This volunteer group of player have a gig at a local senior residence tomrrow, so yesterday we had a little rehearsal. It is lots of fun, and we are getting pretty good. Led by Linda Henderson and Wendy Bohlke, we sing and play for the delight of it.
Here you see the whole gang. I play bass on my "Son of Gut Bucket" seen on the floor beside Pat Madsen in the Red, who plays the baritone. All the others are playing Ukuleles. It is fun, serious, passionate and appreciated by those care facilities that we play for about twice a month.
Today I began to think about my next build. Still thinking about a Kasha baritone, but I have a nice guy in Minnesota who wants me to build him a concert. He wants Tiger stripe maple, Juniper, and Honduran rosewood fretboard. Today I got out some woods to send him photos. Thought you might like to join in the discussion
Here is what your concert would look like. This is a tenor I built several years ago. Note the Juniper top, the maple sides and binding. I like the looks and it is a bright sounding instrument.
Here is the spalted maple rosette that I like to include. It should be narrower on a concert. tell me if you like it.
I will include a side sound port as I believe they add greatly to the enjoyment of playing a ukulele. The real purpose of this photo is to show you the walnut neck. I think the contrast of a light body and the walnut neck is lovely and walnut is extremely stable and strong. This is walnut that I have had in my shop for 35 or 40 years. Tell me if you like it.
Finally, here is a photo of the soundboard that I selected today for your uke It is Juniperus Maritima, a sub species of Rocky Mountain Juniper. It grows only around the shores of the Salish Sea, From Olympia WA to half way up Vancouver Island B.C.. It grows on the rocky dry sea shore in the toughest of conditions. The grain is incredibly tight. So tight that to count the growth rings I had to use a 10 power glass. I counted 91 years to the inch on this piece. It tap tones beautifully and makes lovely ukulele sounding boards. It smells like pencil cedar but is really quite hard. Is this what you want on your Concrt?
And here are some choices for the back. All, very nicely figured Big Leaf Maple. The tiger stripe figure will jump out when it is finished. A wonderful local wood that looks and sounds great and has been drying in my workshop for 9 years now. If you want, select your back, or I will do it for you if you prefer. I will select side material that most closely matches the back.
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Once you have made your choices, I will begin the build and keep you in the process with frequent posts on this blog. You will be able to follow your Concert's construction.
