"Tiger Shark" Oregon Myrtle Tenor
On Sale now at Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach, CA
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Click on pictures to enlarge.
Sometimes the names I give my ukes are a little obscure. This is one of those. I'm calling it "Tiger Shark" because the faint vertical stripes on the sides remind me of the stripes on an adult tiger shark. Did I mention I used to be a biology teacher?
Like most of my myrtle, this set comes from Vince at Pacific Coast Woods.
The color on this wood changes depending on what type of light is shining on it and how the camera reacts to that light. I tried not to "photoshop" the pictures too much, so that's why the colors will look different depending on the picture.
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In general it gives you the impression that the wood might have come from an old barn.
The accents are from the dark koa boards I like to use with my myrtle instruments. Thanks to Hank Johnson (Kimo Ukuleles) I have quite bit, but I will be sad when its gone.
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The neck is White Limba (aka - Korean) with a carbon reinforcement rod. Limba has a density very similar to mahogany, but the colors match better for myrtle and mango ukes in my opinion.
This picture shows the faint curl in the wood.
The top is really pretty and has a wonderful warmth to its tone. The rosette is a mosaic of different scraps of koa. It may be my favorite so far. The binding is East Indian rosewood. I really like the purplish color of this rosewood with the tone of most of the myrtle I get in.
The headstock is the same curly myrtle as the top.
The tuners are black Gotoh Interplanetary tuners.
Strings are a Pepe Romero wound low g string with custom high carbon fluorocarbon strings.
It is no secret that Myrtle is my favorite tone wood. It works relatively easily (and has a spicy smell), it comes in a huge variety of colors, patterns and curls, but most importantly it sounds great.
Out of the nearly 40 ukuleles I have produced, 3 of my top 5 favorites are Myrtle tenors.