New Ono Tenor - Madagascar Rosewood and Sitka Spruce

saltytri · Jan 30, 2017

This 17" tenor just got strung up yesterday. The back and sides are Madagascar rosewood and the top is a stiff and relatively dense piece of Sitka spruce with good silking and an unusually warm hue that goes well with the brownish rosewood. The fret board is ebony, the neck is Honduras mahogany, the rosette is bloodwood and the binding is bubinga with a fine, white accent. The Southcoast ML-WB strings are settling in nicely and project a full and resonant tone.

Ukulele Eddie · Jan 30, 2017

Another nice looking build, David. I know it has the very responsive, resonant Ono sound!

Doc_J · Jan 30, 2017

Beautiful work David.

Is this tenor wider at the waist than your standard 13-fret neck tenor, or is it that the sound hole is higher? Either way, does that give it more soundboard to vibrate, and more projection?

Debussychopin · Jan 30, 2017

That is sick

Mezcalero · Jan 30, 2017

Congrats on finishing another beautiful instrument David!

I love the simple appointments that allow that fantastic looking wood to be the center of attention.

FinnP · Jan 30, 2017

Very nice clean design..it looks like the fretboard is floating over the top, is this the case?

Ukulele Eddie · Jan 30, 2017

FinnP said:
Very nice clean design..it looks like the fretboard is floating over the top, is this the case?

Yes, David uses a cantilevered fretboard.

Jim Hanks · Jan 31, 2017

Debussychopin said:
That is sick

That's a good thing, right?

ld:

rappsy · Jan 31, 2017

Is this the first Ono with a logo in the headstock? I know we talked about this before, but this is the first one I've seen.

As always, beautiful work David.

saltytri · Jan 31, 2017

Doc_J said:
Beautiful work David.

Is this tenor wider at the waist than your standard 13-fret neck tenor, or is it that the sound hole is higher? Either way, does that give it more soundboard to vibrate, and more projection?

Sharp eyes, Hodge. The way I build allows a bit of adjustment to the width of the body and the tightness of the waist. I don't know that this is the widest of my tenors but it was intentionally made to be toward the wide end of the scale to increase the area of the top. Most of my tenors have been 13 frets to the body but I've also done 14. This adds one fret (18 instead of 17 total) and moves the sound hole north by 1/8". That's not very much but it does stand to reason that it slightly increases the "working" area of the top. Every little bit helps, though there's no way to quantify the difference. There's not much real estate on the top of a uke and I've always thought that it is worthwhile to maximize the area that is available to make sound. This is why I use the cantilevered fret board that someone commented on in a post above and narrow, solid linings rather than the wider kerfed linings. Just about everything in the design and construction of an instrument can be debated (so keep the flames to a minimum

) but this one has lots of nice tone so perhaps all the little things do add up.

saltytri · Jan 31, 2017

rappsy said:
Is this the first Ono with a logo in the headstock? I know we talked about this before, but this is the first one I've seen.

As always, beautiful work David.

Thanks, Lenny! I've been doing the logo for several months, usually with MOP but also with ebony when the peg head is light in color.

WCBarnes · Jan 31, 2017

Wow! Every ukulele that comes out of your shop has me drooling! Excellent work!

plastuku · Jan 31, 2017

I'm a sucker for understated elegance. Beautiful!

OhioBelle · Jan 31, 2017

Understated elegance. Just lovely!

Debussychopin · Jan 31, 2017

Jim Hanks said:
That's a good thing, right? ld:

I don't know about other places but here in Los Angeles area lot of young people say that to exclaim their immense approval.

dkcrown · Jan 31, 2017

Another beauty, David!

sam13 · Jan 31, 2017

Superb looking Uke.

A few questions:

How does it sound?
How does one travel with a Uke like this with the CITES rulings?

I am considering a purchase and have wondered how CITES affects the wood tones we love to hear and see.

UkerDrew · Jan 31, 2017

I'm a sucker for the clean and refined aesthetic of your ukes. This one is no exception. Drool-worthy!

saltytri · Jan 31, 2017

sam13 said:
Superb looking Uke.

A few questions:

How does it sound?
How does one travel with a Uke like this with the CITES rulings?

I am considering a purchase and have wondered how CITES affects the wood tones we love to hear and see.

There is a lot of information on CITES in this recent thread:

http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?124288-CITES-Update

I'm no expert on the details of these laws and regulations and it might be a mistake for anyone to rely on anything I might say. Having said this, there seem to be two lines of thinking on international travel with an instrument that contains CITES II or III species: 1) it may be OK to travel internationally with completed instruments that are being carried for personal use and are not being sold across international boundaries and 2) just don't take the chance. Of course, domestic travel isn't an issue. If anyone has more refined information, by all means chime in! Fortunately, wonderful instruments can be built with materials that are not restricted.

I have only primitive sound recording equipment and haven't been able to produce sound files that I consider acceptable. For some pretty good sound samples, you might want to look here:

http://www.onoukes.com/onomas/

sam13 · Jan 31, 2017

saltytri said:
There is a lot of information on CITES in this recent thread:

http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?124288-CITES-Update

I'm no expert on the details of these laws and regulations and it might be a mistake for anyone to rely on anything I might say. Having said this, there seem to be two lines of thinking on international travel with an instrument that contains CITES II or III species: 1) it may be OK to travel internationally with completed instruments that are being carried for personal use and are not being sold across international boundaries and 2) just don't take the chance. Of course, domestic travel isn't an issue. If anyone has more refined information, by all means chime in! Fortunately, wonderful instruments can be built with materials that are not restricted.

I have only primitive sound recording equipment and haven't been able to produce sound files that I consider acceptable. For some pretty good sound samples, you might want to look here:

http://www.onoukes.com/onomas/

Hi David,

Thanks for the update ... this is a super looking Uke and I love the focused, detail work you do. I have played Dave's 18" Tenor and it is excellent.

New Ono Tenor - Madagascar Rosewood and Sitka Spruce

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