One of the things about building instruments that I enjoy is prowling around looking for really good wood. Some days you get lucky, most days you don't. On the rarest of days you get lucky twice. Today was one of those. These large boards of beautifully quilted maple and makore came home with me today:
Nickie, It will probably be paired with a softwood top so the tonal properties of the makore will be of little importance. It certainly is decorative, though!
I am blessed with a spalted quilted maple ukulele that is so stunning in its looks and sound that a fellow with the initials JS asked if I would like him to autograph it, and another fellow with the initials AJ said he did not mind signing behind JS's initials. Another fellow on the list said it reminds him of the sand of the bottom of the ocean and he calls it "Bahama Blue" It was stained dark walnut so the grain variations are really noticeable. In 1982 I was given an Oregon Myrtle gun stalk blank that is all 4 sides full length quilted. I never could bring myself to waste so much beautiful wood for just a gun stalk. In 2013 it told me it wanted to be thin sliced and be made into ukuleles. Brad Donaldson made a concert pineapple that has the neck and peghead as solid myrtle, and the body a concert pineapple with the sound hole as a ( shape at the A string lower bout, and a small side port at the front of the G side. It is trimmed in quilted maple that he chose. The Myrle and maple areboth natural colours for contrast. The myrtleis naturally a light walnut colour. Naturally, both are quipped with the short stem PEGHEDS, and Aquila white strings.