It's hard to take your hands off a new uke to post the obligatory thread, but after a couple days I finally can...
I'm sure many have followed Brad Donaldson's build thread in the Luthier's Lounge, but I now have the finished product and I couldn't be happier!
I'd actually considered having Brad (username Bradford here on UU) build me a uke, but when I found out his prices a few months ago it went from considering having him to it to actually commissioning the job!
I'd seen (and played) examples of Brad's Kumalae-inspired design. The body shape is a fantastic, vintage design - very light and small-bodied with a beautiful narrow waist. I LOVE that shape. At the same time, while I like sopranos best I also decided I wanted a super soprano (longer neck).
Brad accommodated every single one of my requests - even the weird request to have a carrot inlaid on the back of the headstock!
The best part about working with him was that he lives an easy drive from me, so when it came to talking about actual details my wife, daughter, and I drove on over to Cannon Beach and spent the afternoon at his home/shop. That is a whole different story - what an inspiration!
Okay - so without further ado, here are the pictures:
To start off, I had a Ko'olau case that I wanted to keep (my Kanile'a used to live in it - sold that to fund this project). The case is a standard soprano case, but I was hoping that the long neck may still fit... Yippee! It fits!
So with that taken care of...let's take a peek inside the case...
I really wanted a great instrument built mostly out of woods native to Oregon. The top is Port Orford Cedar, the back and sides are myrtlewood, the binding is claro walnut from Oregon, and the inlay is Oregon maple. For reasons of balance, the neck is Spanish cedar, and I prefer the look of ebony fingerboard and bridge. Brad now uses Pegheads as standard. I brought all the walnut - including the piece he used on the faceplate and end graft. I also asked him to build the headstock slightly thicker than usual to counterbalance the length of the Pegheads - the result was perfect!
The original piece of myrtlewood that I chose had a nice flame to it...and some flaws that made it unusable once resawn. This is the second choice piece, but I do love that quilting just as much!
I also asked Brad for the PoHo logo to be inlaid into the faceplate. This logo was designed by UncleElvis and I absolutely love it. PoHos (in case you haven't met us) hang out in the General Discussion forums in the Ahnko Honu thread. We've become great friends and always have room for one more person - we like to say that the only thing you need to do if you want to join the PoHos is say, "I am a PoHo" and you're in. Anyway, this crazy group of friends is important to me, and with UncleElvis' blessing I had the logo inlaid.
Next post for last pic and sound review...
I'm sure many have followed Brad Donaldson's build thread in the Luthier's Lounge, but I now have the finished product and I couldn't be happier!
I'd actually considered having Brad (username Bradford here on UU) build me a uke, but when I found out his prices a few months ago it went from considering having him to it to actually commissioning the job!
I'd seen (and played) examples of Brad's Kumalae-inspired design. The body shape is a fantastic, vintage design - very light and small-bodied with a beautiful narrow waist. I LOVE that shape. At the same time, while I like sopranos best I also decided I wanted a super soprano (longer neck).
Brad accommodated every single one of my requests - even the weird request to have a carrot inlaid on the back of the headstock!
The best part about working with him was that he lives an easy drive from me, so when it came to talking about actual details my wife, daughter, and I drove on over to Cannon Beach and spent the afternoon at his home/shop. That is a whole different story - what an inspiration!
Okay - so without further ado, here are the pictures:
To start off, I had a Ko'olau case that I wanted to keep (my Kanile'a used to live in it - sold that to fund this project). The case is a standard soprano case, but I was hoping that the long neck may still fit... Yippee! It fits!
So with that taken care of...let's take a peek inside the case...
I really wanted a great instrument built mostly out of woods native to Oregon. The top is Port Orford Cedar, the back and sides are myrtlewood, the binding is claro walnut from Oregon, and the inlay is Oregon maple. For reasons of balance, the neck is Spanish cedar, and I prefer the look of ebony fingerboard and bridge. Brad now uses Pegheads as standard. I brought all the walnut - including the piece he used on the faceplate and end graft. I also asked him to build the headstock slightly thicker than usual to counterbalance the length of the Pegheads - the result was perfect!
The original piece of myrtlewood that I chose had a nice flame to it...and some flaws that made it unusable once resawn. This is the second choice piece, but I do love that quilting just as much!
I also asked Brad for the PoHo logo to be inlaid into the faceplate. This logo was designed by UncleElvis and I absolutely love it. PoHos (in case you haven't met us) hang out in the General Discussion forums in the Ahnko Honu thread. We've become great friends and always have room for one more person - we like to say that the only thing you need to do if you want to join the PoHos is say, "I am a PoHo" and you're in. Anyway, this crazy group of friends is important to me, and with UncleElvis' blessing I had the logo inlaid.
Next post for last pic and sound review...