Macadamia nut wood

Moore Bettah Ukuleles

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Getting ready for the ukulele exhibition for the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival next week in Hilo, I just finished this macadamia nut/spruce tenor. It's a bit of a departure for me and gave me an opportunity to do something a little different. After working with koa, mac wood is a dream to work with, bends well and there's no grain to fill. The grain looks like snake skin or fish scales and the color varies enough so that it made a good rosette mosaic. The back is three piece because wide mac wood is hard to find. To make up for the extra work, the top is one piece, partly because I picked up a load of rejected Martin guitar tops which are perfect for ukuleles. Because the show is in a few days I didn't have time to a full glossy finish but I think I like it even better with the steel wooled satin, bringing out the warmth of the spruce.
 
wow thats really pretty looking. I especially like the the reddish scales on the sides and back. If you dont mind my asking, how much would these retail for?
 
Thanks, the grain is stunning, really unique. I think the player should be required to wear alligator boots and a snake skin belt to complete the picture. I haven't worked out the figures yet but it would probably be close to my base price for a tenor, around $1400 I'm guessing. I didn't mention but the nut, saddle and bridge inlay are fossil wooly mammoth ivory. (Maybe it's mastadon. I have both and it's hard to tell between the two.)
 
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Thanks Pete. Yeah, only lacquer for the finish. I've had this macadamia nut wood around for a couple of years and had no plans for it. I thought maybe I'd use it for fret boards because it's pretty dense, the specific gravity is about 92. I may do a few more since I'm pleased with this one and the wood is so cheap, a few bucks a board foot. I guess it doesn't have too much commercial value since it's not commonly available in wider widths.
 
It looks awesome. How does it sound though? Is it similar sounding to another more typical tonewood?
 
It's often said about luthiers than a builder has his own particular sound. So it is in this case as well. There are so many variables and so many subleties, but at this point I don't know if there's a huge difference between it and my koa ukes or my spruce tops for that matter. The strings aren't even fully stretched yet though and I haven't had much time to play it. I'm thinking the density of the mac nut is yielding a bit more volume and spruce always gives a roundness to the tone. The other variable is the fossil mastadon saddle which isn't quite as hard as the bone I normally use. I'll be better able to evaluate it in a couple of days.
 
I think you always want to babalance a 'dense' wood back and sides with a spruce front - a bit ike rosewood/blackwood and spruce. What you have then is a lot of energy going into the front and the back acting more as a 'reflector'.
 
beautiful piece...

Aloha Chuck,

Truly a beautiful piece. The pattern in the wood is quite unique and I like the three-piece back with the pinstriping as well. It does add a sense of elegance to the piece.

I'd be interested in knowing how it sounds as well. I'll keep my eye out for your review.

Mahalo,
Shawn

http://ukulelefriend.com
 
I had a couple of musician friends over last night and we passed the ukulele around. It's had a day to settle in and get used to it's new identity as a ukulele. I'm really liking this ukulele and will likely do more along this line. It's very open with a "woody" sound just as you would expect with a spruce top. And although I despise the word "loud" as it relates to stringed instruments (banjos are loud), it has plenty of volume, likely due to the side sound port. It will be part of the ukulele exhibit in Hilo next week.
 
I love the way you reinforced the beauty of the macadamia by using it in the rosette. Absolutely gorgeous.
 
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