Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

If you admire work by Bob Benedetto as I do, this one was inspired by an arch top he build several years ago.

I fell in love with it and as I grew up on the west coast of Canada, Toredo worms (actually a mollusc) are so common as to be like fleas on a dog. Any and all wood that stays in the ocean for more than a month will be infested with them. Almost every piece of drift wood on the beach will look like Swiss Cheese.

So, with some Maple that I brought back from a trip to my home town last year, and some Sitka that Alaska Specialty Woods supplied, I built this one as a pure whimsy. Working out bracing and picking the appropriate book match was a bit of a challenge. As well I tried my hand at some Art Deco inspired inlay and a sound port that was a bit more than just a hole cut in the upper bout. I was hoping that it sounded like a uke, but to be honest this was really uncharted waters.

To my great delight it sounds fantastic, and only been strung up for 6 hours.

Jeez those critters must be huge in your 'neck o the seas' Allen. It just looks insane n the inlay on the back well i don't reckon it gets any better.

Steve

Must of felt weird cutting holes in the soundboard. Love seeing people think outside of the ordinary. I'm going to have to get the dictionary to find more words for Awesome. Great job.
Ross

Just when I think you've got it sussed you raise the bar yet again and pull this little beauty out of your hat! Loving your curly Maple builds Allen and this one just takes it to the next level. Can't single out any one feature for mention....they're all exceptional, but I do love the headstock binding treatment, you highlighted the joints instead of trying to hide them

Looks fantastic. Even if it sounded like crap it would still sell simply because it's beautiful. Any chance of a sound clip?
Miguel

soulman wrote:Must of felt weird cutting holes in the soundboard. Love seeing people think outside of the ordinary. I'm going to have to get the dictionary to find more words for Awesome. Great job.
Ross

I didn't cut those holes Ross. They are caused by the Toredo's. Think of them like a bloody big borer.

Back when I was in High School, I worked afternoons, graveyards and weekends at the local pulp and paper mill. Any wood that came through the sawmill that was infested with Toredo's because the log booms had been in the ocean too long would be slabbed, slashed and sent off to make paper. Many a time that the wood was so infested with them, that there was more worm than wood. Looked like a cellulose sponge.

Well Allen, I really feel somewhat jealous because...

Allen wrote: [...] Toredo worms (actually a mollusc) are so common as to be like fleas on a dog. Any and all wood that stays in the ocean for more than a month will be infested with them. Almost every piece of drift wood on the beach will look like Swiss Cheese. [...]

... as you may not know it is a well guarded secret that Swiss cheese actually gets sent out to the Canadian coast before getting sold as "Emmenthaler" (not Gruyère as some incorrectly call Swiss cheese with holes).

However...
Congrats, this uke really looks spectacular!

Very, very nice (and different) Alan.
Love the back inlay and it appears a lot of hours put into the sound port. How was it made???
It would be nice to sell it for half of what Benadetto sold his arch top for. If my memory serves me right around $30000.
Cheers Maurice

Thanks everyone.

The sound port has a cross lamination of spruce on the inside. About 1mm thick. It formed to the shape very easily as it bent across the grain without hardly anything more than the heat from the HHG. Clamped in place overnight.

The outside is made up from 2 pieces of ebony 1mm thick that I formed on the hot pipe. Glued them as a lamination to the area I was going to add it to. HHG between them and some sticky tape on the inside next to the body so it didn't accidentally get glued to the side before I was ready. The glued piece held the shape perfectly after an over night dry.

Then I shaped the outside. Making sure that I had the bevel just right as I knew it would be next to impossible to change anything next to that maple once attached. Finally glued in place with more HHG. Then cut out the centre with dremel and spiral bit. Final shaping with files and sanding stick.

I filled end grain and any voids on the end grain of the hole with CA. Sanded back a few times to give a seamless finish. Then nothing fancier than a permanent marker to color the maple and spruce backer the same black as the ebony to give a unified look.

Inspirational!

Hory Toredo!!