Five will get you ten!

OK!  Long Beach Mike ordered a new Hula Hips Tenor Ukulele. He made specific requests regarding the wood to be used (he likes the dark look)  and we negotiated the dimensions of the instrument--notably the neck width and depth and…

Curly Redwood, curly Maple

Okay, here's a combination that I haven't shown before: Curly, old growth Redwood, and spalted, curly, Big Leaf Maple.  I used curly Koa for binding and the neck is curly, big leaf maple--it is almost translucent in real life.  I think that…

Tigers and Bears

Here's a new Hula Hips, tenor ukulele custom for Ric.   He picked out this set of black, tiger stripe Myrtle wood and bear claw sitka spruce for this large body tenor.  To compliment the build I used Ebony binding, a figured Oregon Black Walnut…

Airbrushed Myrtle Wood?

No, it looks airbrushed, but this is really solid Oregon Myrtle.  I've got a decent stash of this wood and every set has a different look.   I didn't have a customer for this instrument but wanted to see what it would look like finished.…

Fresh Pineapple

Non-GMO of course!  I modified my original pineapple shape to be a little more rounded and finally settled on this shape.  This custom tenor ukulele was ordered by Rob. He specifically requested this set of curly Hawaiian Koa and the rope…

Blond Gecko

So here's an Hawaiian Tenor Ukulele made with a blond, curly Koa.  To spice it up a bit, I've added my "tribal gecko" laser cut to the back.  The binding is India Rosewood, the accents are Vanuatu Maidou burl, the purfling is red/yellow Maple,…

Hulu Hulu Tenor Ukulele

A renewed interest in my Hula Hips Ukulele.  Now the Hawaiian Ukulele pattern that I developed about 15 years ago is attracting attention.  Mark ordered this lovely instrument with specific requests: Curly Claro Walnut Northwest Red…

Bob’s Curly Koa Tenor Ukulele

Yikes!  Never too much curly Koa!  Here is a completed Hawaiian tenor ukulele with the Kauai compression curl Koa that I showed a few posts back. This heavy curl turned out to be a very difficult build but also very rewarding in many ways.…

As sweet as Mango

Believe it or not, this Mango I used in this ukulele is cut from the same board as the last two mango ukes posted.  You can see how the spalting changes dramatically in just one piece of wood.  I still like Mango for Hawaiian ukes.  It…

Purely Platinum

I'd like to think that that term describes the curly, blond Myrtle wood top on this new Hawaiian tenor ukulele and not a gentleman's club.  Oh well, I'm doing it anyway.  This is another of my mixed wood creations:  curly black walnut back…