Da Silva Custom Bearclaw Spruce/Curly Mango Tenor Ukulele w/Tweed case

Mike Da Silva is the Godfather of the modern Ukulele. A world renowned luthier and designer who has had intentional and unintentional influence on many of the modern Ukulele brands and designs that are common place across the world today (Flight, Kala, AnueNue) - basically, if its blingy and elaborate - theres that Da Silva DNA in the build.

Da Silva became an A list Ukulele brand when he collaborated with James Hill on his signature model in the late 2000's. Nearly 20 years later; Mike continues to build some of the most wonderful ukuleles in the world out of his Berkley workshop. At NAMM 2026 we were literally fighting over his available instruments with our good friend Andreas from Gute Ukulele in Germany. This Bear Claw Spruce and Mango Tenor just spoke to me - even from across the room with a million musical instruments blasting out around me, I just knew this was special.

Bear Claw Spruce is given its name because of the character in the wood; the part of the wood that is cut and preserves the natural wear and tear of nature. The point at which an animal marked the grain and changed it creating unusual shimmering, almost holographic features in woods like Spruce that typically grow very straight and remain largely unaffected in look along the grain as it grows. This wood always sounds good and is a rare bucking of the trend where a wood that normally looks plain but sounds fantastic manages to look absolutely stunning and sound it too.

Mike paired this top up with some of the most beautiful Curly Mango we have ever seen. The best mango is complex looking and creates a sound unique from one to the next and this piece of wood not only has those complex curly bits of contrasting wood grain running throughout but also has some lighter shades of pink and seemingly all of the colours of the rainbow. Truly stunning - the sound too! Spruce and Mango together is one of the most popular Ukulele tonewood combinations of all time for a reason.

The rosette may look like something unusual like bone but it is actually Corian; a synthetic and workable material often used for Nuts and Saddles as well as dyed and stained to produce kitchen counter tops. Here it has a wonderful creamy look giving this instrument its own identity.

Specification:
Solid Bear Claw Spruce top
Solid Curly Mango back and sides
Tenor 17'' scale length
Corian rosette, bound with 3ply and tortoiseshell celluloid
Gotoh UPT planetary tuners
Clear fluorocarbon strings (high G GCEA)
Corian Front and back binding
Imitation abalone fret inlays
Hawaiian Koa Faceplate & Front Binding
Santos Rosewood fingerboard
Santos Rosewood bridge
Bone nut and saddle
38mm nut width (measures at 39mm)
29mm string spacing at nut
Deluxe tweed woodshell hard case