In the ukulele world, it is common to pick a medium density wood that is suitable for top back and sides. This makes an instrument with a classic tone that is vibrant in the lap. Traditionally, this would have been Mahogany or Koa, but we have added Mango, Myrtle and others to the list over the years. This local orchard Cherry was my most recent experiment and I am quite pleased with it. In the Hood River valley, I am surrounded by Cherry, Pear and Apple orchards. The trees rarely get big enough for woodworking because they are heavily pruned yearly and removed and burned when they stop fruiting. Larry and I pulled these out of a local orchard last year and it proved to be tremendous work considering the amount of lumber we got from the small trunks. Chainsawing, hauling, loading, splitting, milling, stacking, drying, milling again, etc… But, we saved some wood from the burn pile and will make some beautiful things from it. The last picture shows a bowl by a local woodturner, Lacey Spray, who I gave some pieces of this Cherry to. It is really cool to see two different objects from the same tree! The rest of this ukulele is Hemlock and Walnut, also harvested from local trees.