New Uke Day! Luis Feu de Mesquita Blonde

NewKid

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Aloha UU,

Here is one of the Magnificent 7 ukulele's just finished by Luis Feu de Mesquita. This one was commissioned as a 25th wedding anniversary/50th birthday present. I wanted the ukulele to always remind me of my blonde bride so I asked Luis to create a "blonde" uke. Luis suggested Alaskan Yellow Cedar for the top and curly maple for the back and sides, plus Koa binding and my wife's name, "Melisa" inlayed on the 12th fret.

As you can see, the ukulele turned out even better than planned. Luis ended up using Quilted Maple for the back and sides and added a Koa strip on the back to represent me. He created a "flame" rising out of Melisa's name on the fretboard to symbolize love.

Some other goodies on the ukulele include elegant Gotoh Stealth Tuners, a Spanish Cedar neck, radiused fret board, cut-away, Koa rosette, and Koa trim on the bridge. The frets are Luis's standard guitar frets and they are big and comfortable. Guitar players will really like these frets. Luis stringed this instrument with Aquilas (Low G) and I was going to change those out immediately until I strummed the strings and heard the wonderful warm tone. No string change necessary!

How does it sound? Warm, open, articulate, loud, and resonant. It is also very sweet-sounding and I did not expect that with the Aquila strings. When I first played it this ukulele reminded me immediately of Iz's recording of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on his vintage Martin tenor.

The instrument is very light and showcases Luis's fine craftsmanship. It has a unique tone from every other ukulele I've owned and sounds most like my 51-year old Favilla baritone in terms of depth and fullness of sound.

Corey of HMS has provided the definitive sound sample of the Magnificent 7 but here is a short sample of the Melisa. Daniel (Nongdam) did a great video of his new LFdM "Placido" as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZPOeQUeTk4

I love this instrument and dealing with Luis has been such a pleasure. He is a good and loving man and he comes through in this instrument. If you're looking for something special, please consider one of Luis's instruments.

Mahalo,

Don

photo-6.jpgphoto-4.jpgphoto-5.jpgDon Hall LFdM Front.jpgDon Hall LFdM Back.jpg
 
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Spectacular ukulele!

HNUD and Happy Aniversary :)
 
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Hearty congratulations Don. This one is easily my favourite of the new models. Just gorgeous, that maple is something else.
 
What a nice way to celebrate 2 milestone events!

Beautiful uke!
 
Congratulations on your new uke day! Great way to celebrate a significant anniversary and birthday. I was fortunate to play Placido for a while last night. Very light and great attention to detail.
 
Congrats Don..you birthday, Uke and anniversary....it's a stunning back and uke...happy strummings
 
Congrats and Happy Birthday. What a beautiful looking and sounding uke.
 
:drool: THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR'S UKE..........THOU SHALT NOT COVET THEY NEIGHBOR'S UKE............... :iwant:
 
Beautiful Don!! Because of your uke, I would like to eventually get quilted maple.
 
Beautiful Don!! Because of your uke, I would like to eventually get quilted maple.

You already have two. Stop being so selfish!

:)
 
That's a very unique uke. The choice of wood and design are really beautiful!

And I was just thinking that I had put UAS behind me. Yes, I know there is no cure.
 
Thanks for the well-wishes everyone! It's such a joy to be able to share our love of these great instruments.

Warmest regards to all,
Don
 
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