Arch top Ukulele

               This is the top set I received for carving the top plate. It will be Engelmann Spruce.

The back and sides of curly maple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            

                        I've wetted the surface here so that the curl shows up better in the photo.

                                  The side rib assembly with kerfed linings attached.

                                                         The carved Engelmann spruce top.


                                                             The carved back.

                                           The top has been attached to the side assembly.

                The bound body. I used rosewood bindings with side purflings of maple and rosewood.

                                                                        Another view.

The fretted fingerboard and neck. I redesigned the peghead shape from the original design to make it look more like a miniature arch top guitar. 

                                               After staining, finishing and buffing.

                                            I have installed the tuners at this point.

Another view of the back.

 The finished Uke. The tailpiece is modified from a guitar tailpiece and I added an ebony tie block.

A closer view of the top. The finger rest (pickguard) is made from solid ebony and I used a mandolin support bracket.

                                     Back view. Stained curly maple with a gloss finish.

The bindings and trim are rosewood.

New Festival Guitar Model/work in progress

 This is a new model I decided to add recently, a cross I guess between my Fingerstyle model and my OM. This one has the added bevelled arm rest and abalone sound board purfling.

 The back and sides are Zapatero, a wood from Panama that has been submerged since the flooding of the canal about 100 years ago. It's denser than mahogany and a little more porous, it reminds me a lot of Machiche which is a wood I've used in the past. This is my first time using Zapatero but I expect it to have a nice bright tone similar to Indian Rosewood.

 I built this one with a wedge shaped body with about a 1 inch taper from the bass side of the lower bout to the treble side.

 A side view of the arm rest. I haven't combined the arm rest with the wedge shape body until now. It should be a very comfortable guitar to play.

I'm looking forward to getting this one finished and trying it out. Still have the neck to do and I'm thinking of adding a sound port to this one as well.

 This is just after coming out of the spray room. Still have levelling and buffing to do when I have time.

 

I temporarily attached the neck to get a better idea of the final look. The bridge will get glued after the finish has been buffed out.

I'm gluing the fretboard extension to the guitar body in this picture.

Current Inventory

Current inventory and pricing.

Festival Elite. Lutz/figured Walnut. $2300 plus taxes.

Fingerstyle guitar with cutaway. Narra/Engelmann Spruce  - $1600. plus taxes *

OM - Sapele Mahogany/Engelmann Spruce - $1500 plus taxes*

12 fret Dreadnought - Walnut/Sitka Spruce - $1800 plus taxes

8-string Tenor - Curly Maple/ Sitka - $1700 plus taxes*

Jumbo - Curly Maple/Sitka - $1900 plus hst*

*Prices don't include a case although cases are available for some models or ordered for those that don't.

Custom orders are always welcome. Check the web site for pricing.

Slope-shouldered Dreadnought with Sunburst

This is a guitar that I finished about four years ago with a set of orphan Brazilian mahogany sides from a stash from about 10 years ago. The back was purchased from a supplier in Ontario and the top was the last from a split billet of Sitka spruce from BC. I took it to a show shortly after finishing it where it was involved in an accident with another guitar. It sat for three years before I had time to refinish it. The neck is mahogany with an ebony fingerboard. It has some of my shop-made herringbone around the edge of the top.

Asking price is $1800 plus provincial taxes.

Fingerstyle Guitar With Bevelled Arm Rest

This is a guitar I started working on a couple years back and only recently finished, partly due to spending recent months focusing on my custom orders. It was built using a set of curly Black Walnut back and sides from a supplier in Quebec and an Engelmann Spruce top from the west coast. The bevelled arm rest is rosewood, fingerboard and bridge are Ebony. It has a rosette slightly different from my usual in that the background wood is Bocote where I typically use Cocobolo. The Engelmann with the walnut back and sides gives it a nice warm tone which I really like particularly for fingerstyle guitar.

Current asking price is $1935 Can. plus provincial taxes.