Custom Vintage Solid Koa Uke

[1geo]

I pretty heavy into ukuleles, I play buy and sell ukes and guitars. I recently ran across a vintage custom solid koa uke that I am not interested in selling I just want to share the story and pictures with you. When I first saw this ukulele it was like looking into a hologram; as you rotated the body different wood fibers would pickup and reflect the light. It was as if the wood were on fire. The ukulele was very poorly built; in fact, it was not playable. The neck was twice as thick as it should be, the body had no internal structure to it, the sound box was dead. so I bought it.

The first thing I did was steam the neck off. I’m 74 and have many years of experience in wood working. I have a friend of the same age who owns Arrow Head Music, in Safety Harbor, FL, and is a luthier of considerable reputation. He builds the finest ukuleles, mandolins and acoustical guitars this side of Hawaii and in the past worked for Gibson acoustic shop as a luthier. I took the body of the uke to my friend, Charlie Jarousek. After I separated the neck from the body I reworked the neck to match the specifications of my Ko’olau model 100 Tenor Ukulele. When I was finished I delivered it to Charlie who had taken the body and gutted it. He literally rebuilt the internal structure of the ukulele using only the original outer wood of curly koa. He then put it all back together including the neck meeting the objective of creating a high end instrument but retaining the original vintage materials.

All of a sudden the sound box came alive. The sound box was a good 20 percent larger than the Ko'olau and KoAloha Tenors I own. The sound is deep and mellow; its spectacular. The photos show the end product. The reflections in the wood and constant changing to the light is mesmerizing. It is truly a magnificent instrument.