The customer who ordered this banjo uke asked for some straight grain wood for the neck that didn't have any curl or stripes. It turns out that the best candidate for the job was from a small stash of walnut pulled out of my Grandfather's barn in Carroll County, IL. It was milled from a walnut tree that came down in the yard. The pistachio is from California Orchards. The longer tenor scale, a goat skin head and the darker sound of the walnut make for a vibrant sound that feels mellow and punchy at the same town. It's difficult to explain how a natural skin head sounds different than the synthetic head because it can be pretty subtle. But this one sounds more "organic" to me, which I admit makes no sense. Anyway, it's a good one.