News


	THE LARGEST AND THE SMALLEST

At the very end of 2012 I finished these two, a piccolo orderd by a friend, and a baritone, which went to an order placed at Guitar Gallery in Fitzroy, Victoria.

These are the smallest and the largets ukuleles in my range.


		This brightened up my day........

	Loudon Wainwright was interviewed in the esteemed Fretboard Journal #27 recently and said this about ukuleles.....”I love the ukulele, I have a couple of them: an old Stetson - thought they made hats! - and a couple of years ago I was in Perth, Australia doing a folk festival and I bought one from a luthier named Scott Wise. That’s a great instrument” It was actually at Port Fairy Folk Festival in Victoria, but I won’t knock back praise from this man. He always bares his soul in his songs. Like this :-

“......a ukulele’s like a little baby

You cradle it in your arms and you sing

A lullaby or ditty

When you’re feeling shitty

It will cheer you up

It’s just the thing.......”


		SUPREMO SOPRANO

	It is no secret that I love the original first-generation Madeiran-Hawaiian ukuleles which became known as sopranos. To evoke the finer examples of those ukuleles I have designed the “Soprano Supremo”, featuring very rare and special wood I save for these models, with a 19th century European-style figure eight headstock and ebony fingerboard all rope bound, inlaid with a mother of pearl logo and palm tree motif. The Supremo has my arched back construction and “Peghed” planetary tuners.


	Solo Tenor’s new look....


	This is a Solo Tenor just completed. The harder blackwood I use for this model improves sustain and higher frequencies. I have developed a new edge purfling to match the soundhole rosette for the Solo Tenor. You can see the detail in the picture on the right.


		3 TENORS

	The first two are tenor ukuleles finished recently - the 12 fret tenor on the left has very nice figured blackwood, peghed tuners and a palm tree inlay. next to it is a view of the back. The Solo tenor on the right also has the palm tree inlay.

This is a new tenor made by special request in curly Satin Box. Only one in a hundred trees of this rare species has this figured grain. The binding is curly blackwood and even the ebony of the headstock and fingerboard is highly figured. The sound is clear and intense, not quite as warm as my normal blackwood bodies. It is reminiscent of Flamenco guitar sounds. You can read more about it on my options and design pages.


	ALBANY UKULELE RETEAT

Early last year I attended a ukulele retreat in Albany Western Australia coodinated by Kim Lofts and presented by Kimo Hussey. Sam Lemann and myself also contributed. It was a wonderful event with great music, a morning yoga class, swimming and other fun at Camp Quaranup, Albany’s old quarantine station. My maternal grandfather, AP McCormick was responsible for building some of it.

As well as classes, participants were treated to fine performances by Kimo and Sam. Sam is without doubt one of the world’s great accompanists. You can read what Kimo said on the reviews page. He now has one of my baritones.


	JARRAH RETURNS!

At last, some pictures of a new concert ukulele. Every year I make a guitar of mainly Western Australian/ Australian tonewoods for Fairbridge Festival for their raffle. This is their 20th year and as well as a Jarrah/Bunya guitar I have made a Jarrah concert ukulele, the first one in Jarrah for many years. It is a beautiful looking hardwood, Eucalyptus marginata, but like many eucalypts it never quite gives up on being a tree and is prone to cracking with age and humidity changes. The wood has been made thin and responsive. It has been sealed inside with seedlac and outside with pure epoxy under a very light lacquer coat, all to prevent it cracking. It sounds warm and full. The fingerboard is Wandoo (eucalyptus wandoo), a superb wood for fingerboards. See more about it on the options and design pages.