On this Hawaiian tenor ukulele I have taken an old theme and applied it to the front and back. This is the last full set of this particular Koa that I have and the laser cut petroglyph design really shows up well in the sap wood. In case you are interested, the laser cut is […]
Just in: premium compression curl Koa from the island of Kauai. Couldn’t wait to clean it up a bit and show ya’ll. It is really interesting to see how this wood grows in the different environments of the islands. This particular Koa is really dense and hard. I favor this look over the […]
Here’s a recently completed “shop” tenor ukulele. The body is solid curly Koa. The neck is also Koa but with a curly maple stringer to match the curly maple binding. I’ve accented with Vanuatu Maidou burl. The fret board and bridge are Macassar Ebony. I’ve also used LMI’s gold “evo” frets and Gotoh planetary tuners. Phd […]
Here’s a pic of some new premium wood that I have received. This is called “Tiger Stripe “. This particular back and side set also exhibits some pretty good curl. This look in Myrtle is rare. I’m going to pair it with a bear claw Sitka Spruce top, curly Koa binding and Abalone purfling. Haven’t […]
Two weeks ago I purchased this Koa from a local wood supplier who had been storing this wood for the last 15-20 years. Who knows how old it was before this individual purchased it. The billet was a bit pricey but what quality Koa isn’t these days. I prefer this look in Koa–movement in the […]
Ron Seno takes a break from a recent gig in San Diego to show off his Myrtle Ukulele (see blog post “Oh Myrtle”). You go Ron!
This wood is Tasmanian Black Heart Sassafras. I’ve been looking for some to use on an ukulele for some time and scored this piece from an unmatched guitar set. The spalting (dark colored wood) is created by a fungus, giving very piece of this wood a unique appearance. It is rarely seen in the US. I used Hawaiian […]
Here’s a Hawaiian Koa tenor ukulele with my “Tribal Gecko” laser cut on the back of the instrument. The laser cut is pretty subtle since the laser did not burn this particular Koa as much as in other projects. The instrument is bound with Hawaiian Mango and accented with herringbone style purfling. Accent wood is Vanuatu […]
Here I have an African Black Limba tenor ukulele with my subtle tribute to the annual migration of the humpback whale to Maui. The body is African Black Limba as is the neck. Binding is Ebony and accents are Hawaiian Mango. The Mexican Ziricote finger board and bridge, I think, really added a lot to the appearance. […]
Actually this is heavily spalted, curly Hawaiian Mango. This appearance comes with decomposition of the wood. Spalting can be a highly desirable characteristic because of the unique appearances it can create; but, too much of a good thing and it becomes unuseable–this is close. If you have followed my posts you might know that I have an itch for […]
