65 year old Spruce and Curly Oregon Myrtle Tenor
For Sale at Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach, CA
Sold
Click on pictures to enlarge.
This is ukulele #50 so I blinged it up little bit. It has a Sitka spruce top and curly Oregon Myrtle back and sides. This set of spruce was rescued from the Gibson Guitar factory 65 years ago because one corner was damaged and could no longer be used for a guitar top. It had been through the hands of a couple luthiers before it was gifted to me. Why the other luthiers didn't use it, I can't say. The reason it sat in my closet for 4 years is because there was enough material for two tops, but the spacing and cutting was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle and it was easier just to use ukulele sized sets. I'm glad I rediscover it, because the sound is fantastic!
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I love the curl and color of this myrtle. There is actually almost a velvety sheen to this piece. Thanks to Vince at Pacific Coast Woods for providing this lovely set.
The accents are Amboyna burl.
The neck is White Limba (aka Korina). White Limba has a similar density to mahogany but is a better color match with the myrtle and I think has better tonal qualities than mahogany.
It is almost impossible to tell, but the rosette is a mosaic of East Indian rosewood with a thin black border separating the pieces with blue Paua abalone inlaid in the middle.
The purfling is also blue Paua abalone. The binding, fretboard and bridge are all Indian rosewood.
I am very glad I rediscovered this top in my wood stack. It finished quite nicely and has the sound of an already broken in spruce top.
The headstock is from the same wood as the back and sides. The tuners are black Gotoh interplanetary tuners with a 4:1 ratio.
Neck width at the nut is the standard 1-3/8".
The strings are equivalent to UkeLogic strings with a low squeak wound low G and high carbon fluorocarbon C, E and A strings.
I really like the way this ukulele turned out both visually and tonally. I hope you do too.
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You can find this ukulele for sale at Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach, Ca. Give them a call or stop by for details.
This is a sound sample of a similar spruce and myrtle PCH tenor to give an idea of how spruce and myrtle sound together. It is not the ukulele on this page.
The sample was recorded on a cell phone with no amplification or editing.
The musician is Chad, the store manager at Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach, CA, one of the largest ukulele stores in the state. As you can tell, he is quite a ukulele player.
