David designed this instrument as a variation of his iconic bowl-back lap steel guitar, drawing inspiration from having built several lutes during the 1970s. It’s meant to be played as a lap steel guitar and features four un-plucked sympathetic drone strings which have individually scooped saddles.
Top: Sitka spruce
Body: Honduras rosewood & Western maple
Fingerboard: Indian ebony
Binding: Indian ebony with rope marquetry purfling
Inlay: Abalone diamond fingerboard inlay & mother-of-pearl peghead “Dart” logo
This handcrafted A5 combines reclaimed and locally sourced tonewoods with fine appointments. The redwood top and cherry body yield a warm, articulate voice, while ebony fittings and abalone inlay add elegance and durability. Built with Dart’s trademark attention to detail, this mandolin balances responsiveness, projection, and visual artistry.
Top: Reclaimed old-growth redwood (Mendocino County, Calif.)
Back & Neck: Cherry (Anderson Valley, Mendocino County, Calif.)
Hand-carved maple and spruce construction gives this 15” archtop a clear, balanced voice with excellent projection. Premium tonewoods and traditional appointments highlight both playability and understated elegance.
This handcrafted tenor ukulele features a body, neck, and sides built entirely from Monterey cypress, a tonewood prized for its warm, open voice and light responsiveness. Paired with an Indian ebony fingerboard and heelcap, the instrument balances golden, resonant mids with a clear, articulate top end.
A comfortable 17” scale provides excellent projection and sustain while maintaining the effortless playability of a tenor. The satin finish allows the natural beauty of the cypress to shine while giving a smooth, organic feel in the hands.
Fitted with a bone nut and saddle for optimal tonal transfer, and Pegheds planetary geared tuners (4:1 ratio) for precise yet traditional-looking tuning, this ukulele is built for both reliability and refined performance.
The result is an instrument that blends understated elegance with expressive musicality—ideal for players seeking a responsive, lightweight tenor that sings with clarity and warmth.
David’s kept this wood in his collection for decades. It comes from a tree in Angola, Africa, harvested by his grandfather in the 1920s. The top is master-grade Sitka spruce, which has been curing in David’s shop for over twenty years. This is only the second guitar made from this spectacular quilted wood; his son Eli has the other one — a 00-sized guitar with a pointed cutaway.
Quilted old growth African hardwood back & sides
Sitka spruce top (Ketchikan, Alaska)
Ebony fingerboard, bridge, and peghead overlay
Honduras mahogany neck
Boxwood body, neck and peghead binding, back stripe, and heelcap
Abalone body, neck, and peghead purfling
Abalone soundhole & fingerboard diamonds inlay
Peghead inlay features canine howling at the moon (mother of pearl, curly koa)
After building carved top & back mandolin-family instruments for over fifty years, David built this custom archtop with a 15″ lower bout for our friend Dan, a talented musician and composer.
Custom-ordered A-5 mandolin with abalone “butterflies” peghead & fingerboard inlay. The customer asked for a similar inlay motif to match a D-12 dreadnought guitar he’d ordered a few years prior.
Figured black walnut neck, back, and sides (California)
Curly redwood top (Mendocino County, California)
Indian ebony fingerboard, finger rest, bridge, & peghead overlay Curly maple binding
