This is the second special feature project for Headway's "Japanese Wood Ukulele".
Did you see the first feature of the Cherry tree wood model?
If you haven't done so already, please check out the first article about the Headway Sakura Ukulele.
Click here to check out that article.
By the way, the featured model of this time is a model that uses a -Honoki-, or Japanese whitebark magnolia.
Please take a look at the full article!
Japanese Wood Ukulele Special Model -HSC-HOUNOKI'20-
A picture of Japanese whitebark magnolia
※Picture taken from Wikipedia
Japanese whitebark magnolia trees are native to large areas throughout Japan and have long been used as timber in various places such as furniture and accessories.
The large leaves are also characteristic of the tree and of our local prefecture of Nagano. Those leaves are also used for many different purposes so you could say that it is quite the noble tree.
Sound qualities - Characteristics
As for the sound qualities of this wood, it provides a very gentle and light tone that gives you amazing mid-tones and a volume that resembles that of a soprano ukulele.
For the fingerboard, we used stripped Ebony which boosts the basses and provides good sustain giving a very well-rounded instrument as a result!
The color of the wood is also unique, and the slightly greenish color is an attractive quality that no other wood has.
The grain also has a very unique pattern, that creates a beautiful look.
Additionally, having an instrument made out of this material with its grain exposed like this is very rare and quite a sight to behold, so it ended up a much higher quality product than we anticipated.
GOTOH's UPTL-UBN-GG’s are used for the machine heads. Headway Custom Shop Builder Masato Yasui often recommends these machine heads for ukuleles due to the fact that they look like those found in traditional ukuleles, but with a 4:1 built-in planetary gear, it also presents a great option regarding ease of tuning and stability.
The included gig-bag is also a Headway-themed bag, and in addition to being able to carry it firmly from the shoulder, it can stay standing just resting on the floor.
The large pocket is also an excellent compartment that can hold small items such as a tuner and other useful props.
Specs
Body・・・Solid Hounoki
Neck・・・Sendan 1P
Fingerboard・・・Shimakokutan (Striped Ebony)
Nut & Saddle・・・Bone
Machine heads・・・GOTOH/UPTL-UBN-GG
Scale・・・345ｍｍ
Nut Width・・・35.0ｍｍ
Product Page Here
