Jim Hanks
Well-known member
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
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
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