Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Another tenor I built on a whim to sharpen my skills and do work that really inspires me.

This is the first time using Lutz, and was really surprised at how stiff this timber is. I was expecting more along the lines of Engelmann, but I would say much closer to really high grade Adirondack.

The inlay is Faux Ivory that is shaded with the scrimshaw technique of touching a very sharp scribe or needle thousands of times and then ink or paint is rubbed into the indentations. Yes, you need very good magnification and lots of light......and patience.

Gotoh UPT machine heads and strung with a custom set of Thomastik Infeld and Saverez strings.

WOW Allen that is one nice looking instrument. Can we have a sound sample when able. Cheers

Sound sample of this uke.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/35458478 ... lor=fff8c6

Lutz like every wood needs to be judged on its own merits. In a recent trip to USA, I purchased heaps of American spruces, I found all varieties can vary, some match European spruce, others are harder or heavier, others lighter and weaker, or sometimes lighter and stiffer!!. At the end of the day, it is SPRUCE, the amount of differention in euro spruce matches that in North American spruce. Don't judge the wood on where it came from, judge it on its on terms, each cut. , a lot of US spruce is better than euro spruce. A handful of my best spruces I am saving for special builds are engelmann and sitka.

PS, awesome uke build. I want my building to one day match yours in art form.

That's lovely Allen, a beautiful piece of work. Sounds great too.

As if your ukes were not amazing enough already, now, with pointillism!! These latest ones seem to me to be as much about art as about instrument. You could be described equally well either as a luthier that builds artistic instruments or an artist that makes playable artworks.

Must be a cool feeling to look at that and then think about how you are going to make the next one better...then go and do it.

Much respect.

Amazing as always!

Nice work Allen..as always. Where did you source the Lutz? It's got to be one of my favourite top woods.

It might have been some you offered up Martin, or some that Liam was getting rid of. Been on my shelves for years so don't recall.

wow - amazing inlay work!!