Bonham Design Tenor Resonator Ukulele "The Queen" with hard case #43

I cannot tell you how much I look forward to Ben walking into the shop with a hard case in his hands. I remember the first time he did being one of the most serendipitous moments in the life of SUS - after all, it's not every day a world class luthier like Ben (ex Mya-Moe) walks in asking if you want to sell one of his instruments. So this time, we knew he was coming and the anticipation, excitement and expectation was all the greater.

And boy, has he delivered, in every sense. This tenor resonator ukulele just reeks of class; the figured (extra fancy, as Ben puts it!) black walnut has depths to it that photos just cannot capture. Whilst the spruce is plainer looking than some other woods, it is made more interesting by the addition of the walnut inlays, echoing the circular features.

The soundhole on Ben's Queen resonator ukuleles is far from a cosmetic gimmick. Resonator cones punch a lot of sound out forwards, but a great deal also comes out of the back. That means the choice of woods and size and positioning of the soundhole do have a bearing on the sound. Ben includes this enlarged soundhole to "de-compress" the sound, and boy does it do just that. The Queens sound like a hybrid between a resonator and a traditional ukulele. You still have that dark and dirty Delta quack at the start of the envelope, but it is smoothed out a bit, and the sustain is longer.

The first one of these that we had was made of redwood and myrtle and had a darker, more complex sound, whilst the koa on the second one brightened the sound dramatically. The spruce and walnut combo on this one helps to make this easily the fullest sounding of the three, with more presence and volume when played up the neck.

Ben is also offering a limited lifetime non-transferable warranty for the original owner. As long as you do not mistreat the instrument, expose it to extremes of temperature or humidity, leave it in the boot of your car, or attempt to modify it then you will have the lifetime warranty safely in place. Contact us for more exact details.

It comes with a road worn fitted black tolex covered woodshell hard case. Ben hand delivered this instrument to us from his home in Oregon, so expect a few marks on the case.

Specification:
Single piece spruce top, with walnut inlays and holly binding
Highly figured black walnut back and sides
Set neck stick thru body design (like national resonators)
National resonator ukulele cone
Custom cover plate
Custom rosewood biscuit and saddle
3 piece roasted flamed maple neck
17 inch scale length
Aquila tenor low G strings with wound low G
Ebony fingerboard with holly inlays
Walnut headplate, with bd logo in holly
Bone nut, 35mm width
Satin finish
Ebony, holly and brass tailpiece
Rosewood and holly hand rest
Grover open backed geared tuners
Fitted woodshell hard case