Official Luthiers Forum!

I plan on making a ukulele from scratch sometime soon. I have some cherry, mahogany, koa and walnut. The cherry I was going to use for the neck because it's the only piece that's the right size. I know koa and mahogany are traditional woods for a ukulele but would walnut or cherry be a bad idea?

I'm just looking for thoughts and suggestions.

I have worked with walnut on several occassions, and have been thrilled with the results. It makes a fine guitar, and I am sure it will make a fine ukulele. In my experience, it bends easily, and requires some pore filling during finishing, and it is not a relatively expensive wood. However, if you want to stay true to the roots of the uke, then koa would be the way to go. I don't know if you have a flamed piece of koa, or a simple, straight-grained piece, but either one would look nice.

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Jake Archer
~~Make a joyful noise unto the Lord~~

Hey! walnut and cherry would be fine heres a link to a place that use both woods in a soprano uke
http://www.onlyuke.com/html/dollars_ukuleles.html

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Zac

Anchorage Alaska

Finshed my 1st! See #1 here

I have a cherry uke.... and it is astoundingly good sounding! In fact, I would even go so far as to say that I like the sound better than my vintage Martin ukes.
Its pretty cool looking wood too. This one "moves" like maple depending on the angle of view.





Cherry for the neck is lovely too.



Rod