I HAVE BEEN A BIT COMPULSIVE LATELY about making instruments. I had nine pinecones going at one time, then I got fascinated by the Big Bass project. I have been taking the last few days off and turning my attention to a history project I have been wanting to get at. After three days of writing I have made good progress on "Fairhaven" the history of an interesting part of Bellingham. My plan is to work on the book each morning, and after lunch take my tired brain to the workshop for the joy and relaxation of working on ukuleles. That is what I did today. I am selecting the wood and planning the build of three new Tenors. Here is where I am at present
I want to make an all Northwest wood ukulele. Here were my choices for top wood. On the left is Pacific Yew, a tough strong and flexible wood used by the indians for bow. It has a pretty good tap tone. I was tempted. Next to it is Douglas Fir. This wonderful wood is the most common in this part of the world and the foundation of the logging industry. I have never made a uke of it but hear that it is a plenty good tone wood. Next is Redwood. I recently made a tenor using it. Great tone, much like cedar. This wood came from the paneling torn out of a friends house that he was remodeling. I cherry picked the wood for fine grain and quarter sawn. Nice stuff.
And finally, on the right is the wood I chose. Rocky Mountain Juniper that I salvaged from a rock slide on Orcas Island's West Sound many years ago. Sawed off a big hunk of the fallen tree and lashed it to the foredeck of my sail boat, sailing it home where I have stored it for maybe 25 years.
I want to make an all Northwest wood ukulele. Here were my choices for top wood. On the left is Pacific Yew, a tough strong and flexible wood used by the indians for bow. It has a pretty good tap tone. I was tempted. Next to it is Douglas Fir. This wonderful wood is the most common in this part of the world and the foundation of the logging industry. I have never made a uke of it but hear that it is a plenty good tone wood. Next is Redwood. I recently made a tenor using it. Great tone, much like cedar. This wood came from the paneling torn out of a friends house that he was remodeling. I cherry picked the wood for fine grain and quarter sawn. Nice stuff.
And finally, on the right is the wood I chose. Rocky Mountain Juniper that I salvaged from a rock slide on Orcas Island's West Sound many years ago. Sawed off a big hunk of the fallen tree and lashed it to the foredeck of my sail boat, sailing it home where I have stored it for maybe 25 years.
This is incredible wood. It has a ringing tap tone, its growth rings are so tight that i had to use a microscope to count the rings. I figure that the growth rings which will span the lower bout of this tenor uke will total 700. That will be made of two pieces of this wood so that would mean the tree was at least 350 years old when it tumbled down with the falling cliff. Unfinished it has a lovely reddish color and the strong odor of pencil cedar. This uke is going to forever smell like a cedar chest. That may or may not be a good thing.
I was able to assemble five tops from the pieces I have been storing. There is more, but these five are going to be clear and fine grained. I will select the best for the first use of this interesting wood.
I will use tiger stripe maple for the sides and back. This is maple that grew in the mountains of Skagit
County just a few miles south of Bellingham. The neck will be of walnut, the tree that grew on Bellingham's Dupont street until 35 years ago when I was able to purchase it. American Black Walnut is not native to this area but it does very well here. This tree was planted by pioneers at least 135 years ago. Not sure about the fretboard yet, but I might defer to South America for it.
I will use tiger stripe maple for the sides and back. This is maple that grew in the mountains of Skagit
County just a few miles south of Bellingham. The neck will be of walnut, the tree that grew on Bellingham's Dupont street until 35 years ago when I was able to purchase it. American Black Walnut is not native to this area but it does very well here. This tree was planted by pioneers at least 135 years ago. Not sure about the fretboard yet, but I might defer to South America for it.
The second tenor is going to be a "blonde" meaning it will have an Alaska Cedar neck and an Englemann spruce top with contrasting dark wood sides and back. The exciting thing is that I will be using Brazilian Rosewood for sides and back. Here is one of the pieces of B.R. I am trying to figure the best use of this scarce and expensive wood that I recently lucked into. Out of the pieces pictured I can get back for 1 tenor, 1 concert and 1 soprano= but is it the best use of the wood. I agonized for a long time
Finally I turned to another two pieces and got two backs out of them. Which do you like best. Which should I use on this tenor. I would love to hear your opinions. I think it will be very interesting to build this uke, my first of Brazilian Rosewood. Eager to hear what it will sound like.
Tomorrow afternoons challenge will be to decide on the woods for the third uke. How about a redwood top, a cedar top, a sitka spruce top, an Engelmann Spruce top, ah the choices will drive me nuts. Let me know what you want to see built. You design the third one.
Brian
Brian
