Ono Ukuleles #42 - Western Red Cedar/Myrtle 19" Baritone

This uke arrived a few days early! If you've been on the forum for any time at all, you have likely seen of the work of Oregon luthier David Ingalls. He is quickly becoming no longer the best kept secret in PNW.

There isn't much I can add to recent posts about working with David. It has been a great process from my end. I have really tried hard not to be "that guy" and stay out of the way as much as possible, but David sought my input many times along the way and I felt like it was a real collaboration.

This build started about two years ago. When I got on the build list, I was really wanting a 16" scale uke and David was the only guy I knew of building them outside of Hawaii (I.e. $$$$ ). I was about tenth on the list so I was expecting a longish wait. Even so, I went looking for tonewoods and found a great myrtle back/sides set from Pacific Coast Woods, also a great place to work with by the way. Here is the set I selected (with David's approval of course). This was ordered and went in David's workshop to await my build slot. In the meantime, David ran into health issues causing a break in building, and I discovered Cocobolo Ukuleles and twisted their arm into building me a 16" concert. Fast forward to a few months ago, David is ready to start my build, so what do I want? Turns out the B/S set was just barely big enough for a baritone and I didn't want to waste any of it, so that's what we did. I sold my Bruko and got ready for the upgrade.

Here are the rest of the specs:
Top - Western Red Cedar
Back/Sides - Myrtle
19" scale baritone
1.4" nut width
Rosette and peghead inlay - flamed redwood
Peghead, fret board, bridge and binding - Macassar ebony
String through bridge
Side port
Side dots
Gotoh UPT tuners

I've only had a few minutes to play it so far so I'll have more to say later, but for now, I'll just say that the tone is everything I had hoped for. Incredibly warm with the cedar top but still some sparkle from the myrtle back - at least that's my explanation and I'm sticking to it

There are lots more pictures in David's gallery and in my Photobucket:

But here are a few:

Top

Back/side/soundhole

Sound hole/rosette

Peghead

Inside view through the side port

Sound sample in post #15

Wow lovely uke! Congrats!

Very nice, congratulations Jim! Hope you'll provide a sound sample.

Jim, congrats! She looks great, looking forward to your sound sample.
What strings did you use? I'm guessing a SouthCoast set.

DGBE or b-flat?

Striking Ukulele. Congratulations Jim. Such a beautiful job.

Congratulations Jim, another superb instrument from Ono. I'll look forward to a sound sample.

Welcome to the "OnoMas Club." Because one Ono is never enough. ;-)

Look forward to your sound sample!

BTW, move that puppy out of the queue in your signature!

E

Sweet looking ukulele! Congratulations.

Beautiful Jim and another wonderful job by David.

Use it well.

Elegant, understated, and stunningly gorgeous. Some nice uke p*** right there! Love your choice of woods, and hope the sound lives up to its appearance. Congratulations on your new baby!

Rakelele said:

Hope you'll provide a sound sample.

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Definitely! I'll try to get one of my "quick look" vids up in a day or two and a more in depth review in a week or two.

Doc_J said:

What strings did you use? I'm guessing a SouthCoast set. DGBE or b-flat?

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Bit of a story there. We considered trying a Southcoast set aiming for Bb tuning but I wanted to try for DGBE first so I ordered the Living Water low D set as well as a tenor set to try for Bb later. The Living Water DGBE set is what is on it now but to be honest, it's not the best choice for the short scale. It really needs a wound 4th to go for DGBE. I currently have it in Ab (and David had turned it up to A). The tone is great and the feel is good to me with the lower tension but the sustain falls off a cliff at the 12th fret(just with the 4th string - others are good on up). (On a side note though, this experiment proves to me that my other idea of reentrant Eb tuning is possible and would sound great. The nut would need some work for this though so I doubt I'll be trying that anytime soon.) Anyway, I'll keep it in Ab until it needs a string change and then try for Bb with a thinner set.

Ukulele Eddie said:

Welcome to the "OnoMas Club." Because one Ono is never enough. ;-)

BTW, move that puppy out of the queue in your signature!

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Well, one had better be enough. I doubt I could afford another one and the alimony to go with it. :nana:

Signature is fixed and note that there is no more "in the queue". I'm done for now.

Jim.....my Ono brother, well done, very well done. I love everything about that ukulele. From the wood choices to the colors to the lines and proportions it is pure class. Congratulations, the long wait was worth it.

Quick sound sample - not ready for Onomas yet.

Sounds great Jim, you've got a keeper there for sure!

Nice, Jim! What strings do you have on there?

Ukulele Eddie said:

Nice, Jim! What strings do you have on there?

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Living Water low D turned up half a step to Ab tuning - See post #12 for details

What a great sounding and beautiful bari.

Beautiful baritone with a nice warm sound, as I would expect from a cedar top. What a lovely instrument.