USED Boat Paddle (by Hoffman Lutherie) Solid Cedar/Walnut Ukulele in case

This is a lovely, cleverly built tenor ukulele by Jerry Hoffmann, now of Hoffmann Lutherie (then trading as Boat Paddle). The first thing you notice is just how light it is! The trick to making a ukulele sing is to make it light in weight, and stiff in construction.

This uke is one of the lightest tenors we have ever held, and as a result its voice is really eager, with the sound just leaping out. The clever bit of the construction is the cantilevered neck joint, which whilst saving weight seems to add stiffness, allowing more vibration of the top.

The top is western red cedar, and the back and sides are a beautiful cut of American walnut. The two combine to make a full, rich and warm tone, accentuated by the choice of Worth Brown strings, which work really nicely. One nice feature is the pinned nut, which allows the player to try any strings of any gauge without the need to fettle the nut in any way. So, you can try all the strings in all the gauges in all the materials and all the configurations with impunity. Pretty cool!

Tuning is a doddle with the peghed planetary geared machine heads, which have all the benefits of geared tuners with all the cool styling of rear facing friction pegs. They have a vintage vibe which sits really well with the plain styling of the uke.

This uke has been played and loved, and sports some playwear on the top bout, where fingernails or plectrums have made marks. The rest of the uke is in really good order indeed. So cosmetically, a 7/10, but this uke has loads of life left to live.

Specification:
Solid western red cedar top
Solid American walnut back and sides
Oil rubbed finish
Ebony fretboard and bridge
Bone nut and saddle
Pinned nut design
Saddle compensated to take low G nicely
433mm scale length
37mm nut width with 29mm G to A string spacing
Peghed planetary geared tuners
Made in 2013
Woodshell hard case in faux gatorskin included

Overseas customers: please be aware that you will be charged VAT as well as Import Duty and Customs Clearance fees on this ukulele!