Rare Southcoast Music super-concert, Shadow active pickup + case

Many UU members will be familiar with high-quality Southcoast uke strings, produced for many years by the late Dirk Wormhoudt, of the Southcoast Ukulele & Guitar Company in New Orleans, Louisiana.
For a time, Dirk teamed up with Omar Corrales - a master Spanish guitar luthier from Costa Rica - to design and build custom ukes of various sizes (and maybe cavaquinhos?)
They were lovely and unique instruments but were only on sale for a few years and even then spasmodically, it’s fair to say.
Dirk announced in 2014 that Omar retired and despite stated hopes of Southcoast continuing to offer more instruments, I haven’t been able to find any evidence that they did. Dirk sadly is no longer with us.
As part of my collection downsizing, I am offering for sale a super-concert I purchased directly from Dirk in 2010. It has the original signed label inside, with Omar’s production number 040-2010.
This is a special one, with an ample concert body and a full tenor neck, joined to the body unusually at the 16th fret.
It has been greatly loved and well used for private and public performance.
It’s in good condition but showing wear and tear after nine years of regular use but well looked after.
No significant flaws are evident to me - the neck is straight and true and the soundboard is finger-scratched (despite two pickguards) but level. The body is in sound condition and has no dings or cracks.
It has peghed tuners. It is fitted with a Shadow active pickup, with onboard pre-amp, volume and tone control and a very handy built-in tuner. This modification means it’s not one for purist collectors, but it’s a great amplified or acoustic performance instrument and, hey, there aren’t that many to collect!
It’s just had the pickup batteries replaced and it is strung in low G: the 1 and 2 strings are Southcoast medium gauge fluorocarbon; the 3 and 4 are Thomastik-Infeld chrome steel flat wound guitar strings sizes .027 and.030.
I do not know which woods were used in its construction, but as you can see from the luthiery detail there are more than a few.
All my archive records from that period have been lost, so the info above is all I have and is to the best of my memory.
Thanks to Jim Hanks for help with some info. Any errors are mine and I am happy to be corrected.
I am open to offers over US$500 please.
Video views and sound sample here (recorded raw on iPhone and unedited, pardon the fumbles):
https://youtu.be/_Mmabj6T5gg

following this thread to see if anyone else here knows more about these instruments. I might be interested in it myself, but let's see what others think.

I’m unable to upload photos right now because a pop up box tells me I’m over quota by a few kilobytes or somesuch. Anyone tell me how to get more quota please?

I like imgur.com. Actually, I made a "hidden" post of the pics you sent me so I could get out of my email, but I think that means you just have to know the URL:
https://imgur.com/a/U0H9dsR

I think y'all can get to that.

Here's a couple of embeds. Happy to include more if you like:

Thanks Jim please do

ok, here's what I got. These are all "medium" size, but anybody that wants bigger/higher res can follow the album link above:

More:

hi brother.
I would like to purchase this from you.
i'm here in Oz (Tassie)
please email me here so we can discuss,
as for some reason i'm unable to send or receive pm's here on the forum
jon
singtomeofautumnleaves @ gmail dot com

Hi Jon,
Thanks for your interest. I have emailed you.
Cheers
Bob.

I have accepted an offer on this instrument. SOLD subject to payment etc.
Thanks for other interest.
I won’t close the thread just yet in case further info, or other Southcoast instruments come to light.
Cheers

RIP Dirk

only taking an educated guess,
but it looks like a spruce top with sapele b&s
rosewood top plate, board and headplate, mahogany neck
gorgeous instrument

close to my guesses as well Jon. I was guessing cedar top. Sides seem like a quilted mahogany, maybe sapele as you say, but look different than the back.

I understand you're the lucky winner. Congrats! :shaka:

I was quite interested in this myself, but have too many other projects in progress right now and could not offer an acceptable bid. I'm glad that it is staying in UU, and I can't wait to hear what you do with it. I have a feeling this might be "one that got away" but oh well. If you ever decide to let it get away, give me a ring.

Stunning instrument, someone's going to be very happy.

Jim Hanks said:

close to my guesses as well Jon. I was guessing cedar top. Sides seem like a quilted mahogany, maybe sapele as you say, but look different than the back.

I understand you're the lucky winner. Congrats! :shaka:

I was quite interested in this myself, but have too many other projects in progress right now and could not offer an acceptable bid. I'm glad that it is staying in UU, and I can't wait to hear what you do with it. I have a feeling this might be "one that got away" but oh well. If you ever decide to let it get away, give me a ring.

Click to expand...

hard to tell brother. in person it will make more sense.
loved the sound demo
and Dirk was pretty dear to me over many years
so I'm very honoured to have this.
if it happens mate that I decide to part company with the uke, you'll be my first
point of call. thanks Jim.