A lattice top tenor ukulele

I have half a dozen new custom instruments just oh so close. During the last few months I've been building four tenors, a soprano and a classical guitar and they are all just about ready. I'll be publishing photos here when each is ready to ship, one at a time. One of the downsides to building 6 of anything that requires a lot of attention and work is that its a long wait to experience the reward of seeing and playing the finished instruments. In the future, i'll probably go back to building them one or two at a time.

Here are photos of the first model A3-L 14 fret long scale lattice top tenor. It features select curly koa back and sides, an Adirondack spruce top, a figured Spanish cedar neck, curly koa bindings, side and top purfling, a decorative wood banding style rosette, an ebony fingerboard, ebony pin bridge, ebony faceplate and a bone nut and saddle. It is finished in gloss lacquer, fitted with Gotoh UK700 gold openback geared tuners and strung with Worth fluorocarbon strings. It has an articulate, detailed and resonant voice with excellent clarity and sustain. You can read about the construction of the lattice braced soundboard in recent journal entries here and here.


We're been having an unusually perfect spring this year. That is a pleasant change, as normally the central Texas spring lasts about 3 days and quickly flees in the face of an overly long and torrid summer. This year we had a month of spring. Frequent rain and pleasant temperatures brought an end to the multi-year drought we've been experiencing. The plants love it. I've found it a serendipitous time to build.


Stay tuned for photos of more sweet custom instruments appearing here over the next couple of weeks.