As a maker of “luxury items,” I really value every order we get. After all, your hard earned money has many worthy outlets. When it’s a repeat customer, I feel even luckier! This one is for Libby, who has a couple of instruments from me already, both of which are quite fancy. For this one, we were chasing a simpler design, but it still ended up being fancy in an understated way. The curly walnut back and sides came from our friend Ben Bonham, who passed on some ukulele sized scraps from a guitar project. The cedar top is from my friend Nick, whose dad salvaged it from an old water tank. It is super tight grained old growth wood, with some unique Bearclaw figuring. The spruce neck is from Camp Westwind on the Oregon coast and the walnut fretboard, headplate and bridge make for a simple look. She asked for wooden tuner buttons, which I made from scraps of walnut, maple and mahogany. It’s a lot of work, but makes for a unique feature. The maple binding offers a nice contrast and wraps it up well.

“Aaron,
I love my new cedar walnut uke. It’s so elegant to look at and the sustain is remarkable for such a small instrument. The sound is beautiful and it’s so easy to play. Now the new uke is the favorite in the house. I also like that Camp Westwind spruce is the neck. I was so looking forward to playing in the tenth annual tunes in the dunes. This helps make up for it.

I am so glad i stayed with my order and left most of it up to my luthier. Your skills leave me in awe. Hard work and more than a little artistry in your eye and ear produce remarkable, beautiful, delightful instruments. They call me out to play even when i only feel a little musical. Chalmers Doane says “One Minute a day” and my minute always stretches out, many times to hours. Learning to play music with a nice uke is like learning to paint with good brushes and paint. It’s the pathway to joy and success. Thank you so much. I feel so lucky to have met you!

Thanks for the care and skill you put in your work. It speaks for you. Stay healthy and live one day at a time.
With admiration,
- L. M. ”