Papa Beansprout

Pre-Order The New CD!

2011-04-09T00:30:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends- I have been so busy recording my new Cd that I have not posted in a while! Well, the new CD, The Quiet American Vol II, is done and being printed. If you want to get it a couple of weeks before the release date, then paypal $15 to info@quietamericanmusic.com and you will get a signed Cd, a poster and a sticker!

2011-03-11T16:54:00.000-08:00

Book/Cd Sale!

2011-03-02T11:40:00.001-08:00

For the next 36 hours, all of my songbooks and cds have free shipping!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LazarusBooks
-Two Chord Songs
-Cocktail Recipes and Drinking Songs
-The Quiet American
-Born In the Country, Raised In Town
-Blank Notebooks

Ukulele Tonewood Sound Samples!

2011-02-24T20:22:00.001-08:00

Death Come Creeping In

2011-02-11T22:37:00.001-08:00

A Fir and Walnut Tenor For Sale!

2011-02-11T22:27:00.001-08:00

Peep the picks and head over to my site for more info and to purchase:
www.thebeansprout.com

Collaboration With Mya-Moe Ukuleles!

2011-02-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

Peep this link!

Two Big Shows This Weekend

2011-02-02T18:50:00.000-08:00

Friday night, Scott and I are playing three songs with our friends Faceman. The show is called The First Waltz and it will have Faceman playing with members of Bob Skizzum, Chris McGarry, The Knew, Long Road Home, Slim Cessna's Auto Club, Boulder Acoustic Society and more. Peep the vid:

FACEMANS FIRST WALTZ... FEB 4 @ THE BLUEBIRD THEATER from Photo Roadies on Vimeo.

Also, FOURTH ANNUAL DENVER UKULELE FESTIVAL!!!!

How I Amplify My Five String

2011-01-26T21:24:00.001-08:00

I play every night with a band that also has bass, drums and organ. I play acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo and uke, all through the same signal path into a Fender pro junior amp. I used to use a piezo pickup, which sounds pretty good through a DI, but I wanted to use a pickup that sounded better through the amp.

I ended up wiring the banjo with a P90 guitar pickup!

Here is a short vid and sound sample:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRe7Ri4uNDI

It is capable of loud clean and overdriven tones. I can run reverb or delay or boost or whatever else I want. Also, it feeds back less than the piezo used to. I think it has a better "natural" sound than any piezo I have tried!

Aaron
www.boulderacousticsociety.com

Bulk Ukulele Strings

2011-01-25T20:00:00.000-08:00

I finally set myself up to get bulk florocarbon strings for ukulele. I bought 5 spools of 50 meters each, which should be 75-100 sets of strings. I made a quick little holder out of a dowel and maple. Notice I wrote the string gauges on the blocks so I don't have to keep looking them up!

New Electric Guitar

2011-01-19T23:12:00.000-08:00

I just fixed up an old Holiday electric guitar. It was made by Harmony in the early 6o's and re-labeled for sale by a retailer. It is basically an H47 Mars Stratotone. It is a hollow maple body with no soundholes, one single coil pickup with volume and tone and a short 24 inch scale. I had to add a new volume pot, tone pot, jack and tuners. I also pulled the frets, planed the fingerboard and re-fretted. It is easy to play and has a unique sound. Check it out:

Making a Gibson L-0 Style Guitar

2011-01-17T18:35:00.000-08:00

Just getting started on a Gibson L-0 style guitar for myself. Lots more info later!

Alan Building A Uke In My Shop!

2011-01-13T22:03:00.000-08:00

Alan Rosen came to my shop this winter to learn how to build a uke. I basically made up his parts as a kit and guided him through the process, with lots of education along the way. He ended up with a spruce and myrtle tenor with rosewood fingerboard and bridge. Are you interested in learning how to build a uke? Drop me a line for pricing and availability. info@thebeansprout.com

click here to see more

If The River Was Whiskey

2011-01-01T20:48:00.001-08:00

Myrtle Concert Uke

2010-12-15T16:47:00.001-08:00

Kumalae shape, concert size, 15 inch scale
Myrtle top back and sides
Mahogany neck
Rosewood fingerboard and bridge
Florocarbon strings, Gotoh tuners

KC JONES

2010-12-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

Wet Your Whistle!

2010-12-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

Hey Friends- As a follow up to my Two Chord Songbook, I just finished a book called "Wet Your Whistle." It contains 29 bourbon cocktail recipes and 11 folk songs about whiskey/drinking!

It was typed on my vintage typewriter and illustrated by my wife Nicole. It fits in your pocket or ukulele case and is printed on recycled paper. It includes classic recipes, my own inventions and lot of recipes I found on the road with my band. There also are little bits of historical info, anecdotes etc...

Click here to shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lazarusbooks

Click here to hear one of the songs from the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAu-lOhXFqk

New Website for Bean Sprout

2010-12-06T10:54:00.001-08:00

Hey uke friends- I got our new website up today, check it out at:
http://www.thebeansprout.com.

The models, features and pricing are new for 2011, so click through and see what I am up to!

Also, to celebrate, there will be free shipping on all orders made between know and Jan 1st.

Thanks,
Aaron
info@thebeansprout.com

Covering The Boss

2010-12-02T20:21:00.001-08:00

Two Beansprouts on Ebay!

2010-12-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

I have a Baritone and a Concert Beansprout on Ebay

Come, on. Get the credit card out and make a bad decision!

Danzig Cover by Leighton on a Beansprout

2010-11-23T23:04:00.000-08:00

Here is Leighton from Safe Boating Is No Accident singing a Danzig song while playing his banjo uke:

It is a vintage pot with a new neck I built him, 19 inch scale.

The 1st Baritone Beansprout Banjo Uke Video

2010-11-22T23:55:00.001-08:00

Redwood and Apple Concert Uke

2010-11-16T17:30:00.000-08:00

For Jeff Menzies.

-Redwood top
-Apple back, sides and headstock overlay
-mahogany neck
-rosewood bridge and fingerboard
-15 inch scale and Kumalae shape

The 1st Baritone Beansprout Banjo Uke!

2010-11-16T17:09:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is!
-19 inch scale
-10 inch banjo rim
-maple and ebony
-gotoh tuners, worth strings, renaissance head
-custom nickel plated steel hardware
-tuned dgbe with high d

This instrument could also have 4 steel strings in various tunings, including gcea, cgda, and gdae.

It has a nice loud sound but is pretty and mellow due to the 10 inch pot and 19 inch scale.

We should be ready to produce this in early 2011!
www.thebeansprout.com

Denver Ukulele Festival

2010-11-16T08:35:00.000-08:00

The 4th annual Denver Uke Fest is coming up. We have been around and helping out since the 1st. Thanks to Swallow Hill for always putting on a great event. This year we are going to two nights at the L2 center!

San Juan Mandolins!

2010-11-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

After the show the other night in Delores, I got talking with a guy about my banjo ukes. It turns it his name was Bobby and he builds San Juan Mandolins. I have known about him for a long time and I was glad to get to meet him. Instead of staying at the hotel, I went back to his shop to check out what he is working on, listen to Leadbelly records and play some tunes in his kitchen. Here are some pics:

First, here is a new mandolin in progress for Drew Emmitt. Notice the one piece maple back and awesome sunburst. Up close and personal, you can see Bobby's careful scroll carving. You may have read in the last Fretboard Journal about Drew selling his Nugget mandolin to Jeff Austin. Well, he sold it so he could order this one!

Here is a spruce top and maple back being joined for an "A" style mandola.

And lastly, here is the scroll of Bobby's personal mandolin. Great inlay and peep the awesome engraved Waverly tuners!

Strings

2010-11-15T10:06:00.000-08:00

For about six months now I have been sponsored by Curt Mangan strings. They are a small company in southwest Colorado and make all sorts of guitar, etc... strings.

We played in Delores, CO at the Brewery last weekend and they came out to see the show and deliver a batch of strings for me. Since I was going back and forth on what strings to put on my guitars, Curt brought me several custom sets to try! How cool!

A fancy Guild from Jason Krekel!!!

2010-10-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

I finally got to hang out with Amy and Jason from Mad Tea Party this weekend, it has been way too long! The are from Asheville, NC and play some awesome folky garage rock on ukulele and guitar. I have always known Jason to play a 1960s Silvertone, but on this trip he also had his father's Guild Starfire along. Jason's dad, Tim Krekel, was an amazing songwriter and guitarist from Kentucky. He passed last year and Jason inherited his main guitar. Here is with the Guild.
And here Jason is with the Guild and the Silvertone, both of which were made around 1964-1965, FYI.

Ok, now some pics. Notice the gold plated Bigsby Tremelo and Rotomatic tuners. Also, two single coil pickups and all original hardware, except for a missing finger rest. The whole thing is really awesome maple with a reddish sunburst. The neck is maple/walnut/maple and feels great. People pay the custom shops big bucks nowadays to fake the kind of mojo that Tim put into this guitar, but this is the real deal! Also, check out the two color pearl inlays and celluloid bindings!

It was really special to see Tim's guitar and learn more about him. I think for the next blog post I will feature Jason's silvertone!

Recording with Danielle Ate the Sanwich

2010-10-27T18:42:00.000-07:00

My friend Danielle just took us into the studio to record a Lady Gaga song. I played electric guitar and had a great time. Peep it here:

We recorded at Macy Sound Studios, which is always awesome. I played my Epiphone guitar through a twin reverb and some fancy hand wired amp. Chris on fiddle, Carl on drums, Dennis on bass, DATS on uke and voice.

Just Crooked Enough

2010-10-25T21:23:00.000-07:00

While driving through the snow tonight in the van, Neil pulled up "World's on Fire" by the Crooked Jades on the Ipod. This is one of my all time favorite records! The Jades are led by Jeff Kazor and have been around the Bay Area since '94. I saw the lineup that is on this record play in a hotel room at folk alliance in 2005 or so and it totally changed my life.

It is old time music that seems to skip right over the "party line" of the current scene and hits hard as the idiosynchratic music that it should be. Funky poly-rhythms, call and response vocals, odd song forms, modal melodies: all the good stuff.

Here is the link to download the record, its a must.

Camp Uke on Ebay!

2010-10-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

My lovely Beansprout Camp Uke is up on Ebay. Check it out!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220686060040#ht_500wt_901

A Nice Review of The Beansprout!

2010-10-21T02:04:00.000-07:00

Quality Folk

2010-10-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight we are in Centralia, WA playing at the Olympic, WA with

Steve Einhorn
and Kate Powers.

They play uke, banjo and guitar and sing great folksy harmony vocals. we heard about them from Gordon and Char from Myamoe Ukuleles and they were right, they are great.

A little bit of Cat Stevens meets Doc Watson, with harmonies that only come from singing together for 30 years!

Also, like all the venues on the great northwest music tour, The Olympia Club is totally haunted. it is a venue, bar, cafe, pool hall and hotel.

Mobile Blogging from here.

40 year old port

2010-10-19T11:57:00.001-07:00

Gordon and Char from Myamoe Ukuleles have been cooking for us for a couple of days while we hang out in White Salmon. Neil has been playing Grand Theft Auto while I help in the Myamoe shop.

We had two kinds of Port last night, 1970 and 1985!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Hoosier Hot Shots Kay Plectrum Guitar!

2010-10-18T20:51:00.000-07:00

When we played in Eugene, OR the other day. The pickup on my electric guitar stopped working. We popped into Mckenzie river music with fingers crossed. It turns out they could fit me in that day, but we had to wait a few hours. Of course, Neil and I played all kinds of cool instruments and amps. When we were ready to go, I saw a flight case by the counter. I kicked it and asked if it was for sale. They said no, but it had a famous plectrum guitar in it. I asked to see it, and, HELLO! I recognized it as the plectrum guitar from a famous photo of The Hoosier Hotshots! The man who played it on all those great records was Ken Trietsch. This one was custom made by the Kay company and seams to be made of spruce and maple. Celluloid binding and pickguard, gold hardware, skinny maple neck, big body. A very nice guitar for a Kay! Check it out!

I have an autographed photo that belonged to my great aunt that has this guitar in it. I will post it when I get home from tour.

BAS'new CD!

2010-10-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends and Fans! I just released a new CD with by band Boulder Acoustic Society. It was produced by Jefferson Hammer and I play banjo, uke, guitar and lap steel on it. You can download it and buy a copy here

Paul's Domino Banjo Uke!

2010-10-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

My friend and mentor Paul Weidig came over this week with his trusty Le Domino banjo uke. It needed a new head, bridge, tuners and strings. This is one of the early ones that was made by the JR Stewart company. It has a nice black finish and little Domino decals all over! Its a real pro instrument and is part of a line of banjos, ukes, guitars, etc... all made with the same decoration. I just remembered Paul is a lefty, I better switch the strings around before I forget!

Camp Uke!

2010-09-13T14:29:00.001-07:00

Here is my 2nd try at a Camp uke style instrument. I wanted to come up with a way to make an instrument that would be suitable for travel and camping etc...but still is a "real" uke. My camp ukes are:
-solid wood, no laminates or plastic!
-made from recycled, salvaged and re-used old wood. All one of a kind!
-Hand made in USA with pro materials and techniques.

This one is:
-mahogany back and sides
-pine top
-walnut neck
-rosewood fingerboard and bridge
-sycamore headplate and end graft
-aquila strings, bone nut and saddle, friction tuners
-translucent black stain and oil finish

What do you think?

I plan on making a video soon.

$400

Koa Soprano for Jeff Menzies

2010-09-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a Koa soprano uke I just finished for luthier/artist Jeff Menzies. He built me a tackhead banjo in trade! I really stressed about this one, it is hard to build for another luthier! Overall, this is one of the neatest and cleanest builds I have ever done and I think the photos look great. It is my normal Kumalae shape, but with a 14.2inch scale and a 13 fret body join.
-Koa top, back and sides
-Mahogany neck
-Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, headplate and bridge
-Bone nut and saddle, florocarbon strings and Peghed tuners

It has a nice tone and real sparkle. It isn't as loud as I would want, but is lovely none the less. Its twin brother will be available for sale at the Milwaukee Uke fest. It isn't as pretty but sounds louder.

Mahogany Taropatch!

2010-08-31T19:17:00.001-07:00

All Mahogany Taropatch! Rosewood fingerboard and bridge, florocarbon strings, koa headplate and end graft, friction tuners. The uke is tuned with two of each note: gg cc ee aa.

Redwood, Brazilian Rosewood and Walnut!

2010-08-31T19:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a soprano ukulele in the martin shape made by Aaron Keim of Beansprout Banjo Ukes. All the wood on this ukulele has been recycled or salvaged from Colorado sources.
Top: redwood from a train trestle
Back, sides, bridge, fingerboard and headplate: Brazilian rosewood found in a barn in Colorado. It is very old and looks great!
Neck: Walnut from a local cabinet maker's shop

It has a rosewood nut and saddle, florocarbon strings and high quality friction tuners. 15 frets with brass dots for fret markers.

This ukulele is mellow with strong mid range yet very loud. The sustain is better than most sopranos and the intonation is spot on.

Its on ebay, of course.

Building a uke with Gordon and Char! (Myamoe)

2010-08-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends- I just got back from a tour to the northwest. During the off days we stayed with Gordon and Char from Myamoe ukuleles. As a threesome we built a uke in their shop and it turned out great! Here are some specs:
-Myrtle top, back and sides
-Walnut binding
-Mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard, rosewood bridge
-Soprano body with 14 fret 15inch scale
-Peghed tuners, florocarbon strings and K+K pickup

Here are some pics of the process!

The top and back thickness sanded and braced:

Bending the sides!

The ebony endgraft and the sides with blocks and linings:

Gluing the top and back on:

The fretboard, notice the side dots but no front dots:

Gluing it on:

Here is the body and neck waiting for assembly:

And clamped together!

Here it is after the 2nd coat of tru-oil finish. Check out that crazy myrtle!

Peghed tuners:

Gluing the Bridge:

Char Strumming!

You can see some final well lit pics here.

How does it sound? Well, like a soprano with a tenor hiding inside of it! More videos later, but for now, check this out!

Thanks to Gordo and Cha-re-re for their incredible generosity. I had fun and learned a ton!

Northwest Tour!

2010-08-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody- Boulder Acoustic Society is coming to the northwest this month. Our current lineup is a cool mix of old time, blues and gospel with an indie rock edge. Banjo, bass, drums, accordion, uke, guitar, etc...Peep this recent video of Rueben's Train:

We also will be back for the Northwest Music tour in October also!

Aug 4
Nicolaysen Museum
Casper, WY

Aug 6
3 Pints Productions/Festival of Nations
Red Lodge, MT
7:00pm

Aug 7
The Knotty Pine
Victor, ID
10:00pm

Aug 8
Bear Trap Festival
Casper, WY

Aug 10
Salmon River Brewery
McCall, ID
6:30pm

Aug 12
Families In the Park Concert
Hood River, OR
6:00pm

Aug 13
Upstage Restaurant
Port Townsend, WA
8:00pm

Aug 14
Axe and Fiddle
Cottage Grove, OR
8:00pm

Aug 15
Alberta Rose Theater
Portland, OR
8:00pm

Aug 18
Alive After Five- The Grove Plaza
Boise, ID
6:00pm

Steuben's

2010-08-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting, we have been on the road and super busy. Last night we went out to eat for my birthday. We went to Steuben's in Denver, which is an awesome mix of soul food, home cooking, comfort food and crazy vintage cocktail recipes. We had a flaming rum punch instead of a birthday cake, check it out!

I also had a sazerac, which is a great rye whiskey cocktail as well as deviled eggs, hush puppies, biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy and fried chicken!

New Photo By Scott McCormick

2010-07-28T19:06:00.001-07:00

A gin gimlet, a Myamoe ukulele and an old Pendleton shirt!

2010-07-09T10:41:00.001-07:00

Here is a concert scale Beansprout on its way to New Zealand. Maple and ebony, blue wash stain, hand rubbed poly finish. Gotoh planetary tuners, aquila strings, renaissance head.

www.thebeansprout.com
papabeansprout.blogspot.com

New Design Idea

2010-06-29T14:39:00.001-07:00

Gonna start on a new ukulele model, here is a peek at the rough plans.

Show on July 7th!

2010-06-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

Shady Grove Picnic Series at Four Mile Historic Park
Performance Date: 7/7/2010, 6:30 pm

The Quiet American is Aaron Keim on ukulele, guitar, banjo and voice; Katie Glassman on fiddle; Niel McCormick on bass and Nicole Keim on ukulele, washboard, and voice. With a bend on playing Americana, trad jazz and jug band music, The Quiet American will butress their already compelling style with members of the Boulder Acoustic Society for this Picnic Series concert.

Deeply rooted in old time, folk and traditional Americana music, The Mile Markers are a dynamic, high-energy duo from Denver, Colorado. Formed in 2001 by Julie Stratton (guitar/vocals) and Bevin Foley (fiddle/vocals), their original songs, and unique arrangements of old time standards offer a new twist on the traditional folk sound.

myspace.com/aaronckeim | themilemarkersband.com

Tickets at the door only: $10/$7 members; $2 for children 12 & under. Bicyclists get in for member pricing throughout the 2010 season! No glass or pets, please.

Three New Records I Played on By Neat People

2010-06-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

This year I have had the good fortune to perform on three records put out by good friends. Here is some info about each one.

The first is Chris McGarry: Friends for ten years, he moved to CO three years ago and got a job teaching music in Nicole's school district and at Swallow Hill. His song writing is very poetic folk/country and the record sounds great. I played banjo, lap steel, guitar and bass on this record and I am pleased with it.

You can buy it here. We recorded at Swallow Hill with Brian and it was mixed by Aaron Youngberg. The album release concert was at the Meadowlark in Denver. When we were rehearsing for it, I realized that it was the first band I had ever played in that had 3 guitars, bass and drums! (its a really great sound, somebody should start a band with the combo...) Here is a video of that gig with the horn section added. Notice me trying to play trumpet after three PBRs.

Next is Victoria Vox, a singer/songwriter/ukulele player from Baltimore by way of Green Bay.

We have been bumping into each other for 5 or 6 years on the road and collaborating for the last two. (we have some shows this summer together!) Her record was recorded half in New York and half at John Macy sound studios in Denver. It sounds poppy and energetic but still folky and hip. I played guitar, lap steel, horn, banjo, bass, etc...and had a great time working with her producer Mike. You can buy it here.
Here we are playing one of her songs in Eugene, OR.

And next is my home slice Danielle Ate The Sandwich. Danielle is a big deal because of her legendary Youtube page. She also plays the uke and she writes really thoughtful beautiful songs that are also quite funny. We recorded at John Macy sound studios and I played lap steel, banjo, horn, etc... Her cd release shows are next week in Denver. Here is a video of Danielle and I singing a Miley Cyrus song:

This vid has over 100,000 hits, which makes me famous, fyi.

Buy it here.

Liza Jane

2010-06-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

Hipstamatic Photos From the Recording Studio!

2010-06-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

So my band Boulder Acoustic Society just spent a week in the studio. Here are some fun pictures taken with my iphone Hipstamatic of the process. We flew in Jefferson Hamer to produce and we tracked at Macy Sound Studios in Denver. All the basic tracks were done on two inch analog tape before they were dumped into protools for overdubs and edits. Super fun. The record is called Coal, Cotton, and Dust and should be released by September 1st.

2010-06-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a concert ukulele in a curvy vintage Hawaiian shape. Except for the rosewood fingerboard, it is made entirely of wood that is salvaged or recycled. The neck is 3 pieces of 100 year old Douglas fir from porch boards from a Denver home. The top and headplate are straight, close grained pine from a mantle piece from another Denver home. The back, sides, bridge, nut and saddle are maple from an antique table top. It has Aquila strings and gold and black Gotoh tuners. The shape is based on a vintage Kumalae ukulele but with a modern neck size and perfect playability. It is stained with a rich amber color and finished in wipe on poly. Because these pieces of wood are very old and are salvaged from old buildings and furniture, there are small cosmetic flaws that in my opinion are un-avoidable yet welcome! The sound is bright and zingy but with good sustain and tone for such a small instrument. It is loud!!! 15 inch scale length and is 23.5 inches long. The neck is 1 7/8 inches wide at the nut, which makes it very playable. Its on ebay

Soprano Uke Build Process!

2010-06-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

I just completed a ukulele for Adam from Nova Scotia. He wanted my Kumalae soprano shape with a 14inch scale and a wide beefy neck. I made it of all mahogany that I salvage from a furniture shop. The only other wood is a bubinga fretboard.

Here are a couple of pics of the wood for the sides and neck and the top and back braced:

Here are the sides clamped into the mold. I broke four sides making this uke, this old mahogany was pretty brittle.

And here is the neck rough shaped:

And the body glued up and the neck fretted. The fingerboard is pretty wide: 38mm at nut.

Here is the neck going on. Surprisingly, the rubber tubing makes a great clamp:

First coat of wipe on poly finish:

Laying out the bridge position:

And the finished product!

I like the longer scale and beefier neck. It makes the soprano feel bigger than it is while keeping that vintage sound. It has the best sustain of any soprano I have built. I feel like I got a good balance between a light top with a stiff back, sides and neck.

I hope adam likes it!

Another Baritone Scale Banjo Uke

2010-05-25T08:51:00.001-07:00

Or is it a tenor banjo???

It is made out of a vintage banjo pot, a new neck and a mix of old and new hardware. All the wood is recycled or salvaged. It features:
-20 Inch scale, which is the same as a baritone ukulele. It has steel strings tuned dgbe. It can be strung with steel or nylon strings and tuned many ways. Tell me what you want and I will try to make it happen!
-2 piece flamed maple neck from an old table top
-Walnut fingerboard with brass dots, walnut headstock overlay. (from old walnut paneling)
-New Gotoh friction tuners. I will upgrade to guitar tuners ($35) or planetary banjo tuners ($50) on request.
-New hooks, nuts, end bolt, head and shoes. Original tailpiece, dowel stick hardware and tension hoop.
-All the wood is finished in a translucent black stain and hand rubbed finish that is a little bit "antiqued" to give it a vintage character.
-Bone nut and maple bridge.

On Ebay at: 220611514716

Boulder Acoustic Society's New Cd- Crowd Funding!

2010-05-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

BAS is making a new Cd called Coal, Cotton, and Dust. We are taking pre-orders and offering some cool stuff on our crowd funding page, check it out!

http://boulderacousticsociety.net/coalcottonanddust/

Wanna learn more about the Coal, Cotton, and Dust tour?
http://boulderacousticsociety.net/coal-cotton-dust-tour/

Musical Instrument Museum!

2010-05-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Boulder Acoustic Society played at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ. It is a huge museum that includes a beautiful concert hall. Here is a video of song we sang there:

If you want to see the whole concert, you can link to it here:

We had about an hour to walk around the museum, and as a luthier and musician, I thought it was great. Someone sunk some serious money into this place and it is trully a gem. They have the instruments organized by continent and country. As you walk near a section of the museum, your headphones play audio that goes along with the appropriate video. Cool.

I took lots of photos of the many small guitar shaped instruments somewhat related to ukuleles, which was fun.

Check out this sweet Gibson Harp Guitar

And a Macaferri plastic guitar. Yes, its the same guy who made Django's guitar when he built for the Selmer company in Paris. Later, he moved to the US and made all kinds of cool plastic stuff.

And The Rickenbacker lap steel guitar, nicknamed The Fry Pan!

Here is a room of American guitars. Notice the cool Les Paul front and center. It is one of the first few ever made.

AS promised, here is a whole bunch of ukuleleish instruments from all over the world. Charango, Timple, Quatro, Tres, Cavaquino, Bandolim, etc...

Here is the ukulele section of the Hawaiian exhibit. Three Kamakas, a Kumalae and Nunes.

They also had a great section on all different styles of American music, including a mock up of a Martin guitar workshop.

MMM, Nudie suit and string band shwag:

I could have spent a whole weekend there. It was awesome. Really.

Slide ukulele

2010-05-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Baritone Banjo Uke for Neil and Leightonhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

2010-04-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

My friends Neil and Leighton have a folk music/performance art band called Safe Boating Is No Accident. I just finished a new neck for this old supertone pot for them. It has the scale of a baritone ukulele and is strung dgbe re-entrant tuning. The Supertone pot was made for Sears in the 1920s and is 10 inches across and built for a banjo mandolin. Check out the cool little Grover guitar tuners.

Emily Hurd's Ukulele

2010-04-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

My friend Emily Hurd (http://www.emilyhurd.com/) came over yesterday so I could install a pickup into a uke I built her last year. It is great to see her and her uke, because it has been a long time!

Her uke is made all from recycled and salvaged wood. Fir top, walnut back and sides, rosewood fingerboard, fir neck and sycamore headplate. I got the fir from some porch boards, so I often leave some of the old paint in the cracks for fun.

Also, I should note that she met Jake Shimabukuro and he signed the back without her asking him to do it. Rock stars...

Brazilian Rosewood

2010-04-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

Ah, Brazilian rosewood, the holy grail of tonewoods! I stumbled across this old batch of B.R. through a guitar maker from Boulder. All of it is too small for guitar, but plenty big for ukes!!!

I am splitting this batch with Gordon and Char from Myamoe ukuleles. They are getting the back and side sets and I get the fingerboards and scraps.

adding a headstock overlay

2010-04-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

By the way, the little piece of wood on top of the peghead is a "headstock" not "headstalk." Ok, I am off my high horse now.

Anyway, here is how I am adding an inlaid overlay to the headstock of a banjo uke. This piece is ebony with a small pearl inlay with our logo on it.

Here is my new plexiglass template, which is far better than the wood template that is next to it.

After I trace and rough cut on the bandsaw it looks like this.

Next, I sand the end where the nut will go at an angle on the belt sander.

yup, its clamped. Wait 3 hours and I can trim it again to fit.

Supertone!

2010-04-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

Hey banjo friends- Just finished a restoration on this mid grade supertone, it turned out pretty good. It is for singer songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov, who also plays a banjo I built for him. The three piece neck with dyed hardwood fingerboard is pretty warped, so the action can't be as low as I want, but it is right where Gregory wants it.

I put on some new Gotoh tuners, skin head, bridge, nut, pip and strings. And don't forget the K+K pickup.

New Tenor Ukulele

2010-04-06T11:34:00.001-07:00

Its on Ebay at

Here is a tenor ukulele made by Aaron Keim of Beansprout. It features:
-Curly Koa top, back, sides and headplate
-Honduras Mahogany neck
-Ebony fingerboard with 17 frets/14 to the body. There are brass side dots but no front dots. 16 7/8 scale length
-Ebony Bridge with Bband undersaddle pickup. There is a 9v battery in a pouch connected to the heel block
-Bone nut and saddle
-Gotoh gold and black friction tuners, aquila strings

The uke is 25.5 inches long, the body is 11 inches long and 3 inches deep. It is loud, deep and "zingy" sounding tuned GCEA (high G) and also sounds great FBbDG. It has a medium high action for a loud acoustic tone, but is setup well and plays great all the way up the neck. Spot on intonation and even tone all around.

The neck is 1.5 inches wide and 3/4 inch thick at the nut, which is slightly larger than normal but would be perfect for someone coming from guitar. I am willing to slim this down on request. It is tuned re-entrant but I will re string to low g on request.

This is a handmade ukulele made in my home shop in Colorado. It sounds a looks wonderful but has a few very small cosmetic flaws that you can't see in the photographs: a couple of scratches around the bridge and a couple of rough spots in the finish. I will be happy to send any interested customers a video file of me playing the uke so you can hear it.

Tin Can Monster!

2010-04-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

It is hard to say if this is a banjo, a uke or a guitar, but it sure sounds cool!

It has three steel strings tuned D A D, but you could change the tuning to whatever you want. The instrument is about 22 inches long with a 13 inch scale. It has a K+K pickup in it which sounds amazing plugged in. Sort of like a cross between a swampy delta slide guitar and a banjo.

This instrument would be great for bottle neck guitar, banjo, dulcimer or ukulele players or anyone wanting a unique sound. The action is very playable with precise fretwork and a professional attention to detail.

Neck- Honduras Mahogany
Fingerboard- Rosewood
Headplate- Spalted Sycamore
Bridge- Maple
Nut- Maple
Pickup- K+K Hotspot
Tuners- Gotoh friction tuners

On ebay

Banjo for Gregory Alan Isakov

2010-04-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

I actually built this banjo about a year ago but Gregory just brought it back in for a checkup and to adjust some things. It is all walnut with 12 inch block rim and ebony fingerboard. Aquila minstrel strings and a high bridge for that old timey sound.

Gregory was one of the first people I met when I came to Colorado and he is a great musician and singer/songwriter. Check out his stuff.

I am also restoring an old banjo for him, which you will see soon.

A

Please Vote For Us

2010-04-02T19:41:00.000-07:00

Our song "Give It Away" is nominated to be in Alt Root Mag's social change sampler cd. Please go to this link and click on our song on the right hand side to vote.

Wax Cylinder Recording

2010-03-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

For Immediate Release-
How Lo-Fi Can You Go? Aaron Keim Releases CD of Wax Cylinder Recordings

Aaron Keim, multi-instrumentalist and founding member of Boulder Acoustic Society, is known for his old timey music taste and indie approach to the music business. At last year's Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis, he met Martin Fisher who is a sound archivist and recording technician. Martin was recording musicians at the conference on a turn of the century wax cylinder recorder. Aaron got out his guitar and ukulele, sat down in front of the recording horn and turned out 5 tracks.

Invented by Thomas Edison in 1877, the wax cylinder phonograph was the first commercial recording and playback device and was popular into the 1910's when disc shaped records forced them out of business. If you think a 78rpm record sounds old and scratchy, wait till you hear the lo-fi glory of wax cylinder recordings. To make these non-electrical recordings, the musician sings into a large horn, which guides a needle as it digs into the wax cylinder. Aaron transferred his wax recordings to CD and is releasing them as The Quiet American.

For this EP Aaron recorded three original indie-folk songs and two traditional songs. This includes help from Boulder Acoustic Society on Ruben's Train. You can see them recording in front of the wax recording machine at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOlH6YZZfjM. Also, included on the CD is a digital version of the song The Light The Dust, which was recorded at the same time as the wax version.

To celebrate this release, Aaron is squeezing two shows around Boulder Acoustic Society's busy schedule. Oskar Blues in Lyons on May 2nd and the Mercury Cafe in Denver on April 30th.

To hear a sample, check out www.myspace.com/aaronckeim and click on "Rove Riley Rove."
To Purchase, go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/LazarusBooks

Clawhammer Ukulele Lesson Vol. 3

2010-03-09T06:33:00.001-08:00

New Video by Rosco

2010-03-07T22:33:00.001-08:00

Check out this great video our friend Rosco made of my band playing Ruben's Train!

Oahu Lap Slide Project!

2010-03-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

When I was working on my master's degree, I wrote a thesis project about the Oahu Conservatory of Music, which sold sheet music, lessons and instruments (mostly lap slide guitars) during the depression. They sold most of this stuff through the mail, which helped spread slide guitar all over the world and planted the seeds for dobro, electric lap steel, pedal steel and more. This paper was published in The Fretboard Journal and I also gave a lecture on it at University of Oregon.

Anyway, their cheapest instruments, which were probably made by Kay and Regal, are solid birch and built like tanks. I have owned one of their super fancy mahogany jumbo models but recently sold it. I have one of their electric guitars from the 1950's, but I have been meaning to get one of the cheap ones for an experiment.

First, I got this one off of Ebay for around $50. It had no tuners and several cracks and loose braces. It is OO size with a 24 inch playing scale. The bridge is cast aluminum and the whole thing is birch with a square neck.

Next, I glued up all the cracks, made a bone nut and set it up with the same string set I use for all my electric lap steels. 13-56 nickel strings where I move 2nd to 1st and replace 2nd with an .018 unwound string.

I harvested a single coil pickup, volume knob and tone knob from Leighton's old guitar, got a soldering iron and a book of schematics and went for it!

I put a couple of scraps in the sound hole to mount the pickup. I can use the screw to raise and lower the pickup. I drilled three holes through the top and mounted the rest of the hardware. The tuners came from the project box, and are re-pros of the old three on a plate Kluson tuners.

Lastly, I tuned it up to DADF#AD and gave it a whirl through the amp. It sounds great and puts out about 85% of what my electric does, which is just great. It has more sustain than a reso and less than an electric. Perfect. Also, I am out around $70 for the whole thing!

Oh yeah, I found another bug in the instrument, this time a Japanese beetle. This has happened twice in the last week!

A couple of Ebay Auctions

2010-02-24T18:20:00.000-08:00

#1 A tin can ukulele!

This is not just a cheap neck stuck to a can or cigar box, this is a new mahogany and walnut neck made to fit this instrument. The body is an italian espresso can with a mahogany bridge. Aquila strings, soprano scale and gotoh tuners. How does it sound? Well kind of like a ukulele made out of a tin can! I will post a youtube video for all the curious out there so you know what you are getting.

Great playability, unique look and sound. You know your collection is missing this!

#2 A Vintage Reed Ukulele (thanks to Antebellum Instruments for an introduction to this brand)

A bug in my ukulele!

2010-02-24T17:14:00.000-08:00

I have restored a lot of old instruments over the years, and I often find weird stuff inside of them. Pencils, gum wrapers, beer tops, huge dustballs are the norm. Today I unwrapped an old ukulele for restoration that I got off ebay. I unpacked it, took it downstairs and started working on the bridge and saddle. a few minutes later, what did I see? A box elder bug crawling through the soundhole! Its not from here, because its winter in Colorado so its pretty much bugless. what a shock!

Re-built Soprano Uke- Chicago made?

2010-02-22T10:29:00.000-08:00

Here is a soprano ukulele most likely made in Chicago in the 1920's. It is made of a beautiful flamed mahogany with a new walnut bridge and fingerboard. It has checkered rope binding and a mahogany neck with new tuners and aquila strings.

Here is the deal: I bought this uke in pieces and it needed major work. I essentially re-built it from the inside out. It has a great sparkly vintage sound but with modern playability and nice sustain and volume for such a small body. When you look close you will see the evidence of all the small repairs needed to get this uke solid again. Despite these small aesthetic issues, the uke is rock solid and a dependable player.

Here is what I did:
-repaired and patched back and front cracks
-re-braced the entire instrument with cedar bracing and added a cedar bridge patch
-added new kerfed linings
-patched small holes and gaps with mahogany and did my best to keep as much old binding as possible
-pulled the old frets and added a mahogany veneer to the neck to make it straight
-added new walnut fingerboard, bridge, saddle and nut
-new tuners and strings
-re-finished with a light oil finish

It's on ebay

DIY Friends Volume 1

2010-02-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

Last night we played with a great band Dovekins. They play cool psychedelic folksy stuff and I love them. They also make cool homemade merchandise to sell at their shows. Their price list should give you an idea of what they do:

As you can see, they are selling Cds, bowties, patches, aprons, fossils, shirts, buttons, sweaters and shells. Most of it is handmade and assembled by hand. Folk on Dovekins!!!!

My Wife's Etsy Site

2010-02-18T18:21:00.000-08:00

My sweetie Nicole makes all kinds of art and craft creations out of felt and recylced materials. Check out her etsy site here

My Embroidery Sampler

2010-02-17T21:15:00.000-08:00

Nicole and I went to Fancy Tiger tonight to take a basic embroidery class. Just like millions of crafty people before us, we learned our basic stitches by making a sampler. All the women on my mom's side have engaged in old timey hand work like this in their day. Quilting, tatting, embroidery, sewing, etc...And I really like it too.

When we were doing the stitches I felt like I new most of them, probably from sleeping under the wool crazy quilt my great grandma made. The only one I suck at is the feather stitch. I even made up some of my own stitches and enjoyed thinking creatively about it.

Below is both our samplers. Can you guess which one is which?

We bought a few more supplies including a book of patterns. I wonder what I will make next?

New Banjo Uke on Ebay!

2010-02-15T13:03:00.000-08:00

I just finished this great baritone scale banjo uke. Here is a link to the ebay auction.

It has a vintage 10 inch spun over banjo rim with a new baritone scale (19 inches) banjo/ukulele neck. It is is strung with nylon strings in re-entrant dgbe tuning, but I could also string it with steel strings if you like.

The new neck and dowel stick are made of two piece honduras mahogany with a rosewood fretboard and koa headplate. There are small brass dots at the 5,7, 10 and 12th frets. It has grover short shaft guitar style tuners with a 14:1 ratio.

The 10 inch vintage pot has new hooks, nuts, tailpiece, tension hoop, head and dowel stick hardware.

Bone nut and maple bridge.

The 10 inch pot is bigger than a banjo uke but smaller than a tenor banjo. When this is combined with the 19 inch scale, it creates a very warm and mellow banjo sound that still can cut through a jam. With the nylon strings it will feel very comfortable for any ukulele player.

The following tunings would be possible with steel strings:
cgda, dgbe, dgbe re-entrant or maybe even gdae (octave lower than mandolin)

The following tunings would be possible with nylon strings:
dgbe, eac#f# or fBbdg re-entrant or linear

and many more!

Please ask any questions, I can also send a short video of the banjo for you.

Another restoration- Gibson Tenor Ukulele

2010-02-12T17:55:00.001-08:00

Lizzie, who plays with Ukulele Loki's Gadabout Orchestra told me at the Denver Uke Fest that her boyfriend had her grandmother's ukulele and it needed some work. When I went to pick it up it turned out to be a Gibson Style 1 Tenor! The bridge pin holes were worn out so I plugged them, re-drilled and put new pins and strings on it. That was all it needed! This uke sounds fantastic! Bright and loud, more like a concert than a tenor. Notice the unique body shape and the 12 fret neck. The only thing I don't like about these is that Gibson used the same headstock for soprano and tenor, it seems small for a tenor! The original keystone shaped tuners still work great, fyi!

Denver Ukulele Festival

2010-02-11T13:23:00.000-08:00

Denver uke fest was great again this year. Sold out and lots of fun! IT is great to throw a big party next year and have Swallow Hill and the general public support it so much! Highlights include: great collaborations with BAS and James Hill, Danielle Ate the Sandwich and the Canote Brothers. Ryan from Eleanor playing a soprano uke I built. I sold two banjo ukes and a cigar box uke. And hanging out with Char and Gordon from Myamoe ukuleles!

Also, our peeps Amy and Jason from Mad Tea Party crashed the party and we had a great time!

I know Gordon and Char of Mya-Moe Ukes have been uploading video footage on their youtube page:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=gordonmayer#g/u

Here are some photo done by Brian Carney:
http://www.photogbrian.com/Music/uke-swallow/11170238_z6XSy#783243943_Uoe3T

Two Banjo Uke Restorations

2010-02-08T18:10:00.000-08:00

Here are two banjo ukes I am restoring for customers. The first is labeled "wizard" and is made of good quality maple and rosewood. It has a seven inch head, soprano scale and all the original hardware! There is a nice maple cap on the pot and a nice rosewood fingerboard. All I had to do was change the head and strings and dress the frets. The inside is signed by the original and only owner: Louise Ward Gaylord.

The other one is one of the all aluminum dixie banjo uke.
I love the engineering on these, too bad they don't sound like much! The neck and fingerboard are all one piece cast aluminum. The tuners are integrated and so is the nut. All I had to do is change the head.

Boulder Theater Pictures

2010-02-08T08:32:00.000-08:00

We had a great show at the Boulder Theater on Friday that was a benefit for Pine Ridge Reservation. Elephant Revival, Laura Goldhammer and Reed Foehl also played. Check out these cool pictures, sorry they are really small!

Some Ukes For The Denver Uke Fest

2010-02-03T12:02:00.000-08:00

Black Concert Banjo Uke
Amber Concert Banjo Uke
Amber Tenor Banjo Uke

Mahogany Hawaiian Style Soprano
Spruce and Mahogany (red stain) Hawaiian Style Concert
Tiple (Mine!)
Cigar Box Uke
Koa Tenor (For Yannick)

Cigar Box Ukulele

2010-01-27T18:44:00.000-08:00

I got a cigar box from my Grandfather that came out of his attic.

It is a "Havana Seconds" cigar box made of solid cedar. It is sometime before WWII, I imagine. I thinned the original top, braced it, inlayed a simple walnut rosette and built a maple/walnut neck, bridge and fingerboard.

It took me four tries to glue the neck on! It turns it the cedar panel I was gluing it to was too soft and flexible to take the butt joint. Instead I replaced the pannel with a piece of cherry with a nice big mahogany heel block. I then sunk two bolts through it into the neck and its solid as a rock!

I put a fret wire saddle, bone nut, gotoh friction tuners and aquila strings. I tuned it up to D tuning and it sounds great. Decent tone and volume for a small box.

Also, I built it with a scale that is one fret short of normal soprano scale and 13 frets. It will be for sale at the Denver Uke Fest and then on Ebay if needed.

Hangin' with Danielle ate the Sandwhich

2010-01-22T08:39:00.000-08:00

Come to the Denver Ukulele Festival!

Fingerstyle Ukulele Instructional Vid

2010-01-19T17:22:00.000-08:00

I made a clawhammer ukulele instructional video a few years ago and the success of it has been a shock to me. I finally got around to doing a fingerstyle instructional video. Enjoy!

xmas presents for nicole and aaron

2010-01-06T21:13:00.000-08:00

Nicole and I both got some great presents for xmas. Nicole got a new tattoo on her foot from Dawn Grace at the Tattoo Factory in Chicago. http://www.dawngrace.com/

I got a new myrtle reso uke from Myamoe ukuleles. www.myamoe.com/ Wot wot!!!

The old home place

2009-12-29T17:37:00.000-08:00

My father and grandfather took me today to see the barn that was built by my great great grandfather Samuel Keim. He built it in 1899 after the big tornado destroyed his property in Carol County, IL. It hasn't been used in at least 20 years but they wanted to take me up in the hay loft to see the old construction. The original beams and framing are reused from the barn that blew down in in 1898. Wood pegs and square nails are the norm. Many of the beams are 8 inches by 8 inches and many of the wall boards and floor boards are solid pine as wide as 18-20 inches. My father told me that you could have played basketball or roller skated up there back in the day and I believe it. It seems to be all pine or larch construction and the pins are 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick driven through the beams. We took a couple of souveniers: a hay bale hook that was likely used by many men in my family and a pine board 16 inches wide, three feet long and one inch thick. I imagine I will run it through the thickness sander and see if its useful for anything!

Check out the posts where they wrapped extra pieces of bailing wire over the years. It is likey 70 years of bailing wire saved "just in case."

Black Jack Daisy

2009-12-17T21:45:00.001-08:00

Kids Concert!

2009-12-17T20:32:00.000-08:00

My wife Nicole had a concert with her elementary school kids tonight. Her drumming ensemble played 3 songs and then her choir sang 7 songs. I ran the sound which I always do for her concerts when I am not on the road. The big hit was "The Reindeer Prom," which included a dancing cameo by the other teachers! My favorite part is that 5 girls wore the same dress and 3 other girls wore another!

Here is a picture!

Concert Ukulele On Ebay

2009-12-16T23:01:00.000-08:00

I just posted a new uke I built on ebay. Check out the curvy shape and vintage red stain. Papa likes! Spruce top, mahogany back and sides, walnut fingerboard and bridge. It is light enough to project well but sturdy enough for a nice tone. I used two fan braces on the top.

Check it out here!

MTP

2009-12-16T08:56:00.000-08:00

My New Reso Uke on the way!

2009-12-13T15:42:00.000-08:00

Check out my new reso that is on the way from Gordon and Char from Myamoe!

http://www.myamoeukuleles.com/gallery.php

Even though I build my own ukes, I still am a player and collector at heart. I also have ukes made by Mike DaSilva, Marc Schoenberger and Myamoe!

I asked for all domestic woods, peghed tuners and a concert sized body. They had never made a concert reso, but were interested in giving it a whirl! I will make a video when it comes in the mail this week!

Denver Uke Fest!

2009-12-09T14:47:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody- Check out this cool video from last year's Denver Ukulele Festival.

Also, you can click here to learn more about this year's event on Feb 6th.

http://events.swallowhill.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=911

My new Tiple

2009-12-07T15:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I got my tiple strung up and its pretty cool. Instead of going with the Martin design, I chose to do this instead:
-Slightly smaller tenor size body but with full Tiple body depth.
-Scale length is one fret between concert and tenor, with the body joining at 13th fret.
-Fan braced straight grain pine top
-cherry sides and walnut back (scraps from the shop)
-Two piece mahogany neck with walnut veneer under ebony fingerboard.
-Mandolin style bridge and tailpiece

A tiple is basically a steel string ukulele with 10 strings. It sort of sounds like a mixture between a uke and a 12 string guitar.

The sound is full and has lots of overtones. Even with really low action and perfect frets it is still pretty hard to play though. I plan on letting it sit around under tension to see if it explodes before I put a few more coats of finish on it. I did epoxy the neck on, so I feel pretty good about that joint. I am interested in seeingif it is over or under braced!

fingerpicks

2009-12-02T23:24:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, we added Neil McCormick to Boulder Acoustic Society on upright bass. That means that I have switched over to guitar/5 string banjo/lap steel/ukulele. Here is a picture of my fingerpick "rig" - two alaska picks duct taped to my fingers and a national thumb pick. I use it for all these instruments unless I am playing "clawhammer" style. I have to tape them on because I do a lot of down strokes as well as up strokes and regular finger picking. Long story short, the alaska picks often go flying off when "rocking out" so I tape them on. Enjoy!

Xmas Recording Session

2009-12-01T23:44:00.000-08:00

Our friend and graphic designer Greg Carr is putting together an xmas cd again this year and he asked me to put together a tune for it. I worked up a little cowboy style waltz of Silent Night. I tracked ukulele (a mahogany soprano I built), slide guitar (1930's Oahu Jumbo tuned to open C) and harmonica. Turns out I suck at harmonica worse than I ever imagined.

See That My Grave Is Kept Clean

2009-11-30T14:44:00.001-08:00

Tenor Beansprout is Done

2009-11-30T13:44:00.001-08:00

I finally got a Beansprout done with a tenor scale neck. Here it is next to my road weary concert scale beansprout. I will have a video up soon.

The Koa Tenor

2009-11-27T20:58:00.000-08:00

The tenor for my friend in Belgium is a little farther along. It has a smaller body shape than most tenors, but it is deeper than normal. I have a 17inch scaled neck that will join at the 14th fret. It is loud, deep and thumpy when you tap the top. I can't wait to get it strung up and see how it sounds. I plan on making a tiple in December from the same size and shape!

Fruit Turkey

2009-11-27T20:56:00.001-08:00

This is a turkey made of fruit. It was created by my wife Nicole. It was festive.