The Sinker Flea

Here's a beautiful "Sinker Redwood" topped Flea that was custom-made for reader Casey Morgan.

In case you were wondering (we sure were), Sinker Redwood is cut from logs that sank during transportation down river to the northern California sawmills in years gone by. Recently reclaimed from the depths, this wood has a unique beauty all its own. The mineral deposits and salts that have leached into the wood for the last 100 years or so from the river-bottom environment have caused the wood to become slightly petrified. Ten times harder than regular redwood, it is said that the partial petrification of the Sinker Redwood gives instruments made from it a brighter sound than a normal redwood-topped instrument, while still maintaining the bell-like high tone characteristic of cedar-topped instruments, yet with more of the complex characteristics of spruce.

Whew! In any case, when Casey sent in some photos of his beautiful Flea and asked if we'd be interested in featuring it in The Flea Museum, we eagerly agreed and asked him to write up a few lines about how it all came to be, and this is what he wrote:

I love the Flea ukuleles, and was really excited when I learned they are now making concert-necked Fleas. Then I bought a Concert Surf Flea at the SoCal Ukulele Festival and the scale length seemed a perfect fit for me. It was then that I knew for sure that I wanted a unique Flea! I also build instruments, too, so I had bought some "sinker redwood" tops. It's a true native Californian wood, and, as such, I had thought of gifting it to my good friend from Northern California.

I knew from reading descriptions of the Koa instruments on The Flea Museum website that a custom-made Flea may be possible, so I phoned the nice folks at the Flea company and discussed the idea with them. They asked me to send my Sinker Redwood top material to master luthier, Mike DaSilva, to be spec'd to his tolerances, so I mailed the top to him and then it was made into my Flea, with a walnut neck, rosewood fretboard, bubinga bridge, and strung with Aquila Nylgut strings, too. Surprisingly, it was much the same price as a regular Koa Flea, plus, of course, the extra charges for the upgrade for concert scale, etc. I also bought a hard case for it, which is beautiful and fits perfectly, too.

I believe it sounds unreal. My friends who have played it are all impressed. The sound is real crisp, or bell-like. The notes seem to ring a little longer than my other Flea, and it has a different sound when picked as well. It wasn't cheap, but it feels "just right" in my paws, so I think I'll keep the Flea and gift my friend something else!"