A Whale of a Good Time

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…

Kaleidoscope Mango

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…

Puka Paradise

Just another day in puka paradise!  Not a highly figured koa, but nice.  Double puka's seem to work as well as the side concert sound hole design, although I can only speculate as to why.  I used Hawaiian Mango for binding accented with…

Mini-me Myrtle!

Here's a killer piece of curly  Oregon Myrtle--it really glows!  Of course, my supplier only has one set for top only and only big enough for a soprano or concert. I had to have it!    I have used this wood as the sound board on a concert…

Got Bear!

Here's a new completion:  tenor Koa ukulele (see Cut, Color and Curl post) with a nice bear claw Sitka Spruce top with Paua Abalone purfling.  Accents are Vanuatu Maidou burl--love the burl.  Binding is curly maple and that theme is replicated…

Curly Maple and Curly Redwood

Freshly glued up here's another unusual combination:  Old growth curly redwood sound board, curly spalted maple back and sides.  All accents are curly Hawaiian Koa.  The neck is also curly maple with internal carbon fiber truss rod.  The…

Bonzer!

This amber/golden wood is Narra (a pterocarpus species)  from northern Australia and Southeast Asia.  It is rarely  seen here in the US and even more rare to be used for a musical instrument.  The tap tone is very similar to rosewood…

Smokin’!

Here's another all Oregon Myrtle tenor ukulele.  I wasn't too sure what this would look like because of the darker blushes in the wood.  Once I got sealer on the instrument,  I was pleasantly surprised with the result.  I especially like…

Who are you calling a Heal?

I've been adding  lower bout "heal grafts" to my instruments since I first started building.  Now I know that this has nothing to do with sound or construction quality, but it is one of the things that you would expect to see on a custom acoustic…

Limba Love

Karen fell in love with the Limba.  She requested that the instrument not have too many frills, but concentrate on the beauty of the wood--beetle holes included.  So here we go:  African Black Limba body and neck,  Ebony binding,  radiused…