Seilen Concert Model Featuring Rare Bocote Wood with Striking Grain Patterns
This instrument is a concert ukulele with a body made from bocote, a rare wood from Central and South America, and was a show model exhibited at the Tokyo Handcraft Guitar Fes.
Bocote is also known as Rio Grande Palisander, an exotic precious wood with strong black stripe patterns and a unique luster. Its beautiful grain has earned it the name "Jewel of the Forest."
While this wood is used for high-end furniture, billiard cues, and musical instruments, it is very rarely used for ukuleles, making this a valuable model with very few previous examples produced by Seilen.
In addition to the distinctive grain of the bocote adorning the body, curly maple is used for the rosette and binding, and abalone with a vibrant blue-green shimmer is used for the purfling, further enhancing the presence of the bocote.
The sound offers depth and power with clear articulation, and its appealing resonance allows you to distinctly feel the presence of each note. The bouncy sound, characteristic of bocote wood with its high resin content, is also a feature.
This is a special instrument where you can fully enjoy the individuality and beauty unique to rare woods.
Seilen is a ukulele workshop run by Shinji Takahashi in the Tateshina Central Plateau in Chino City, Nagano Prefecture.
Takahashi began his career in 1980 at an electric guitar manufacturing company, and became independent at the age of 23. In 2006, he won the Grand Prize at an exhibition hosted by the Ukulele Guild of Hawaii, and has also received high praise at the NAMM Show and other events.
He is known for carefully crafting instruments using carefully selected wood from around the world, combining his sensibility, technique and experience, and personally managing every process. He has earned the trust of both Japan and overseas as one of Japan's leading ukulele makers.
