Fretboard and Bridge Blanks

A new order of Gidgee and Mulga fretboard and bridge blanks has arrived, and will be used on the next range of all Australian timber MAKAIO ukuleles. These timber pieces were bought from Loggerheads (Graham Naughton), who sources his timber from the dry areas of central Queensland. This order has both a plain and a ring figured set of both timber species. The ringed Gidgee fretboard is probably the nicest fretboard I have ever seen, and I’m looking forward to using it on a very special ukulele that will show off the best tonewoods that Australia has to offer. In my opinion Gidgee is arguably one of the best timbers that can be used for acoustic instrument fretboards, as it is more beautiful than Rosewood while also being harder than Ebony. Gidgee and Mulga are both Australian native hardwood Acacia species, and are relatively fast growing. Harvesting these timbers for use in specialist craft industries such as lutherie is more sustainable than the use of traditional tonewoods such as Ebony, and also supports other small Australian businesses such as Loggerheads, that provide exceptional quality materials.

Ringed and Plain Gidgee Fretboard Blanks

Lightly Figured and Plain Mulga Fretboard and Bridge Blanks

T004 Tru-Oil Finish

MAKAIO Ukuleles are finished using an oil varnish product called Tru-oil, which is a special blend of linseed and other natural oils. Application of an oil finish such as this is a slow process of thin coats and long periods of drying. For this ukulele, the Tru-oil finish was applied without prior pore filling, as the timbers used in this ukulele are fine grained and only have small pores.

The Tru-oil finish is applied by starting with two very thin coats of oil, which serve to seal the timber surface without soaking into the timber significantly. This is particularly important for softwood soundboards such as Bunya Pine. Following these two base coats, a further six heavier oil coats are then applied with one day of drying time between each coat. The oil finish is then allowed to cure for several days before being level sanded using fine grit sandpaper. Following this a further 4 coats of oil were applied with about two days drying time between each coat. Finally, the uke is allowed to cure for almost a week before the finish is sanded and polished with micro mesh polishing paper.

This process produces a hard and light finish which is tonally excellent, aesthetically beautiful, and can also be easily repaired in the future.

Too4 Tenor Ukulele oil finish - hanging to dry

Tasmanian "Tiger" Myrtle back and sides

T004 Headstock, Neck, and Fretboard

Having completed the tap tuning and inlay of the body, its time to again work on the headstock, neck, and fretboard of the ukulele. This uke will have a slotted headstock in the same style as classical guitars. This is not standard for ukuleles, and I have spent many hours working on the 3d design of the headstock in CAD, to make sure that the string angle over the nut is correct, and to ensure that the strings pass freely to each of the tuner posts. Unfortunately there have been no high quality ukulele tuners manufactured for slotted head instruments, so I have adopted the headstock design to work with geared guitar tuners. I have selected Gotoh SEP700 tuners for this instrument.

Shaped and slotted headstock

The necks of MAKAIO Ukuleles are thin and have a compound C shaped spline profile, and when combined with the radiused fretboard, this gives the ukes a fast and light feel. The timber selected for the fretboard of this ukulele is a lovely piece of native Australian Mulga from Tim Spittle at Australian Tonewoods. When sanded out to fine grit, the red and brown streaks through the fretboard are stunning, and complement the rest of the timber in the uke beautifully.