Moore Bettah Ukuleles
Well-known member
Would you happen to recall if they were they just back and sides or did it include the soundboard?
Tops, backs and sides. Do a Google search for Jeffery, he's quite well known.
Would you happen to recall if they were they just back and sides or did it include the soundboard?
Jeffery Yong, the guitar builder has used monkeypod with with very good success. I saw some sets being offered by StewMac lately so it must be gaining in popularity.
Would you happen to recall if they were they just back and sides or did it include the soundboard?
I'm very fond of Montery Cypress for top wood. A common, I believe native tree that grows along the US mainland west coast. Wonderful clear tone every bit as good as the best spruces. Golden in color with rich brown streaks. For some reason they plant it around older graveyards.
For those who are studying the wood.
1. Make a list of all the wood discussed in this thread.
2. Find the biological name of the plant and where it grows and what its flowers, fruits and seeds look like.
2. Look up the mechanical properties of each wood and make a table for comparison.
3. Look for the trends.
Note: The mechanical properties are usually shown with some wierd looking units. First make sure all the numbers have the same units, then forget about the units and study what each mechanical property is about. The numbers will help you group woods with similar mechanical properties, you don't need to get confused by the weird units if you make sure you are using the same units. If you make the list on a spreadsheet, you can do sorts to group the wood.
2nd Note. The temptation is to post your entire spreadsheet, please don't. Let everyone have some learning, maybe post it in late May 2019 if you really feel a need. If you find some interesting things to discuss, just discuss the interesting things.
It will involve a former US President signing the label , but that's all i'll say for now until it's all official.
I just use curly birch for bindings. I like its texture very much. It is hard and beautiful wood, but little tricky to handle. I wouldn't use it for sides or back, becouse it is too unstable for that and probably crack.View attachment 117163
I hope you don't mind me chiming in. I've never built an ukulele, I'd wind up with a lot of toothpicks and shavings if I tried. Might even sustain a visit to the ER, power tools and I aren't good friends. I almost lost a finger with a dumb chainsaw once!
But...I think cocobolo wood is still "Not mainstream" in luthiery.
It's hard as a rock, smells pretty, and the dust will make you sick. I think it makes some of the loveliest sounding/looking ukes in the world.
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That’d be masurbjörk in Swedish. I have one still growing in my aunt’s garden. She wants it cut down but I wait for it to get bigger.I just use curly birch for bindings. ...
Monkeypod (aka. raintree, 'ohai, trembesi) has been used for a long time for making ukes, for both tops and bodies. Several big manufacturers have offered monkeypod lines; I have a monkeypod Lanikai, for example. At trade shows, KoAloha has demoed the new KoAlanas (have they appeared on the market yet?), made of trembesi.
Monkeypod (aka. raintree, 'ohai, trembesi) ...
I don’t mean to nitpick, but I’m fairly certain the ‘ohia lehua is an endemic flowering Hawaiian tree (unlike monkeypod, which was introduced more recently)
That’d be masurbjörk in Swedish. I have one still growing in my aunt’s garden. She wants it cut down but I wait for it to get bigger.
I don’t mean to nitpick, but I’m fairly certain the ‘ohia lehua is an endemic flowering Hawaiian tree (unlike monkeypod, which was introduced more recently) that provides ample nectar for insects and birds like the i’iwi. Also a pioneer plant, helping to establish the forests in the hard volcanic soil.
In recent years, the trees have been dying off from a fungus (I think?), and so active logging has stopped. I know the heartwood held significance in Hawaiian culture, being used for ceremonial weapons and tools. And if I’m not mistaken, Kanile‘a did a limited series of ukes made from Hawaiian woods, using ‘ohia as decoration.
Me? I would love a uke made entirely from it! But I’m also in the mead/honey wine business, so the honey from the trees is what really first inspired this love and appreciation.
... as for mead I have a few pounds of papaya and kiawe honey waiting to be turned into mead
Lychee honey? No leads, lychee fruit? We have a 40year old dwarf lychee tree.If you have any leads on lychee honey, let me know. The kiawe is always a favorite of mine, too. Dave Sigman (who I mentioned earlier) has built with it as a fretboard material, so it should work for you, too.
Also, lychee and longan woods look pretty neat.
I just use curly birch for bindings. I like its texture very much. It is hard and beautiful wood, but little tricky to handle. I wouldn't use it for sides or back, becouse it is too unstable for that and probably crack.View attachment 117163
And you're right not to nitpick. 'ōhai is the Hawaiian word for raintree/monkeypod (Samanea saman). 'ōhi'a lehua is a different tree (Metrosideros polymorpha), though I don't doubt that what you say about it is true.