[Ukulele_Eddie]

As diligent as ever, Ben has been busy on the Arum.

Sides laminated. As described by Ben:

Laminated sides are an integral part of the Arum’s construction. Primarily, they provide strength and structure, together with a carbon fiber strut, to the upper treble bout, where the soundport has removed a big chunk of the strength. But they also make the sides exceptionally strong, and flat across their width, and they hold the shape of the sides with no spring-back at all- yet another internal stress that I have removed from the guitar. They won’t crack, and they won’t warp. In this case, I have made the inner two veneers from rift sawn. Honduran mahogany. You can look right into this guitar, so the cosmetics of the interior are very important and since all the linings and back braces are also mahogany, it looks really nice as well.

Vacuum bag forming the sides over a solid Baltic birch form.

Gluing the mahogany braces to the back in the go-deck bar.

Face-plate selected (#2). We went with #2 b/c it was the best color match and also had the sapwood.