The tenor ukulele with the inlay of a tiger is finally done. I began working on this last March with a client in New York City who wanted a special inlay. We finally settled on this image of a tiger standing on a cliff overlooking a large body of water with hills and mountains in the background above which are high-flying geese, and above it all on the head stock, the moon reflecting light on clouds trailing across the night sky. The inlay material include six varieties of reconstituted stone, white, black and gold mother of pearl, paua abalone, and a bit of bone (the tiger’s teeth).
The body of the instrument (including the bindings) is all figured koa with no small amount of curl. The neck is mahogany and the bridge, fingerboard (what little you can see), and head plate are ebony.