The dread is looking great Bruce. I am sure Mike will enjoy it. Nice fella by the way, I enjoyed meeting him.

One of my favorite and most satisfying moments is when I close a box and take it off the dish. Here are two sequences of that, one when I reveal the back and then trim it to shape, and the second when I set it on my bench for the first time and then remove it from the dish.

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/closed1.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/closed2.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/closed3.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/closed4.jpg

I'd say lots of nice things about Mike but I don't want to make him squirm, and since he is humble in ways I may not be, he probably would too. I do know he is following this thread. He is highly thought of by people I know in these part, including myself.

But this post is about the Ukulele. I glued the fingerboard on this morning and shaped the neck this afternoon after I got back from rehearsing with my band, BLT. We have out first gig of the season this Saturday at Le Chalet Basque in San Rafael, 6 to 8. T can't make it so we'll be a guitar double bass duo. These pics are still at a rough stage, so no premature judgement please.

Koal is slowly becoming more trustworthy as a ShopDog.
http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/TreeUke/shopdog1.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/TreeUke/120top.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/TreeUke/120back.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/TreeUke/120volute.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/TreeUke/120volute2.jpg

Very cool little Uke! Be careful, he might want to play fetch!

I like to think he's looking at me rather than the Uke . . . yesterday he got out the door with my Opti-Vision headpiece w/o me noticing, and today I ordered a new one. Had the last one for over 25 years.

The Dread is going to have flamed maple binding in place of the usual ivoroid. I put in the graft before lunch and leveled when I returned:

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/graft2.jpg

Hard to see the flame in the previous pic though it will be easy enough under finish, so here's a lousy photo that shows the flame a bit better:
http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/graft3.jpg

And what it might have looked like in Ivoroid and EIR:
http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/graft1.jpg

I suppose this is technically an HD:

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/HD.jpg

Though somewhat redundant, here are some shots of the now fully bound HD, currently sanded 100 grit:

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/bound1.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/bound2.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/bound3.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/graft4.jpg

Man, that is beautiful--great stuff, Bruce!

Here are some fingerboard and headplate pics:

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/HeadPlate1.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/CF.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/fingerboard1.jpg

The necked is now trimmed to it's precise overall dimensions and the guide line system I have developed is in place:

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/lines1.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/lines2.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/lines3.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/lines4.jpg

Here is the neck brought to six facets and ready to be shaped. Subtle manipulation of these facets are how I control symmetry and profile.

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/Wilhoyte/roughneck.jpg

Very nice Bruce. I am fond of that headstock/ neck treatment and the rosewood with curly maple accessories is classic looking. Looking forward to seeing that under finish. Also the rosewood headstock overlay with the ebony fingerboard is the way it ought to be done. It looks like a serious music making instrument.

Beautiful appointments and execution, is this a "wide" neck? and does that influence your carbon fiber neck reinforcement? Size placement etc?

I also applaud the carbon fiber reinforcement with no adjustable truss rod. I'm wondering what your adjustable trussrod philosophy is. Do you ever use them? Do you prefer not to use them or was this particular guitar design suggested by a customer?

John, I believe this may be a customer request. I own three of Bruce's guitars. All have single action truss rods. It is still early out West, I expect Bruce will explain in depth...:)