Two baritones for a guy who can’t live with less: James Hill, who makes a whole lotta music on bari. You might not recognize it just by listening, however, because he uses two distinctive and very different re-entrant tunings, neither of which is standard linear baritone (DGBE from low to high). Changing a single instrument…
I built River for James Hill, to whom I’m forever grateful for insight and encouragement stretching back to my 1st ukulele build. In a near mythic alignment, the delivery took place alongside the Salmon River, where he, Anne, and Alder were staying before Melany Berry’s wonderful Tunes in the Dunes festival in 2017. When I…
I met Gerald Ross at the Port Townsend Ukulele Festival many years ago and immediately fell in love with his super-tasty arrangements…and sometimes groan-worthy jokes between songs:-). The Lyric Tenor design—which puts the bridge in a particularly sweet sounding location while maintaining 14 frets to the body—combines with a potent-yet-warm sinker redwood top and rosewoody…
Built for the wonderful artist Arden Fujiwara, Mirai is so distinctive that I still pinch myself each time I see her again, and delight in hearing Arden once more in person. Curlicious koa with evocative smoky streaks from his native Hawaii, master grade Swiss bearclaw spruce…and that sensuous Port Orford cedar slothead with Robson tuners–bear…
Designed and built for the great Kimo Hussey, there are vivid memories here. The original GT I built for him was destroyed in an accident. Later—the night before a concert—I asked Kimo if I could modify the bridge on Katniss slightly, and in his beautiful trusting way he gave the go ahead. As he and…
After working on GTs (Grand Tenor) for months, these pieces of Macassar ebony seemed so small that I couldn’t help thinking of this uke as “Little Mac”. Quite a bit of chocolate in the sound–yum. I have been ever so carefully parceling out this bright Macassar ebony since 1993, when a found a single gorgeous…
Model: Tenor Top: Swiss bearclaw spruce Back and Sides: African blackwood Binding: African blackwood Rosette: African blackwood multi-piece Neck: Port Orford cedar Tuning machines: Gotoh UPTL Fretboard: Gabon ebony, flat, side dots Bridge: Madagascar rosewood, bone saddle Finish: Varnish The story about orculeles.
Oregon myrtle—also known as California bay laurel, its fragrant foliage perfuming trails in Yosemite National Park where I work seasonally (and dream perennially)—grows to instrument-making perfection here in Oregon. It is not very well known (more for me…bwahahaha!), but is simply outstanding for ukulele. It is especially deluxe with Swiss or Engelmann spruce, and for…
Luna’s name comes from Luna Lovegood, the quirky future magizoologist in the Harry Potter stories. While there are no inlays of butterbeer caps, I did tuck in very subtle quirks along the way, and the musical magic of this Richard Parker myrtle and Swiss moonspruce is strong! Model: Standard Tenor Top: Swiss bearclaw spruce (moon…
Pat Megowan Stringed Instruments 