I am back in the shop, and working on the next set of four ukuleles. (I have found that I can do 4 at a time, and not have things get too crazy or messy around the shop.) Based on some comments/requests from the art festival this last February I have made the bending forms and moulds for soprano and concert sizes. So the next set is going to be two tenors, one concert, and one soprano.
One of the tenors is a custom instrument for a friend, who in many ways is responsible for me ending up in the ukulele building business. She came by the other day and we had a great time getting out wood from the stash, deciding what she liked, and ‘designing’ her instrument. Ended up with walnut back and sides, streaky redwood top, sycamore binding, streaky ebony fingerboard, Richlite headplate, and some ides for the inlays.
The concert ukulele is a custom commission. After discussion, he wanted a solid sycamore ukulele, top, back, and sides. Sycamore is lovely stuff (my favorite local wood) and its properties of weight, elasticity, stiffness, etc. are close to the traditional koa. I am expecting this uke to have that ‘Hawaiian’ sound that comes from having a hardwood top (as opposed to a more guitar-like sound that comes from a softwood top.) I have picked out the wood, and started making up the plates. This is going to be a really spectacular instrument:
