Custom Pepe Romero Tenor Ukulele

Circa. 2020. Preowned. Beautiful and rare Pepe Romero Jr. Tenor Ukulele handcrafted by Pepe in San Diego, California.

Pepe Romero Biography

Pepe Romero Jr. was born into a family that lives the Spanish guitar.  From his childhood Pepe loved the guitar.  He grew up playing some of the world’s greatest guitars from the incredible collection of his father.  Growing up surrounded by guitars made by Torres, Esteso, Santos Hernandez, Hauser, and Miguel Rodriguez set the standard for how a guitar should be made.

At 18 years old Pepe went to the workshop of Dake Traphagen to build a guitar.  Upon completion of this guitar, Pepe decided to dedicate himself to being a builder.  In 1997, Pepe was lucky enough to spend time in the workshop of Miguel Rodriguez shortly before he passed away.  He moved on to study with and receive guidance from J.L. Romanillos, Manuel Contreras II, Yuris Zeltins and Edmund Blöchinger.  Pepe and Blöchinger have become great friends and have made 2 guitars together.

Pepe is heavily influenced by the Rodriguez guitars.  His style of building is very similar to Rodriguez.  He is also inspired by the elegant look and beautiful sound of the guitars by Santos Hernandez and Domingo Esteso. As of spring 2017, Pepe has made over 275 guitars.  Each one is hand crafted and built in the traditional spanish method.  His guitars are in great demand by concert guitarists and collectors worldwide.  He has a waiting list of about 2-3 years for new guitars. He has handcrafted a relatively small number of ukuleles in comparison to his guitars but they play beautifully and have a focus on tone, sustain, and projection.

This custom Pepe Romero Jr. tenor ukulele is regarded as the “Grand Tenor” model and was handcrafted of figured Walnut back and sides with a torrefied spruce soundboard. Rosewood fingerboard and bridge with a matching head plate, and an Ebony wood top and back binding. The ukulele also features a beautiful red and black themed rope rosette with matching red-black top purfling in keeping with the theme of the instrument. Abalone shell position markers on 5, 7, 10 and 12 with fourteen frets to the body and eighteen overall frets to the sound hole. French polish finish. Gotoh 4:1 geared tuners for precise and quick tuning. The instrument also has two  plastic pick guards – one on the top side of the upper bout and one on the lower side of the upper bout with a minor cosmetic scratch in the surface of the soundboard that is slightly below the pick guard on the ‘A’ string side of the ukulele.

The tone is something special with a balanced low end and quick-response with excellent balance. A snappy high end as well with exceptional power, great sustain, and lots of projection.  A wonderful ukulele perfect for both the professional musician and the recreational ukulele player. ID#230117

Price: SOLD