Peter Moss ukulele solo - medley on Pete Howlett tenor

I've posted before about Peter Moss and his return to the wooden uke, and about the beautiful custom tenor uke that Pete Howlett built for him - well, here it is, played to perfection.... tuned to Bb.

Peter writes "I've had fun with this Pete Howlett Tenor Ukulele in the last 2 months or so. One night I dropped on "Feelings" and on consecutive nights, the other classic tunes fell into place. I hope who ever listens to this recognizes what a wonderful instrument this is and for me, an absolute joy to play. Thank you Mr H."

How can we not, Peter; how can we not - simply sublime.

Ready! Peter Moss's new Pete Howlett uke!

What Peter Moss has been waiting for... just completed.... watch this space for first video performance!

For fine ukuleles hand-built in the UK, find Pete Howlett ukuleles here...

By Pete Howlett - Peter Moss's new custom-built ukulele in English Cherry

So - that's why Peter Moss was visiting the renowned ukulele luthier Pete Howlett at his workshop in Wales - Pete is building him a new performance signature ukulele ... and, courtesy Of Peter Moss, here it is in the first stages of build.




The body is English cherry and the neck is alder. My dream exactly - a perfectly-crafted Pete Howlett ukulele made of beautiful English woods.... the fingerboard is ebony and the inlay is green marble-type. What a beauty that is going to be. And in the hands of a virtuoso player like Peter Moss, it will sing like the angels..... we just have to be patient and wait a while until it's finished to hear it.

Do check out Peter Moss's YouTube channel, and Pete Howlett's website - see my previous post for links!

And coming up - more info on this great ukulele and banjolele player....

It's the last day of summer, but......"Yes Sir, That's My Baby" - from Eugene Ukulele

Another stunning performance by one of my favourite ukulele players! Played on a custom Bruko curly maple soprano ukulele.

Popular standard written in 1925; music Walter Donaldson, lyrics Gus Kahn. Those two wrote wrote some wonderful songs that have lasted nearly 90 years...Another one is "My Baby Just Cares for Me"... see some more songs with lyrics by Gus Kahn here.

And for this wonderful morning, the last day of summer, when at 10.00 a.m in my garden the sky and the air were so beautiful it just took my breath away..... this video is just perfect.

The song has basic chords and a common chord progression - it's what Eugene does with them that's so, so skilful... the finger-picking between the chords and the "add-ons".... that performance is brilliant in my book, and it's one I'm going to study!

Thanks for sharing, Eugene! And a wonderful morning to you down under, too! Down there, spring must be in the air! Aaah.....

If I Could Design my Own Ukulele.....

There was a thread on the Ukulele Underground Forum the other day, along the lines of "What would your dream ukulele be like?" As I'm on the look-out for a new, pretty, excellent-sounding ukulele it set me thinking. I've drooled over the beautiful custom-built ukuleles made by luthiers - works of art in wood, they are, and some are highly decorated with various inlays. If money were no object, what would I commission for myself? Would it be an instrument built of solid koa, with a rosette of abalone and inlays of turquoise? With binding down the sides of the finger-board?

I went to sleep last night dreaming up my perfect ukulele! And here it is - or would be - in my dreams!

It would have to sound sweet and loud.

It would be a long-neck soprano, or a concert, traditional figure-eight shape, round sound hole - built with woods with a beautiful grain, ideally but not essentially grown in the UK, ideally recycled from some beautiful but unwanted furniture. (We're talking Dream Ukulele here!)

Binding on the body not necessary, but a beautiful rosette - not rope pattern. That's for guitars, in my book. The rosette could be inlays of other woods, perhaps with a little mother-of-pearl, but not necessarily. The finish on the body would be satin - not matt, not glossy. Just look well-polished. French-polished, most likely.

No binding on the finger-board but there would be inlaid markers, perhaps tiny flowers like pimpernels at spaces 5, 7, 10, and 12.

The headstock would be solid, shaped nicely at the top in keeping with the traditional look of the whole instrument, with good friction tuners and dark buttons.

There would be a "green man" inlaid or somehow fashioned onto the headstock. The whole instrument would breathe "wildwood", integrity, and would ooze craftsmanship and quality. And beg to be played.

Ah me - that's my daydream for today!

Paul's Custom Uke

Here begins a tale of one man's case of UAS - Ukulele Aquisition Syndrome, or to give it its Latin name, needus ukuleleus. UAS is very, very common among the ukulele-playing community. A collection of five to ten ukuleles in various sizes and woods is not at all uncommon......Paul is a mate on the wonderful Ukulele Underground Forum. He begins his tale thus:

"If there is such a thing as the UAS (ukulele aquisition syndrome) bug, the little blighter bit me twice! I started of with a lovely little Lanikai soprano and fell head over heels in love with the ukulele! Chords were a little easier than the guitar, which I played for 25 years leading up to this, the sweet honey tones simply had me captivated. Then, my better half announced that she had ordered me an 'Oscar Schmidt' concert for valentines! Oh how I love her...Ah...The first thing I did was change the strings to a set of low G Aquila Nylguts. The sound was just beautiful and very different to my Lanikai. Then I heard people talking about solid wood ukuleles and how amazing they sounded and there my next mission began. A few weeks ago I bought myself an Ohana Tenor, all solid mahogany with a cutaway and she is a stunner! So warm and mellow, with sustain for weeks! I also recently commissioned a luthier to build me something rather special. Here are the first pictures; the actual woods which will make up my custom treasure!

Western red cedar - top

Macassar ebony - sides and bottom






Watch this space! Paul"

Reports from Paul to follow from time to time, as the build progresses!