Carolina
This primavera and Engelmann spruce tenor might be the favorite ukulele that I've made. That's always the goal, to make the next one better than the last one. Doesn't work that way every time but I think it has this time. I've made two other primavera ukuleles with wood from this board but they were concert size. This tenor has more depth and sustain. It's a clean powerful sound much like my Park's Curly Maple tenor. I'll send Carolina to the Ukesite in Hawaii and you can hear for yourself. I just took Carolina for a test spin with my friend Pete and there was nothing I didn't like about her.
The neck is Alaskan yellow cedar which I often use because of it's great strength to weight ratio. The profile is thin and fast with a wide Malaysian blackwood (ebony) fingerboard. Great for larger hands, the unbleached bone nut is 1 9/16 inches. String spacing G to A at the unbleached bone saddle is 1 9/16 inches. It sits in a Malaysian blackwood bridge. Binding is also Malaysian blackwood with black and birch purfling.
The aluminum position markers meander down the fingerboard face with smaller markers on the side for quick reference. The head plate is Malaysian blackwood and primavera. The back plate is primavera.
Tuners are Gotoh UPTL with large ebony buttons. The ratio is 4:1. The top thin film finish is polyurethane with a clear pick guard. Carolina comes with a protective wooden case. Available at The Ukulele Site. $4200 Out of Stock
The Engelmann spruce I used is stiff yet light. That's a very responsive combination. There's a shimmer to the high notes that lingers. The PHD strings with a wound Oasis low G certainly help. The string to string consistency of tone and volume is something I haven't experienced to such a degree with other string sets. They aren't harsh like some fluorocarbon strings but still have as much power.
This primavera is also visually unique for the species. Unlike most primavera there's a wider range of colors and a landscape-like figure to go along with the striking intermittent curls. Reminds me of fire. I use a penetrating oil finish that has enough depth to show off the primavera beauty without being garish. It's also an excellent tonewood with a wide range of support for the spruce top.
I decided to make a radial rosette of different woods that would compliment the primavera and the overall design. So there's ebony, Gonçalo Alves, cherry, birch, walnut and maple. I like the rosette to look good up close and from a few feet away.
