This curly Walnut is so dreamy! It’s from a tree in southern Oregon that Kevin from woodfromthewest.com milled for me. It just looks and sounds so nice. It’s so nice that I also used it for the fretboard and headplate. Curly Walnut all around!!! The low g and wider fretboard ideas requested by the customer looks sounds and feels really nice as well.
This banjo has given me an interesting challenge: it’s a lefty! I had to flip my brain back and forth to get the five string neck and fingerboard set properly.
But, I love this customer’s wood choices and ideas so much that the extra challenge became fun for me! This is the second Oak short scale five string this year and for the second time it’s blown me away. Such a big, rich but sound with a unique tonal edge to it. Very different than maple and walnut. The Oak is from the Carpenter Ant stash and the Pistachio is from California Orchards.
I made this tenor to sell at Port Townsend Ukulele Festival and it sold before I could take a video, sorry. The Yellow Cedar top is from the log we harvested off the beach at Camp Westwind. The curly Walnut is really special, from a tree near Ashland, OR. The neck is some salvaged Mahogany from a furniture maker. I chose some simple Myrtle for the binding to wrap the Cedar top up.
This one is for someone who appreciates the natural flaws and the visible history of salvaged wood. The Redwood top is scrap from a guitar maker, the Myrtle back and sides are from the scrap bin at Mya-Moe when I still worked there, the Fir neck is salvaged from a floor joist and the Oak is leftover from furniture projects. The sides have a big knot in them, which I choose to celebrate (of course!) and the neck has several filled knot holes. (Still very structurally sound). It has a sweet and dusty voice that responds to a soft touch. It’s just waiting to go to the perfect owner who will appreciate it and love to play it.
“Hello Aaron, Nicole and Henry,
The Beansprout Scout ukulele #791 arrived safely yesterday. It is light and responsive, a real joy to play. Your work is amazing - scrap wood gets a new life and makes music.
I took the little Scout outdoors right away, to show it its new home in southern Finland. (A couple of photos attached.)
Thank you so much!
- Y. K. ”
We’ve got some shop renovations to pay for, so you can expect a few extra Scout ukuleles to pop up this spring. A soprano scale uke made from shop scraps, humble and charming. Nicole doles them out to a waiting list, send us an email to get a spot. This one is made from Alaskan Yellow Cedar from Camp Westwind, Myrtle from the Oregon coast and local Walnut.
I have so much wood that I really don’t need to look out for anything new- but when Chris from The Dee Mill drops off a board, I pay attention. In this case, it was one small board of Japanese Elm or Selkova from the Portland Japanese Garden. I sawed it up for back, sides, fretboard and headplate and I’m very pleased. Paired with a Cedar top, it’s bright but rich, with a nice sparkle to the tone.
This banjo uke is a little different than normal in that I used a 10” rim instead of 8”. It’s got a big, rich tone that will cut through any mix, but is also warm and detailed. All the Walnut is scrap wood from other projects. The goatskin head is amber stained for a unique look. Geared tuners, arm rest, fluorocarbon strings tuned gcea, bone nut, walnut bridge and a hard shell case.
This was a really fun project with several unique features that really came together in the end. The main wood is salvaged Douglas Fir, complete with knots, checks and nail holes. The secondary wood is White Oak from wine barrels from our neighbors at Hiyu Wine Farm. We also stained the goatskin head to match the oak and I inlaid a little purple heart on the headstock. Open C tuning on a 17” scale, 8” rim banjo.
I’ve made a handful of these now and really feel like I am getting the design and process nailed down. This model is based on an old Regal tenor guitar, a favorite vintage instrument of many collectors. It has a 21.5” scale, steel strings and a bridge and tailpiece setup. It really feels like a nice merger of guitar, ukulele and banjo. The Spruce is from my 1960’s dulcimer maker pile, the Walnut is from a local tree I harvested and the Mahogany is salvaged from a theater in Portland.
This Uke is for Jon, who worked at a Redwood furniture factory as a teenager. (If I could could go back in time for the scraps!) I used Redwood from a boat building shop for the top and salvaged beach Redwood from The Dee Mill in the neck. For the rest, I chose Pistachio from California orchards, including some nice sapwood, grafts and a knot. Simple maple trim and bridge ties it all together.
“Aaron, Nicole, and Henry,
This beautiful March day was made absolutely perfect by the safe arrival of my new “Gator Eyed” uke (I call it that because my son thinks the knot on the back looks like a gator eye). Ever since you relaunched the Beansprout brand I’ve wanted one of your creations. I love your design aesthetic, craftsmanship and wood sourcing philosophy. Having a Beansprout of my own is a dream come true.
I absolutely love the woods you chose for this baritone. The pistachio is spectacular and the redwood compliments it perfectly. I especially love the way the fretboard and pickguard match. And the sound is just what I was looking for, warm and woody but still clear at every note.
I can’t begin to say how please and thankful I am, so I’ll just simply say thank you.
- J. C.”
Even though I like to keep things simple, I also like to select special materials when the project calls for it. When we picked out this Curly maple from mandolin builder John Sullivan’s estate, everything else just fell into place to create a special instrument. I picked some multi colored Pistachio from California orchards and wrapped it all up in rope binding. The Santos style headstock and a nice goatskin head completed the look. It is loud and proud, but not piercing, I really like the sound and the general vibes of this banjo.
Sometimes I just want to keep it simple. Myrtle body with no binding, scrap wood Fir and Maple neck and curly Walnut everything else. This one is just classic.
I have enough good options for top woods that I sometimes forgot how nice they are. This Port Orford Cedar top surprised me, although I should know better by now, POC is always good! Bright, rich, detailed, crisp with nice sustain. This POC top and the curly POC neck came from my neighbors garage, originally cut for flutes. The curly Cherry was a great choice for back and sides, from the Carpenter Ant Stash. Top it off with a grafted Pistachio fretboard from California orchards. All around, a really nice uke that shows off what I do well. Thanks for the order, Susan!
“Dear Aaron and Nicole,
My new ukulele arrived today safe and sound. I am so excited! It is just lovely and it sounds so wonderful! The card including info about the ukulele is great and I will keep it in the case.
The craftsmanship is just the best.
Keep up the good work,
- S. G. ”
Since September, Chris from The Dee Mill has been visiting the shop to build this uke for his mom. It was a really fun project for both of us; Chris got a hands on look at luthiery and I got to see my process from a new angle, trying to explain what I do and teach another woodworker.
The Redwood top, neck, linings and blocks are from a log Chris harvested off an Oregon beach. The Walnut is from the Dee Mill, from a pallet of walnut given to the mill that had dried improperly. It developed a twist which made it hard to use for furniture, but good for musical instruments. I love the light colored sapwood and rich dark brown heartwood. Drop me a line if you want one like it, I have more matching walnut.
I think I’ve made about a dozen Cherry and Texas Ebony banjos in the last few years and everyone has been a winner. It’s just the right mix of woods for tone and for a nice look. Karen added a few extra things to her build that really made this one special. The goatskin head was stained dark using the walnut shells from our front yard, the brass hardware was darkened, she added a pickup, an arm rest and a radiused fret board. Nice. The Texas Ebony is from a retired banjo builder and the Cherry is from the Carpenter Ant stash in Portland.
This is one of my “desert vibes” instruments, inspired by the color palette of the eastern Oregon high desert. The top is Juniper from eastern Oregon, and the fretboard is some local Elm, provided by Chris at the Dee Mill. The back and sides are Myrtle from the Oregon coast from woodfromthewest.com. The neck is some curly Port Orford Cedar, salvaged from my neighbor’s garage. It has a crisp and spicy tone, like the smell of juniper in the wood stove.
This was a project with many experiments: a new purfling, a bigger rosette, a new inlay, a slightly modified body shape, a new spalted maple log and a new kind of neck reinforcement. It was mostly a success, but there are a few tiny flaws that needed to be repaired and a general wabi sabi vibe to the whole thing. We’re still excited to put it out into the world.
This tenor is for our old friend Danielle Anderson, whose stage name is Danielle Ate the Sandwich. She is a fantastic songwriter, performer and an A+ human. This is a simple and subtle build, perfectly suited for a hard working musical life. The Spruce top is from Vancouver island, the Myrtle back and sides is from The Carpenter Ant stash and the Pistachio is from California orchards. I’m really proud of it and happy to put it in her hands.
I promise that I am trying to work through the Scout waiting list, I really am! This one is all local Walnut from the Dee Mill, Redwood scraps from a guitar maker and some salvaged Douglas Fir for the neck. It’s a good one!
Kevin from woodfromthewest.com has been telling me about this Walnut tree they took down near Medford, OR. It’s been drying for years and I finally dug into for this banjo. It looks awesome and the sound is just what I want. Dark and rich but also loud and expressive. I’m really impressed. This customer wanted a 12” rim with goat skin head, brass tone ring, steel strings and an arm rest. All around a great design that I am having fun playing. I complimented the walnut with some grafted Pistachio from California orchards, also from Kevin.
