2019 Covered Bridge Concert Ukulele

April 06, 2020

2019 Covered Bridge Concert Ukulele

I had an almost-identical Oregon-made Covered Bridge uke for sale a few years ago and am happy to have another back in for sale, too. These are high-quality instruments and you can tell the moment you get one in your hands. The fit and finish is first-rate and the materials are gorgeous. It also, ya know, sounds killer, too.

It sounds a lot like an older Martin concert ukulele with maybe a bit more "creaminess" to the upper-mids and a bit more sustain. Every note on the board is clean and full, but not boomy or "over-eager" in the way a lighter-built instrument can be. That's a satisfying sound in its own right but I think of this handling like a good German classical guitar -- hard to compress and overdrive.

This guy is basically brand-new save for a tiny scratch at the soundhole and another near the G-string peg at the headstock. It has a tightly-grained redwood top, flamed black walnut back and sides, flamed maple binding, a mahogany neck, and ebony bridge and fretboard. Both the nut and saddle are bone.

It uses through-top stringing to anchor the strings which is my favorite type -- you pass the strings through the bridge holes, pull them out the soundhole, knot them up into ball-ends, and then tug them back tight against the bridge plate and up to the tuners.

The tuners are Pegheds 4:1 geared (like modern banjo pegs) but they look like old friction pegs.

Repairs included: just a restring and setup.

Setup notes: it plays perfectly, with 1/16" action at the 12th fret and a straight neck. Strings are D'Addario fluorocarbon.

Scale length: 15"

Nut width: 1 7/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 1/16"

String spacing at bridge: 1 3/4"

Body length: 11"

Lower bout width: 7 7/8"

Waist width: 5"

Upper bout width: 6 3/16"

Side depth at endpin: 3 1/8"