Blond Uke Build Starts today

hollisdwyer

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Received these photos from Allen McFarlan (Barron River) today (my Birthday).

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G'day Hollis,


CONGRATS on your B.U.B. Day & YOUR BIRTHDAY!!! :cheers:

This is TERRIFIC news and I'm so happy to hear that you decided to commission a custom uke built for you by none other than, Allen, your local Australian luthier extraordinaire and fellow UU member!!! Great choice!!! And what a wonderful birthday present at that!!!

I've been admiring his ukes for quite sometime now and will probably acquire one a little down the road after I make my move back to the mainland from Hawaii in the next few months. Would you be kind enough to elaborate on the specs or the particulars of your B.U.B.?

Please keep posting the progress pics on your B.U.B. so that all of us here on the UU can check in on your uke during the build process!!! Take care my friend, best wishes, and continued good health!!!


Aloha,

Kimo:shaka:
 
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Happy birthday, Hollis! Keep us posted on your build!
 
Happy birthday, Hollis! Keep us posted on your build!

Thanks Eddie!

G'day Hollis,


CONGRATS on your B.U.B. Day & YOUR BIRTHDAY!!! :cheers:

This is TERRIFIC news and I'm so happy to hear that you decided to commission a custom uke built for you by none other than, Allen, your local Australian luthier extraordinaire and fellow UU member!!! Great choice!!! And what a wonderful birthday present at that!!!

I've been admiring his ukes for quite sometime now and will probably acquire one a little down the road after I make my move back to the mainland from Hawaii in the next few months. Would you be kind enough to elaborate on the specs or the particulars of your B.U.B.?

Please keep posting the progress pics on your B.U.B. so that all of us here on the UU can check in on your uke during the build process!!! Take care my friend, best wishes, and continued good health!!!


Aloha,

Kimo:shaka:

Thanks Kimo! The specs are:
Body & Sides: Sugar Box Maple
Top: Yellow Cedar
Blackwood bindings
Side sound port
MiSi pickup
Rubner tuners
Rosette: wood, MOP and reconstituted stone
Fretboard marker: none
Side markers: as larger as possible
Luthiers choice for other bits

This was my first Barron River Uke:

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You can’t go wrong with a Barron River!
 
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Happy Birthday and congratulations on an excellent choice. Nothing more exciting then following the process of your ukulele being built. Are you going with a round sound hole or the oval Allen seems to be doing a lot of lately. Slothead???? Tenor????
 
Congratulations to your birthday and your decision! I saw the pictures on Barron River's Instagram feed and wondered if it might be yours. My wife has a blonde tenor ukulele (Maple/Spruce) made by Beau Hannam and it's probably our favorite both for looks and sound. As with Beau's, I think the light color will match Allen's design perfectly.
 
Happy Birthday and congratulations on an excellent choice. Nothing more exciting then following the process of your ukulele being built. Are you going with a round sound hole or the oval Allen seems to be doing a lot of lately. Slothead???? Tenor????

Thanks Dave, it’s going to be a tenor with the elliptical sound hole and his new very Art Deco headstock.
 
Happy Birthday, I hope you let us see it when it's all done, polished and strung up!
 
Happy Birthday, I hope you let us see it when it's all done, polished and strung up!

Hi Nickie, thanks for the birthday wishes. I will post photos as they appear on Allen’s FB page. When he is finished he will post an album. He just posted this photo. He is really moving at a rate of knots on this build.

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Wow Hollis Allen is really got the pedal to the metal on the progress of your ukulele. I love seeing the inside of an instrument, the bracing, kerfing and trim tell a big story. Looking good buddy.
 
Wow Hollis Allen is really got the pedal to the metal on the progress of your ukulele. I love seeing the inside of an instrument, the bracing, kerfing and trim tell a big story. Looking good buddy.

When I placed my order last Friday Allen told me that he was going to start building a group of instruments in a few days. I’ve appreciated it that he has posted a new photo every day since Monday. I can’t wait to see the wood under the high gloss finish.
 
Amazing progress, the binding and tail graft look great as does the trim around the sound hole. What wood did he use for the bindings and trim.
 
Wow! A really nice build. That maple back is going to look great! I really like the dark wood details inside. Matches the binding? (A joke about the carpet matching the drapes escapes me right now.) Some beautiful woods you have selected.

Can't wait to see the Art Deco headstock.
 
Congratulations to your birthday and your decision! I saw the pictures on Barron River's Instagram feed and wondered if it might be yours. My wife has a blonde tenor ukulele (Maple/Spruce) made by Beau Hannam and it's probably our favorite both for looks and sound. As with Beau's, I think the light color will match Allen's design perfectly.

Thanks Rainer. I think I missed your comment when you first posted it. Re the blonde Beau, that is gorgeous. I remember seeing it when I was on Beau’s wait list and was closely watching his Facebook posts.

All of Allen’s work is so clean and well presented I know it will beautiful and sound and play great. My Barron River 8 plays fantastically which is no mean feat for a 8 string. All my 8 string playing friends always want to play mine and one has been after me to sell it him for a year now.
 
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