Following the special featured -Headway JT Series Special Feature-Ukulele HUS-1AS-, comes this Japanese ukulele!
Usually, guitars and ukuleles mostly use wood imported from overseas such as those originating in the Americas and Africa, however, there are many kinds of wood that are not so well known and are viable options to use within Japanese wood.
With that said, the reason you rarely see guitars and ukeleles made out of Japanese materials is also due to these materials being sometimes hard to work with and hard to produce at a reasonable price.
In recent years, Headway and other Deviser brands are actively using Japanese materials in an attempt to convey the attractiveness and positive qualities of Japanese materials to people, even if they are difficult to manufacture.
This time, we will feature a ukulele that is perfect for the summer created by Headway using Japanese materials.
The first one will probably be familiar to Headway fans! A cherry wood Model, the -HUS-ALL SAKURA'19-
About cherry wood
It is a wood that has been traditionally used for furniture such as desks in Japan and it’s, in general, a very familiar tree for Japanese people covering entire fields within Japan due to its sheer beauty.
Cherry tree wood has an amazing grain and a beautiful unique color, but it requires advanced techniques and technology for its production.
It takes a lot of time and labor because the craftsmen have to manually make corrections depending on the tree each time they are cut and bent.
Because we can dry the wood in-house, we have the know-how to make many cherry blossom model acoustic guitars.
Sound quality
Since it is a relatively hard wood, it has a gorgeous high-pitched tone that gives a crisp, crunchy tone.
In addition, cherry tree wood is also used for the neck and fingerboard, resulting in a tighter tone.
The finish coating is also very thin, so you can feel the texture of the wood.
Also, because of this, you get a great tone true to the material without alterations to the sound.
Using a special bracing design developed by master builder Yasuo Momose.
It’s a strong structure that will ensure not only a great sound but also great durability as well.
Of course, the material used for bracing is also a domestically produced wood, -Kuromatsu-, or black pine.
Features
The biggest feature of this model is that the body, neck, and fretboard are all made of cherry wood.
The color that you could call a pale pink is a not often seen color unique to cherry blossom trees.
The size of the body makes it easy to handle, and it is soprano-sized for a very ukulele-like sound.
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 position markers are represented by gently falling petals that give the instrument a refined look.
Truly a ukulele that looks feels and sounds like the cherry blossoms.
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 SAKURA
Neck・・・SAKURA 1P
Fingerboard・・・SAKURA
Nut and Saddle・・・Bone
Machine heads・・・GOTOH/UPTL-UBN-GG
Scale・・・345ｍｍ
Nut Width・・・35.0ｍｍ
Product page here!
