Pegasus Curly Mango Tenor

Was fortunate to get the opportunity to acquire this beautiful Pegasus Curly Mango Tenor when a friend decided to reduce his number of ukes for an impending move. This is my 2nd Pegasus (my other one is koa).

As many of you know Bob Gleason is the builder of Pegasus Guitars and Ukuleles, and makes outstanding musical instruments. He is a master of the craft. The sound of his ukes is unique, very articulate, clear, chime-like with amazing warm harmonics. It has exceptionally good projection/volume.

I recorded a short sample of this tenor strung with Hilo black nylon reentrant strings (wound 3rd). https://app.box.com/s/cy8z0w1mgwumxrq6i6532jxa6cgxuz6s

**Here's a newer sound sample in linear B tuning with Oasis Brights :
https://app.box.com/s/iz90agwki7tyczlqijik5m4bb27okod3

The fit, finish and playbility are also outstanding. It has a flawless nitrocellulose lacquer finish. On this particular instument the body is spectacular curly mango with pheasant wood binding. The bridge is also pheasant wood. The fretboard is milo, with pheasant wood binding. Neck is locally grown toon wood with an internal carbon fiber reinforcement rod. Hand carved Dolphins adorn both sides of the neck heel. Mother-of-pearl and paua shell dolphins are inlaid on fretboard and a mother-of-pearl Pegasus logo is inlaid on pheasant wood headstock. The rosette is hand-cut paua shell shell inlay from solid shell. There is a side sound port on upper bout and Grover gold plated tuners with ebony buttons. There is even a hula dancer inlaid on the inside of the head block. This classic design also feature cross bracing on the top. If I had to rate this on a scale of 1-10, this is an 11.

Here's a link to photo album and a couple pictures.

P1080733 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150516092@N02/, on Flickr

P1080734 https://www.flickr.com/photos/150516092@N02/, on Flickr

P1080729 https://www.flickr.com/photos/150516092@N02/, on Flickr

P1080727 https://www.flickr.com/photos/150516092@N02/, on Flickr

Gorgeous, Hodge! Love the figuring. Congrats on a wonderful addition.

I have really liked the tone of a lot of nice mango ukes that I've heard. This is no exception. Last week I just added my first mango, an I'iwi all-mango with ebony in its three-piece back. This same seller (who is local to me), has a lovely 6-string Pegasus for which he was asking $1,350. It seems like a crazy good buy.

What a wonderful pick up, Hodge! Beautiful and superb construction details I can see. I've seen the occasional Pegasus as well and have imagined holding one for playing. Congrats on this excellent uke.

Thanks Eddie and Craig. This is a special instrument.

Excellent decision on that mango I’iwi, Eddie. They have such a beautiful warm sound.

That is really lovely. The chime is quite ethereal. Like Pegasus dancing in the clouds.

What is toon wood?

OhioBelle said:

That is really lovely. The chime is quite ethereal. Like Pegasus dancing in the clouds.

What is toon wood?

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Good question. I had to look that up. Apparently toon (toona ciliata) is a very lightweight reddish brown wood. The tree is also called “Australian red cedar”, because of the strong aromatic cedar scent of the wood. It carves and turns particularly well. There are several stands in Hawai‘i forest plantations. It was introduced to Hawaii in the early 20th century. Toon grows to 50 feet tall and reaches over two feet in diameter. Maybe it’s why this uke has a very pleasant cedar-like scent.

Toon, a wood that smell good and plays a nice tune! What's not to love?

I checked out Pegasus Guitars website. He sure does beautiful work, yours included. Enjoy!

That is a real stunner Hodge.......I have curly mango envy now. The sound is excellent as well, no wonder you have been a Pegasus fan for a long time.

DownUpDave said:

That is a real stunner Hodge.......I have curly mango envy now. The sound is excellent as well, no wonder you have been a Pegasus fan for a long time.

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Thanks Dave. I know you like linear B tuning (so do I). So, changed out the strings to Oasis Brights linear (my default strings). To my ear, it's even better in this tuning, or at least with these new strings. The Hilo strings were about 2 years old (but not worn out). Mango wood has worked really well for me on a couple ukes.

Here's a sound sample in linear B tuning with Oasis Brights :
https://app.box.com/s/iz90agwki7tyczlqijik5m4bb27okod3

Doc_J said:

Thanks Dave. I know you like linear B tuning (so do I). So, changed out the strings to Oasis Brights linear (my default strings). To my ear, it's even better in this tuning, or at least with these new strings. The Hilo strings were about 2 years old (but not worn out). Mango wood has worked really well for me on a couple ukes.

Here's a sound sample in linear B tuning with Oasis Brights :
https://app.box.com/s/iz90agwki7tyczlqijik5m4bb27okod3

Click to expand...

Hodge thanks very much for that. Is really does sound great with the Oasis brights in B tuning. Nice touch on "Wish You Were Here" from the tabs I sent you. All 6 minutes plus of that instrument sounded excellent, very impressive.