This one is for a long time customer who has some recent physical challenges. The first is an issue with her eyesight which has made it impossible to see the side fret markers on her instruments unless they are white on black. Also, problems with her left hand means that she needs a thinner neck than I normally do as well as a flat instead of a radiused fretboard. Instead of altering her existing instruments we decided to build a new one that would address both issues. The first thing that will stand out to you is my choice of ebony for the fretboard, a wood I don’t normally use, but will allow her to see the fret markers. Since I don’t keep any on hand and didn’t want to support ebony harvesting by buying new ebony, I called my friend Ben Bonham who kept a box of ebony scraps from when we worked for Mya-Moe and grabbed what I need. From a design perspective, I knew that if I used ebony for the fretboard, I would need to use it all around, so it is on the headplate, bridge and binding as well. The top is one piece port Orford cedar from the Oregon coast and the pistachio is from California orchards thanks to to woodfromthewest.com. I hope this uke meets her needs, it was a nice challenge!

“It’s even more beautiful than your excellent photos! And the neck is a dream, I can play closed chords all the way up. I can see both the dots and the strings perfectly and I could not be happier. Thanks so much for all your efforts, securing the ebony was a step beyond. All deeply appreciated.
- L. B.
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