Compression Curl Koa Custom Baritone Ukulele - Sold
Just delivered is this Compression Curl Koa Custom Baritone Ukulele.
Compression curl Koa.
It’s All About The Woods
Body: compression curl Hawaiian Koa. This is actually a mix of curls. A little bit of everything except quilt. I glued up the top and back in order to display the sap wood with live edge and not the darker heart wood. Notice that I made this instrument with a traditional sound hole and side port. I felt that the traditional look was better suited for this particular piece of wood.
Live edge sap wood with blue opal inlay.
Binding: curly Hawiian Koa with deep blue Opal Purfling
Fret Board and Bridge: radiused African Ebony.
Neck: Central American Mahogany with carbon truss rod. Sanded Epoxy finish.
Central American Mahogany neck.
The Rest Of The Build
Accents: deep blue Opal. This is a synthetic product. The pictures don’t do it justice. It took me a while to figure out how to inlay into the voids that the live edge created (on purpose). I sure could have cut the edge out but I really wanted to accent with lots of opal. The opal has a richness that Abalone doesn’t have. It’s only subtle until a bit of light gets on it, then POW!
Accent Woods: Hawaiian Koa and Mango.
Koa accents.
Strings: Oasis “Southcoast” DBGE.
Tuners: Gotoh 501 mini.
Gotoh tuners, koa and opal.
Case: Crossrock ABS.
Nut and Saddle: unbleached bone.
And
I had the opportunity play about 30 different custom instruments this weekend–mostly baritones, including some of my previous builds. They all sounded good. No duds, just different tonal qualities and playability–even one strung GCEA (lots of tension but great voice). This big baritone was a bit warmer than the spruce top instruments I played. Personally, I like this sound; but, as I’ve said before, this is a personal thing and sound is very difficult to qualify. It’s a looker for sure. So, maybe a Compression Curl Koa Custom Baritone Ukulele ain’t so bad after all! More? Maybe!
