A Burl Wood Uke for ya.

Finally finished by latest burl wood uke. What a struggle! Like building an uke in a swamp we have been so wet. Anyway, I love wild wood and this one is wild. Sounds great!



Since some of you luthiers like specs:

Sitka spruce top (terrified)
Mystery burl wood back and sides
Rosewood fretboard (legal. I think!)
Turquoise rosette
Bridge: Fancy SMD bridge with snappy white plastic

That is nice. Burl is beautiful.

Amboyna burl

As a "burl" option, I figured out how to veneer things, so I can have a look of burl, over a much better behaved, and better sounding, substrate. Also one can get really fancy burl veneer much much cheaper than solid burl wood. This is amboyna burl



This is ziricote veneer

Very nice work, sequoia, I feel your pain regarding the weather and it still hasn't stopped raining! Good photography, too.

Bob

Gaw, I love looking at wood like that! :drool:
What's so scary about the top though. (I know, i know, stupid autocorrect, but couldn't resist)

fungusgeek said:

As a "burl" option, I figured out how to veneer things, so I can have a look of burl, over a much better behaved, and better sounding, substrate. Also one can get really fancy burl veneer much much cheaper than solid burl wood.

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Yes, cheaper, more stable and better for the environment too. Less bending woes too. Bending that stuff caused some little anxiety although it all worked out just fine. There is the potential negative with using veneers that the sound will be compromised. I've read in a bunch of places that veneered wood does not really effect the sound and if it does it is not detectable by the ear. There are even some that say veneered wood even sounds better than solid although I'm skeptical on that point. This is usually emphasized by the cheaper makers of budget minded instruments. This applies to veneered backs and sides only. Veneered soundboard tops? Ick.

Love burl. Wish I had one.

well that one is showy no doubt about that. you have to go with what grabs you.

chuck in ny said:

you have to go with what grabs you.

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Life is too short to work with ugly wood.