Coast Ukulele - 'The Water Tower' Salvaged Western Red Cedar/Myrtle Tenor Ukulele #74

First of all, let me start by saying that this Coast tenor ukulele is in the top 1% of Luthier built instruments I have played in my 16 years of working with ukuleles here at Southern Ukulele Store.

Having followed Kawai and the Coast ukulele brand from its inception in 2020; I had eagerly awaited holding one for the first time and seeing if the Aloha spirit that Kawai radiates in his social media posts could really be carried over into his ukuleles.

I am delighted to showcase this very special tenor uke with a unique story. The overall vibe and presentation of these instruments have been outstanding, a joy to behold and a joy to play. They have an understated almost traditional beauty to them despite the elaborate look of the live edge soundhole. Kawaii's progression from an enthusiastic hobby builder to one of the worlds best instrument makers is beautiful to behold. As a man who has spent nearly half of my life selling or playing ukuleles, I feel blessed to have anything Kawaii wants to build for us.

Kawai likes to say that his whole family is involved in the building of his ukuleles and although I don't feel it appropriate to discuss the heartbreaking journey they have been on, you can read more about it by browsing the photos attached to this listing. As a team of young fathers here at SUS ourselves, we feel personally invested in this lovely persons journey to become a ukulele master. We can't sing their praises enough based on the warmth they bring to the ukulele world and the quality of the instruments themselves.

This is only the fifth uke Kawai has built for us at SUS and our brief to him was 'make us something that inspires you'. What we didn't expect was for Kawai to locate a beautiful piece of salvaged Western red cedar from a Seattle, Washington based water tower and then turn it into an old water tower themed ukulele!

Western red cedar and myrtle are such a beautiful tonewood combination... They feel and sound very 'West Coast USA' with projection and warmth. Myrtle is under-rated but has a lovey reflective personality. I find it similar to some maple ukuleles in that it has a soft release to each note. Pairing that up with the cedar top makes for a very loud and yet very mellow ukulele.

The water tower feature from the top is mirrored in the rosette and headstock inlays of the instrument itself. The soundhole has been made to look like a water tower and the headstock has a very artistic inlayed water tower faceplate. 

It's a 'tone machine' - we love it... the other ukes in the shop must be jealous.

This ukulele is made in Petaluma, California. Coast ukuleles may be a new name to many of you reading this but it certainly won't be the last time you find yourself inspired by one.

Specification:
Salvaged Western red cedar top
Myrtle back and sides
Stablized Myrtle fingerboard, walnut bridge
Walnut binding and accents
Twin side ports
Myrtle neck
12'' fingerboard radius
Zero fret
Carbonfibre truss rod
Bone nut and saddle
Gotoh planetary tuners
Waterbased gloss finish
Crossrock hard case included with Coast tag