"Black Bear" Malaysian Blackwood and Bear Claw Spruce Tenor
Currently for Sale at Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach, CA
Click on pictures to enlarge.
I am calling this tenor ukulele "Black Bear" because it is made from Malaysian Blackwood (which is actually an ebony) and Bearclaw Sitka spruce. The bearclaw markings on the spruce (which are difficult to photograph) are a genetic trait and not the result of damage to the wood.
Even though the wood for the back and sides is called blackwood, it is often brown with streaks of gold. Since our black bears on the West Coast are colors other than black, I thought the name was apropos.
The combination of the hard/dense back and the spruce top give this ukulele wonderful projection and very nice articulation.
The fingerboard and bridge for this uke are Macassar ebony, which a black and brown striped ebony.
The binding is a golden koa.
The rosette is a mosaic of Malaysian blackwood. This may be my favorite rosettes so far.
Strings are Pepe Romero Low G with custom fluorocarbon for the C, E, and A strings.
The back and sides sides are a nice set of Malaysian blackwood from Elite Tonewoods. As you can see, this "blackwood" is very rarely black.
The neck is Honduran mahogany reinforced with a carbon rod.
The tuners are black Gotoh planetary tuners.
The headstock is the same as the back and sides with a crushed mother of pearl logo
(note: I normally don't cut the strings to length until the uke is ready to leave my shop.)
The accent woods are amboyna burl. this was a nice match for the koa binding and the gold streaks in the blackwood.
