This ukulele was inspired by a vintage 1920s Royal Hawaiian soprano that I had on loan. As on the original the neck and body are joined together as the instrument is being built, with the body sides slotted into the heel of the neck and the back fitted last, covering the heel joint. The more usual production method and the way I normally make ukuleles is to make a separate neck and body and then join them together. I have also used solid linings instead of kerfed linings. Matching single pieces of Koa are used for the front and back of the ukulele body for a more traditional look.
I have made some, dare I say, “improvements” on the original to make to the intonation and playability better. The single piece bridge/saddle is lower in height to achieve a more playable action. Also by moving the bridge farther back from the sound hole I was able to improve the intonation.
I usually spray finish my ukes but in this case I went for a more traditional hand rubbed finish to compliment the overall vintage look and feel of the uke.
The rope details around the body, sound hole ring and head plate are handmade by myself. You can see how I made the rope binding by visiting my Facebook page.
Body: Koa with Cherry, Maple and Walnut rope binding and sound hole rings.
Bridge: Koa. Overall string spacing 43mm.
Neck: American Cherry, with Koa peg head facing with rope inlay.
Fretboard & Nut: Ebony. Nut Width is 37mm with an overall string spacing of 30mm
Tuners: Peghed 4:1 ratio.
Strings: Worth Brown.
Finish: Tru-Oil.
Serial Number: 0214
SOLD:
