Sycamore And Redwood Custom Ukulele - For Sale--$1575
Just off the press is this Sycamore And Redwood Custom Ukulele. This is a super tenor shape.
Sycamore and redwood.
It’s All About The Woods
Body: California Sycamore. The figure of this set is pretty representative of most sycamore. The color does vary as you can see between the sides and back. I built my first sycamore uke about 17 years ago, I think. I was totally stoked because this is a wood that is rarely, if ever, seen in an acoustic instrument. That year was also my first year to attend NAMM and I was shocked to see an exhibitor there showing numerous sycamore ukes. Just devastated! He disappeared and so have the sycamore ukes. This, I believe, may be the resurrection.
California sycamore body.
Tonally this wood is much like spalted mango–not too bright. Braced up and with a bright sound board makes a huge difference.
Sound Board: A very unusual California Redwood. All those little eyes come from brush-like shoots on the tree. Good grain here and I’m not expecting cracking; therefore, I decided not to brace as with the curly redwood. Hopefully this is going to work well. I can’t believe the chatoyance of this particular set.
Figured redwood sound board.
Neck: a combination of curly PNW Big Leaf Maple with sycamore. Carbon truss rod included. The nut is 1 7/16 and the neck sports a thinner, faster playing profile with an epoxy sanded finish.
Curly maple combination neck.
Fret Board and Bridge: stabilized, radiused Big Leaf Maple Burl.
Binding: Curly Big Leaf Maple with black/maple/black purfling.
Curly maple binding and stabilized maple fret board and bridge.
The Rest Of The Build
Tuners: Gotoh UPT.
Sycamore head stock lamination.
Strings: Pepe Romero tenor low “G”.
Accent Woods: Curly Maple.
Curly maple accents.
Nut and Saddle: unbleached bone.
Fret Markers: recon stone.
Case: Crossrock ABS.
And
I think you have most of the picture. It’s a wild and wooly look for sure and not for the feint of heart. Sound-wise, I believe its mid-range. But then, most of my instruments tend to be warmish and mid-range by design. Of course, volume is an important factor in that particular quality. It’s a looker for sure, and personally, I really don’t have any complaints about a Sycamore and Redwood Custom Ukulele.
