Salvaged wood ukes

villafranca

Active member
Joined
Jun 25, 2011
Messages
32
Reaction score
0
Curious if anyone has a uke built from salvaged wood and am wondering how the tone is affected, if at all.

Of course, I'd love to see pics posted, too!

Many thanks,
Sean
 
Curious if anyone has a uke built from salvaged wood and am wondering how the tone is affected, if at all.

Of course, I'd love to see pics posted, too!

Many thanks,
Sean

I know there a couple of threads around about Timbuck (British luthier Ken Timms) building ukuleles out of wood from shipping pallets. There are pics and sound samples. A good luthier can make a uke out of almost anything. :)

And some builders have used sinker redwood (redwood logs recovered after decades underwater).

Is that the sort of thing you mean?
 
I have a Freind up Washington state building lots of them....not quarter sawned but buy buys real old antique furniture for bargin prices and makes ukes...:)
 
I know there a couple of threads around about Timbuck (British luthier Ken Timms) building ukuleles out of wood from shipping pallets. There are pics and sound samples. A good luthier can make a uke out of almost anything. :)

And some builders have used sinker redwood (redwood logs recovered after decades underwater).

Is that the sort of thing you mean?

Yep! I asked because I just ordered a uke from a builder who built an all-mahogany tenor uke from a salvaged door. Looking forward to hearing its tone. (Will post pics once the UPS guy delivers it!)
 
Some of the best instruments I've ever played were made out of salvaged wood. The "salvaged" factor shouldn't matter nearly as much as the type and quality of wood and the construction.
 
Yep! I asked because I just ordered a uke from a builder who built an all-mahogany tenor uke from a salvaged door. Looking forward to hearing its tone. (Will post pics once the UPS guy delivers it!)

I've heard its' really slammin!
 
salvage wood ukes

Does scrap (random sized pieces) left over from a guitar build count as salvage? That's my Ukiyo Smeck Vita. A black walnut neck from a barn rafter in Iowa where Abraham Lincoln made a speech? That's my Bloodworks spalted maple soprano. The body is a salvaged piece of spalted fiddleback grain maple. The wormhole on the one side of the back is referred to as a vertical backport.
 
Hey Sean,

I have a custom Thomas Rodriguez soprano ukulele that is made entirely of aged salvaged woods. Tommy is a renowned classical and flamenco guitar maker and has recently turned his hand to ukuleles.

The back and sides are hickory, and the top is red spruce, both of which came from 100 year old pianos. The Brazilian rosewood headstock overlay and the "golpe (tap) plate" that adorns the top was taken from a 1870's player piano veneer. The rosette is composed of maple, Brazilian rosewood and cherry, all of which also came from pianos, as did the rosewood fretboard and bridge.

I have been told that the quality of wood (due to its age) is much better than most "new growth" that is available today. Part of this is due to changes in the environment, as well as the sheer age of trees that are being harvested. Tommy has an amazing collection of wood that he has stockpiled from estate sales, historic property renovations, and other sources that he uses to build his instruments from.

Before I received it, the uke was featured at the Science Museum of Virginia for a few months. They had an exhibition about the guitar and stringed instruments, and the uke was on display as part of the event.

It sounds like a cannon and is a dream to play.

Here's a sound sample:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClUfgn58OMk

In the above demo the uke is strung with aquila strings. I've since changed them over to Martin fluorocarbons which I think makes for a smoother and, overall, a sweeter and more balanced tone.

Here are some pictures for you:

003.jpg004.jpg006.jpg008.jpg009.jpg
 
Hey Sean,

I have a custom Thomas Rodriguez soprano ukulele that is made entirely of aged salvaged woods. Tommy is a renowned classical and flamenco guitar maker and has recently turned his hand to ukuleles.

The back and sides are hickory, and the top is red spruce, both of which came from 100 year old pianos. The Brazilian rosewood headstock overlay and the "golpe (tap) plate" that adorns the top was taken from a 1870's player piano veneer. The rosette is composed of maple, Brazilian rosewood and cherry, all of which also came from pianos, as did the rosewood fretboard and bridge.

I have been told that the quality of wood (due to its age) is much better than most "new growth" that is available today. Part of this is due to changes in the environment, as well as the sheer age of trees that are being harvested. Tommy has an amazing collection of wood that he has stockpiled from estate sales, historic property renovations, and other sources that he uses to build his instruments from.

Before I received it, the uke was featured at the Science Museum of Virginia for a few months. They had an exhibition about the guitar and stringed instruments, and the uke was on display as part of the event.

It sounds like a cannon and is a dream to play.

Here's a sound sample:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClUfgn58OMk

In the above demo the uke is strung with aquila strings. I've since changed them over to Martin fluorocarbons which I think makes for a smoother and, overall, a sweeter and more balanced tone.

Here are some pictures for you:

View attachment 55243View attachment 55244View attachment 55245View attachment 55246View attachment 55247

HMMMMM is this another one of your new purchases....wow it's a humdinger and so are you.....BTW, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humdinger
 
I have a baritone made from salvaged mahogany... could be better, if the soundhole was bigger, though...
 
I have a huge mahogany dresser that is falling apart at some of the joints I wonder if one of these builders would make me a uke out of it?
 
The top of my Compas Rose uke is made of redwood that was salvaged from a 50+ year old fence at Stamford University.
Other Compass Rose ukes also feature salvaged wood.



CRRampB1_zpsd2dc7cf2.jpg
 
Oh man... I love salvaged wood, or salvaged anything for that matter. Just call me the upcycle queen. I turn crap into other crap all the time. They call me McGyver (well, I was called that once and was very flattered). There's this alleyway downtown where they know me well because I'm always taking pallets. They are hard work to take apart, but very versatile with some imagination. A little search online and you see all the things people have made with them. I have definitely thought of making a ukulele out of pallets. Of course, you would have to search and be selective. I've seen a lot of different types of wood used in pallets, even on the same pallet. My idea for a ukulele involves bookmatching anyway, so pallets would be good.

As for salvaged furniture, cruising some alleyways for treasures would be a fun activity. I know you could look on Kijiji or go to a secondhand store, but for me, using salvaged materials is all about the thrill of the hunt as much as it is about the actual build. If you can make something entirely for free, that's the ultimate!

I don't know if your city has this, but mine has a designated area where all tree waste goes as well. All branches, stumps, Christmas trees, and everything. Basically, giant piles of tree parts. I've already taken branches from there for other stuff, and that would be a fun place to go sniffing for wood. Oh yeah, and railway ties. More salvaged wood. Basically, whenever I see wood lying around I get all excited.

My husband says I have a wood problem.
 
Didn't Taylor put together some sevicable guitars from pallets?
 
Sorry, should have added...the baritone was made by Aaron Keim, Beansprout Ukes (now with Mya Moe) and was made from mahogany salvaged from vintage furniture...
 
From what I heard, Brüko has some pieces of bog oak (german: "Mooreiche"; ancient oak having been submerged in swamps or similar locations for a couple of thousand years) every now and then - and they apparently make great ukes out of that.
See here for some pictures of a Soprano Longneck with body & headstock made from ancient bog oak (neck is ash)
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom