Ok kids, git yer dancin’ shews on! It’s almost time for the 8th annual OluKai Ho’olaule’a on the beautiful island of Maui. This years event will be held on the last weekend of April at Kanaha County Park. Food and fun events are planned for all ages with the highlight events being world class, open water, downwind stand […]
Here’s a new Curly, Quilty Koa Tenor Ukulele. The body is old growth, salvage Koa from the Big Island and the accent Koa is from Kauai. I think this is proof that you don’t need the perfect, high curl Koa to make a distinctive looking instrument. This set is not perfectly quarter sawn and the […]
Here’s a new tenor ukulele I just delivered to Hale Ukulele in San Diego. This is some of my new stash of reclaimed Koa from the Big Island. I’m partial to all the looks that Koa provides but I think I like Blond Curly Koa the best. I’ve accented this build with a new Plumeria Flower […]
This Pineapple Concert Ukulele is a classic re-design of the standard shape. Mike has his tenor and he has his Koa but really wanted something different. Sooooo, after some deliberation he decided on this set of Oregon Tiger Stripe Myrtle Wood for his pineapple concert ukulele build–he really fell for the black flames on the […]
I’ve had this stripey, spalted Zebra Wood Tenor Ukulele set sitting in the wood stacks for a long time. I was re-organizing my wood stocks and decided that it was time to put it to good use. I also am a sucker for spalted wood of any kind and the pattern of the spalt in this […]
Here’s a new custom tenor ukulele made of salvage Koa from the Big Island. The Paua Abalone purfling combined with the darker Koa wood really pops. I think that these two components: Koa and Paua Abalone, especially dark Koa, are very complimentary. This Koa wood exhibits figure typically called “compression curl” and might be found in part of a tree where the […]
Just put strings on! This custom tenor ukulele is constructed from solid Tasmanian Blackwood. Common to Southern Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania this acacia (acacia melanoxylon) has been called Koa Wood’s Cousin from the southern hemisphere. I’m sure that this wood has been substituted for Koa on occasion but I can’t tell a lie. I also trust […]
This concert ukulele is the first with a new Plumeria Flowers inlay. In the past I have used thin-lam products and laser cuts to accomplish this task but decided to try the same flower design with solid mother-of-pearl. This custom ukulele is built from Oregon Myrtle. I am calling the “look” Lemon Drop Myrtle […]
By request from Ric at Hale Ukulele, I have added a few concert ukuleles to my build schedule and here is the first one for the new year. Ric didn’t make a specific request for woods so I had my way with selecting woods that might be a little different than the usual. If you have […]
Here’s number 2 for this year: a chocolate custom Koa tenor ukulele with a bear claw Sitka Spruce top. This may be the last of some really nice Koa that I obtained on Maui about 5+ years ago. This Koa has decent figure, low density, and really good chocolate browns with a nice sap wood stripe […]
