Ilene's Myrtle and Red Cedar Custom Tenor
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This ukulele has a Red Cedar top. The color of Red Cedar can range from yellow to red to dark brown. I was lucky to be able to source some very light colored cedar from Alaska Specialty Woods to match the beautiful myrtle that Ilene liked. The myrtle(aka California Bay Laurel) back and sides are from Pacific Coast Woods.
Ilene was looking for a warm sound with a lot of resonance. I think this uke fits the bill.
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I love this myrtle back. The pattern is very unusual and very pretty. The center stripe and binding are East Indian rosewood.
The accents are a dark Koa.
The tuners are black planetary tuners from Gotoh.
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The neck is curly maple with a carbon reinforcement rod. I normally use Limba necks with my myrtle bodies, but the curly maple also matches well and gives it a little more pizzazz.
The tap tone of this cedar top was amazing. It gives this ukulele a beautiful tone with a lot of resonance.
To add a little color to the front we went with a mosaic rosette with all natural, but boldly colored woods like purple heart, Padauk(red), canary wood and some other more normally colored tone woods.
The fretboard and bridge are East Indian rosewood. The bridge is from a piece that had a little extra color as well.
The headstock is the same myrtle as the back.
Strings are a Pepe Romero wound low g string with custom high carbon fluorocarbon strings.
Here's Chad giving a sound sample for Ilene's tenor ukulele.
The red cedar top gives this uke a lot of resonance and teams with the myrtle back to create a nice warmth.