Hi all. Super excited about this new uke. Just wanted to give a shout out to Hank Johnson at Kimo Ukulele's (kimoukulele.com). This guy is awesome, super patient, and a master luthier.
This is my first custom uke and wanted a redwood top ukulele. Doing a custom is harder then it looks. Orig wanted curly redwood but Hank said that it has the potential to crack later down the line due to it being more brittle than the straight grain. I didn't want to chance it so I went with some nice straight grain redwood. I spent a lot of time virtually looking at pieces of wood because I wanted a specific look. Hank really helped me out. I ended up with an old-growth salvage redwood top with Indian rosewood back and sides. We decided on having bindings and rosette with curly koa with w/b purfling. Also has ebony, bridge, fretboard, and headstock. It also has a radiused fretboard, sound port, and Mi-Si trio pick-up.
Took about 2 1/2 months but it was worth the wait. This uke is beautiful and plays awesome. The uke is warm but projects super well. Hank uses an X-bracing. Not sure if this is what gives this uke its projection but its loud. I love it.
Hank Johnson is a master artisan and his ukes are superb. Highly recommend this guy if you are looking for a custom uke.
Specs:
Super Tenor 17" scale
TOP: Salvage Old Growth Redwood
Back & Sides: Indian Rosewood
Faceplate: Ebony
Rosette: Curly Koa
Binding: Curly Koa W/B purfling
Fretboard & Bridge: Ebony (Radiused)
Urethane finish on the body
Tuners: Gotoh UK700 15:1 Gold
Neck: Honduran Mahogany neck with carbon fiber reinforcement
Bridge: Ebony
Side Port
Strung w Pepe Romero w/ Smoothwound low g string & Thomastik wound C (CF-27)
Mi-Si Acoustic Trio pick-up
This is my first custom uke and wanted a redwood top ukulele. Doing a custom is harder then it looks. Orig wanted curly redwood but Hank said that it has the potential to crack later down the line due to it being more brittle than the straight grain. I didn't want to chance it so I went with some nice straight grain redwood. I spent a lot of time virtually looking at pieces of wood because I wanted a specific look. Hank really helped me out. I ended up with an old-growth salvage redwood top with Indian rosewood back and sides. We decided on having bindings and rosette with curly koa with w/b purfling. Also has ebony, bridge, fretboard, and headstock. It also has a radiused fretboard, sound port, and Mi-Si trio pick-up.
Took about 2 1/2 months but it was worth the wait. This uke is beautiful and plays awesome. The uke is warm but projects super well. Hank uses an X-bracing. Not sure if this is what gives this uke its projection but its loud. I love it.
Hank Johnson is a master artisan and his ukes are superb. Highly recommend this guy if you are looking for a custom uke.
Specs:
Super Tenor 17" scale
TOP: Salvage Old Growth Redwood
Back & Sides: Indian Rosewood
Faceplate: Ebony
Rosette: Curly Koa
Binding: Curly Koa W/B purfling
Fretboard & Bridge: Ebony (Radiused)
Urethane finish on the body
Tuners: Gotoh UK700 15:1 Gold
Neck: Honduran Mahogany neck with carbon fiber reinforcement
Bridge: Ebony
Side Port
Strung w Pepe Romero w/ Smoothwound low g string & Thomastik wound C (CF-27)
Mi-Si Acoustic Trio pick-up
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