Wood

Tradition rules. Many luthiers (stringed instrument makers) strive for something new and different, but "tried and true" got that way because it works. There's always room for personal touches, but when it comes to basic design, as well as the choice of woods, the beginning luthier would do well not to branch off into uncharted territory.

My plan was to use my Stewart-McDonald kit as a pattern. I had also purchased a book (Ukulele Design and Construction, by D. Henry Wickham) which included full-sized plans. Now I had to select the wood.

Part of my wood collection

Different woods are used for the uke's different parts: top, back, sides, neck, bridge, interior bracing, and decorative parts such as inlays and laminates. Ukuleles have traditionally been made entirely of mahogany, with a trend in recent years toward koa (a Hawaiian wood similar to mahogany, but with more beautiful grain patterns). Spruce is the traditional choice for tops in larger instruments, such as the guitar, and is also popular for the larger ukulele's, such as the tenor, concert and baritone. Backs and sides are made from a variety of hardwoods.

Morado (the long one), bloodwood, rosewood and ebony

Since I was trying to stay with wood I could buy at the local Home Depot, I chose hemlock (an evergreen softwood something like spruce) for the top. For the neck, backs and sides, I chose poplar—the only hardwood available, except for oak, which is usually not a good choice for instrument making.

The fretboard is traditionally made of a dark hardwood such as ebony or rosewood. Home Depot offered neither, so I looked in my firewood pile and found a piece of locust that I could saw into boards. I used locust for the bridge, and I had a piece of walnut that I'd saved from a tree my great-uncle had cut down years ago. I used some of the walnut to make a thin veneer for covering the headstock (that's the part where the tuners are).