808boy
Well-known member
Aloha UU Ohana,
As I promised to do a review when I returned to Maui from Honolulu, I'm back and here it is.
Rewind to Feb.2012; I decided to have Willie Wixom build me a custom tenor but is it a custom to just spec out the woods and adornments? I thought of it a different way. Why not have one built like the one I had in my head for a long time. Talked it over with Willie and he agreed to take on the task of my design ideas. As we talked, he grew more excited. I told him I wanted something different and it had to have a "Wow Factor".
Now on with it..... the HEAD STOCK:
I took one of his head stock design, printed it and then drew my B&D design on it and emailed it to Willie. At first he didn't get it until I pointed it out....exactly what I wanted....subtlety.
Next the FRET BOARD: My Mom bought me a new uke from a local drug store in 1958. It had a blondish sound board (must have been Spruce) and a dark back and sides(Probably Rosewood as I remember the wood grain in it). It had the most beautiful end of fret board design, a Scalloped Staircase. I absolutely loved it. I drew it out on paper and sent it to Willie.
SOUND HOLE: Again to be different; I designed a "D" Hole, cut it out of cardboard, laid it on my KPK tenor, took a pix of it and emailed it to Willie. Then I mailed MY template to him. That's when I asked for a soundport on the upper bout.
BRIDGE:Willie emailed me a drawing of the bridge He designed and ask for my permission to use it on my uke, I was excited and said YES. Also, I spec'd out through the bridge stringing.
WOODS: Wanted to have the look of my 1958 uke but didn't want the brightness of Spruce so I chose unstained Mahagony. The back and sides I chose Rosewood to acheive the color contrast. Chose Snakewood for the head stock verneer, fret board, and bridge.
BINDINGS: Flamed Maple with Blk/Wht/Blk purfling. Same for the fret board also. Flamed Maple for End Graft and Skunk Stripe at the back.
OTHER DESIGN FEATURES SPEC'D OUT: "808" between the slots of the head stock, Fret Markers all on the lower side of the fret board, markers on the side of the neck.
NECK PROFILE: Spec'd out 1 3/8" width, Thickness: 5/8" at the 2nd fret, 11/16" at the 7th fret and profiled to the body.
Spec'd out a "Hooked" neck and a high heel profile.
As far as looks, I'm totally blown away by the end product.
Now on to the performance end of it:
The playability is good, the voice is better than expected. It is warm and sweet but is different than my Mele and that's what I was looking for. The sustain is long, and well balanced between strings (using Southcoast G-650 flatwound low g)
There are however minor flaws in the finishing which I will discuss with Willie.
Don't know what else to say except " Mahalo to Willie Wixom for making my Dream Uke a reality".
Next up a Concert....Ready for it Willie?
Regards,..............................BO.....................
As I promised to do a review when I returned to Maui from Honolulu, I'm back and here it is.
Rewind to Feb.2012; I decided to have Willie Wixom build me a custom tenor but is it a custom to just spec out the woods and adornments? I thought of it a different way. Why not have one built like the one I had in my head for a long time. Talked it over with Willie and he agreed to take on the task of my design ideas. As we talked, he grew more excited. I told him I wanted something different and it had to have a "Wow Factor".
Now on with it..... the HEAD STOCK:
I took one of his head stock design, printed it and then drew my B&D design on it and emailed it to Willie. At first he didn't get it until I pointed it out....exactly what I wanted....subtlety.
Next the FRET BOARD: My Mom bought me a new uke from a local drug store in 1958. It had a blondish sound board (must have been Spruce) and a dark back and sides(Probably Rosewood as I remember the wood grain in it). It had the most beautiful end of fret board design, a Scalloped Staircase. I absolutely loved it. I drew it out on paper and sent it to Willie.
SOUND HOLE: Again to be different; I designed a "D" Hole, cut it out of cardboard, laid it on my KPK tenor, took a pix of it and emailed it to Willie. Then I mailed MY template to him. That's when I asked for a soundport on the upper bout.
BRIDGE:Willie emailed me a drawing of the bridge He designed and ask for my permission to use it on my uke, I was excited and said YES. Also, I spec'd out through the bridge stringing.
WOODS: Wanted to have the look of my 1958 uke but didn't want the brightness of Spruce so I chose unstained Mahagony. The back and sides I chose Rosewood to acheive the color contrast. Chose Snakewood for the head stock verneer, fret board, and bridge.
BINDINGS: Flamed Maple with Blk/Wht/Blk purfling. Same for the fret board also. Flamed Maple for End Graft and Skunk Stripe at the back.
OTHER DESIGN FEATURES SPEC'D OUT: "808" between the slots of the head stock, Fret Markers all on the lower side of the fret board, markers on the side of the neck.
NECK PROFILE: Spec'd out 1 3/8" width, Thickness: 5/8" at the 2nd fret, 11/16" at the 7th fret and profiled to the body.
Spec'd out a "Hooked" neck and a high heel profile.
As far as looks, I'm totally blown away by the end product.
Now on to the performance end of it:
The playability is good, the voice is better than expected. It is warm and sweet but is different than my Mele and that's what I was looking for. The sustain is long, and well balanced between strings (using Southcoast G-650 flatwound low g)
There are however minor flaws in the finishing which I will discuss with Willie.
Don't know what else to say except " Mahalo to Willie Wixom for making my Dream Uke a reality".
Next up a Concert....Ready for it Willie?
Regards,..............................BO.....................
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