"Wickered" Oregon Myrtle Tenor
On Sale now at Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach, CA
Click on pictures to enlarge.
This set of myrtle has a very unusual curl for myrtle. The curl is very thin and horizontal (some people would call this Master Grade). Combined with the fine vertical grain, it almost makes this look like it is wicker. Since the new "Wicked" movie is coming out shorting, I thought I would do a little play on words and call this uke "Wickered". Not only is the pattern very pretty, the sound is wonderful as well.
The side sound port provides a little more feedback for the player.
Like most of my myrtle, this set comes from Vince at Pacific Coast Woods.
You can really see the curl of the wood and the vertical grain in the back.
The center strip and the binding are East Indian rosewood.
The accents are Red Mallee burl, which is a type of eucalyptus.​
The neck is White Limba (aka - Korina) with a carbon reinforcement rod. Limba has a density very similar to mahogany, but the colors match better for myrtle and mango ukes in my opinion.
The top is really pretty and has a wonderful warmth to its tone. The rosette is a mosaic of different scraps of rosewood. I am really starting to like the look of the mosaic rosettes. They also don't waste as much wood as the solid rosettes.
The binding, fretboard and bridge are also East Indian rosewood. I really like the purplish color of this rosewood with the tone of most of the myrtle I get in.
The headstock is the same curly myrtle as the top.
The tuners are gold Gotoh Interplanetary tuners.
Strings are a Pepe Romero wound low g string with custom high carbon fluorocarbon strings.
I was very close to keeping this ukulele for myself. The curl and color of the wood give it a very nice look. I addition the sound is warm and still projects very well.
Someone will be very lucky to own this one.