Pink Ivory
Pink ivory is a rare wood from southern Africa. The species may once have been possessed exclusively by native African kings and chiefs as a sign of power. There are conflicting accounts about that but there is little disagreement about this wood's properties. It's strong and dense with with the hardness of ebony. Not surprisingly it has a tonal response similar to ebony instruments I have made. But there's a richness of tone that is more unique here, with ample sustain and overtones. It's special. A fingerstyle player's dream. While smaller pieces of pink ivory are not so rare, clear quartered wood wide enough for musical instruments is. Luckily ukuleles aren't very wide.
This set has some interesting color variation and figure too. I used it for the back, sides, headplate, backplate and rosette tiles. The color might not always maintain it's vibrance over time but I've finished it with a high gloss catalyzed urethane that has UV inhibitors. That will help.
The top is Italian spruce that I've had for twenty years. It's responsive and even grained. Up and down the fretboard the note to note separation is clear and balanced. Visually, this creamy spruce contrasts nicely with the pink ivory and ebony appointments. The 16-20 inch radiused fretboard, string-through bridge and bindings are all ebony. A reinforced sound port provides a monitor for the player and helps balance the tonal response. Rosette tiles are made from pink ivory, ebony, and maple. Their design is carried through to the position markers on the face of the fretboard. Side fret markers are brass. The neck is Spanish cedar.
Tuners are Gotoh 4:1 UPTLs in gold finish with ebony buttons. The Stew-Mac gold frets have polished rounded fret ends. Strings are PHDs with a smooth wound Pepe Romero low G. Nut and intonated saddle are unbleached bone. Maple linings are hand carved and laminated-in-place. They add stiffness to the sides which helps couple the top and back resonances. There is a clear pickguard to further protect the spruce top. Strap buttons are Gotoh in gold finish. The nut is 1 1/2 inches. The string spacing G-A at the saddle is 1 1/2 inches. Scale length is 17 inches. This pink ivory tenor comes with a wooden hard case. $5400
