor shape.
Redwood sound board.
It’s All About The Woods
Body: plum pudding figured African Bubinga. Pictures don’t do this wood justice. I’ve always had difficulties photographing “reds” and this build is no exception. Hopefully WordPress doesn’t reprocess them to hot pink. My best description of the color here is “oxblood red”. But, with every light it changes color. And, chatoyant–you bet! We’re calling the figure “plum pudding” but I’d say it looks like hammered and oxidized copper.
Bubinga is the African rosewood–hard, dense and with a brilliant tap tone. This particular set has been air drying at Tropical Exotic Hardwoods in Carlsbad for about 35 years. It’s doubtful that you will see this wood again in an ukulele unless I can talk the owner into selling a bit more?
Plum pudding African Bubinga body.
Sound Board: lovely, tonally brilliant California Redwood. Nice color, perfectly quartered and in my shop for maybe about 10 years.
Binding: I went with blond, figured Bubinga with black/white fiber purfling.
Blond bubinga binding and Australian mallee burl finger board and bridge.
Fret Board: keeping the red thing going. This is radiused and stabilized Australian Mallee Burl. Lovely red-purplish colors.
Neck: tough decisions here. I decided on a curly African Limba. Limba is a bit underrated as a tone wood. It’s about the same density as Honduran Mahogany but obviously much different in color. Once dried, like Honduran, it’s very stable and easy to work. Black Limba has lots of dark stains and spalting like in Maple from water incursion through beetle holes–beautiful. Carbon truss rod included.
African Limba neck.
The Rest Of The Build
Accent Woods: Bubinga.
Bubinga combo.
Nut and Saddle: unbleached Bone.
Fret Board Markers: white MOP.
Tuners: Gotoh UPT.
Strings: Pepe Romero, low “G”.
Case: Crossrock ABS.
And
It’s a looker and a sounder. The new owner has an all Koa instrument by me and I think that this will compliment the Kimo collection nicely with an alternative in both appearance and sound. Redwood has it’s own tonal characteristics featuring both highs and lows with an almost chime-like quality–very hard to describe. It’s an easy wood to play and can really put out the volume when required. There you go gang: it’s a red thang with a Redwood Bubinga Custom Tenor Ukulele.
