Posts
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…
California Curl
No I'm not talking surf dude! I got my hands on some killer Redwood top sets and there are no two alike; and, each one really is killer! I didn't know what to pair this wood with so my first endeavor was to go with the tried and true…
She’s a real cutie, a Mexican beauty. . . . .
I need to write Jimmy Buffett and give him these words--could be the making of a great song.
Here is a new instrument made from Mexican Palo Escrito (a genuine rosewood). This is one of those "off the grid" woods that hasn't been over…
More Black
I haven't been able to keep one of these instruments for too long. After the last sold, I started a new one and decided to keep it a little more conservative--meaning, no beetle holes. Here is that effort. Of course the body is solid Black…
Not Another Maple Ukulele!
I don't know, I just can't resist. I've had the opportunity to build some "shop" instruments and decided to do another maple/sitka combination. ALSO, the latest run of instruments have all been strung up with Jason Arimoto's PHD, low "G"…
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…
More Myrtle, and….
Here's a new tenor with a combination of figured, "crotch" Oregon Myrtle for sound board and beeswing African Imbuia (huh!). I accented the instrument with Oregon curly Maple binding and black/white herringbone purfling and matching backstrip.…
Takayama Surf
This custom tenor ukulele was co-designed by pro surfer Guy Takayama (www.takayamasurf.com). The ukulele is a modified hula hips but with a slightly wider waist and a rounded lower bout. Instead of the usual center sound hole, Guy opted…
Kimo Uke on Tour with Beck
Here's a note and a link that I received last year--just didn't get around to posting . The uke being played is an all African Imbuia hula hips tenor ukulele. I think I made it about 7 years ago. The wood has a huge tonal range as well…

