Posts
New Premium Koa
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…
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…
Double Puka Koa Tenor
I have built a number of double puka ukes in the past but for some reason they are not high on the list of requests. I was totally re- motivated after seeing HAPA this year though and thought it was high time to make another. Here are a…
Olukai Ho’olaule’a 2014
Yes, it is that time of the year again. Hopefully the gods prevailed this year with good winds and prevailing surf for the most classic open water event of the year. If you are into stand up paddling, outrigger canoeing or Hawaiiana then…
Koa, Koa, Koa!
For all you Koa affectionados, here's a new tenor constructed entirely of Koa with the exception of the internal bracing. I have used Gotoh 4::1 tuners, and its new owner has the option of selecting amplification, strings, and case. It's…
Hula Hips Redux
Here is a Hula Hips tenor--overall dimensions the same as the tenor except for the lower bout which is 10 1/4 inches. The result adds a ton of volume to the instrument, resulting in a lower pitch with more volume and sustain. I used a classic…
Heals, Just Heals
Just some pics of heal features that I have made in the past. It's all evolving.
I’m a Sap for Sapwood!
Here's a new tenor with a wood that I have built with before. My client just loved the look and I do too. Personally, I love variation in the wood such as this sap wood center (click on the pictures for a closer look). I'm not as fortunate…
A Butterfly for Bonnie
Bonnie's ukulele has a Koa back and side but with an Australian Lacewood sound board. The lacewood kicks--a unique composite of hard and soft wood that really has unique sound capabilities. Binding is East India Rosewood with black/white/black…
Jonah and the whale
Up and comer Jonah Price gets his hands on his newly strung up cut-a-way koa tenor. Jonah dictated the dimension of this instrument and also designed his fret board logo. He also requested a whale inlay for head stock and accepted my design…
