Tenor Banjoleles

This is my first time posting on Ukulele Underground. I live in deep south Texas and work full time building banjos out of local materials, mesquite and Texas ebony.

Recently I have completed these three banjoleles, they have 10" rims and a 17" scale length. The one in the foreground is made of Texas ebony with mesquite accents, it is very heavy and loud, The other two are made of mesquite with ebony. All the banjoleles have great tone and volume to spare.

For more information you can view my (badly in need of update) web site http://bordertownbrown.com

Richard Brown

I like em!

Those kick-butt, Richard! Very nice, and would love to hear an audio clip. Is Texas ebony sometimes known as osage? Where do you get it (online store, per chance)?
Welcome to the underground!

harpdog; Thanks for the compliment!

Matt, Thanks for the welcome and compliments!

Texas ebony is not the same as osage orange but rather a very dark, dense and heavy hard wood that is closely related to mesquite, it weighs 65 pounds per cubic foot and sinks in water. The trees grow only in south Texas and Mexico close to the Reo Grande. I buy locally but this wood is scarce and in short supply, a couple of people do sell on the internet, one guy who sells mostly smaller pieces has a nice site with good pictures and descriptions. Another guy sells larger pieces and even logs on eBay but be cautious as this wood tends to downgrade with a lot of checking if not properly dried.

Richard