Kevdog
Well-known member
Just took ownership of a new custom tenor uke built by John Kinnard of Fallbrook, California.
John is the luthier behind the Dell' Arte brand of Gypsy guitars and has been building guitars and stringed instruments for over 30 years. He's pretty well known over in Japan for his concert size ukes and has recently started building the tenor size for the domestic marketplace.
The specs on this uke are as follows:
Solid East Indian Rosewood back and sides
Solid Engleman Spruce top
Mahogany neck
Rosewood fingerboard and bridge
Bone nut and saddle
Peghead tuning machines
Construction:
The build on this uke is amazing and can best be summed up in one word- "Clean". I have a a tenor Collings and use that as my bench mark for what quality construction should look like- This uke is definitely in the same orbit!
Everything about it is top notch- from the selection of the woods to the attention to detail.
The neck is graphite reinforced and dovetail joined to the body.
The rosewood fretboard is bound for a classy finished look and has a radius for easy playability.
I went with just the side markers on the neck as I like the look of a clean fretboard-
14 frets to the body and the faceplate on the headstock is Honduran Rosewood.
Very light weight
Traditional nitro gloss finish
Sound-
Hard to describe in words but....warm clear tones with the ability to play very loud without the sound breaking up. Great sustain and resonance with what I would call a rosewood sparkle. Very "sweet" tone....excellent clarity while playing fingerstyle and very balanced while strumming.
Trying to post pictures....... http://www.flickr.com/photos/43422297@N08/sets/
Sound sample http://soundcloud.com/kevd0g/kinnard-rosewood-tenor-uke
John is the luthier behind the Dell' Arte brand of Gypsy guitars and has been building guitars and stringed instruments for over 30 years. He's pretty well known over in Japan for his concert size ukes and has recently started building the tenor size for the domestic marketplace.
The specs on this uke are as follows:
Solid East Indian Rosewood back and sides
Solid Engleman Spruce top
Mahogany neck
Rosewood fingerboard and bridge
Bone nut and saddle
Peghead tuning machines
Construction:
The build on this uke is amazing and can best be summed up in one word- "Clean". I have a a tenor Collings and use that as my bench mark for what quality construction should look like- This uke is definitely in the same orbit!
Everything about it is top notch- from the selection of the woods to the attention to detail.
The neck is graphite reinforced and dovetail joined to the body.
The rosewood fretboard is bound for a classy finished look and has a radius for easy playability.
I went with just the side markers on the neck as I like the look of a clean fretboard-
14 frets to the body and the faceplate on the headstock is Honduran Rosewood.
Very light weight
Traditional nitro gloss finish
Sound-
Hard to describe in words but....warm clear tones with the ability to play very loud without the sound breaking up. Great sustain and resonance with what I would call a rosewood sparkle. Very "sweet" tone....excellent clarity while playing fingerstyle and very balanced while strumming.
Trying to post pictures....... http://www.flickr.com/photos/43422297@N08/sets/
Sound sample http://soundcloud.com/kevd0g/kinnard-rosewood-tenor-uke
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