How Do You Order your Custom Uke?

I had a conversation with my good friend, Pete Hilton, a month back and wanted to get some feedback from you fine people that have ordered instruments from builders, mainly how do you order your custom uke?

Many people, I would assume, once they pick out the builder (and the specific model/size of uke), start diving into the specifics: the tone woods, the hardware, the materials, etc.. The builder will respond, the uke will be made and enjoyed by the buyer, who got to pick out as much - or as little - as they wanted.

Conversely, when I went to Jerry at Boat Paddle to have my M-Style made, I said "This is the sound I'm looking for. Will this achieve it?" From there, I relied more on his experience with building his ukes to help me get the sound I want. Later we talked some of the aesthetic choices. For me, the tonal goal was more important, and Jerry nailed it.

So, which way have you approached having your custom uke built?

A combination but usually I picked the builder based on past instruments so I know in general how it's going to sound. After, I tell him what wood I like and general preferences. Then it's up to the builder to decide how involved I should be. Most builders seem to like input to get the client feeling like they are part of the process and I assume to try to minimize disagreements in the future.

They had a thread in Luthier's Lounge and it seems like builders hate it when you ask if the builder can make a uke like " INSERT ANY FAMOUS BUILDER" but cheaper.

When I visited Scott Wise's shop in Australia, I asked him to build me a tenor and a baritone. I asked him to take as much time as he needed to build what he thought was right.

For a Mya-Moe tenor resonator I knew the "look" that I wanted and ordered specifically the quilted maple with rope binging, the tear drop shaped sound holes and a pickup.

With my current one that is being built, it's been a little of both. I mentioned the sound that I'd like and also a previous build that I thought sounded great. I had a few thoughts on wood, mostly as far as color goes. What I ended up with is not any of my original choices but it is in the color range that I wanted and I am very excited about it.

The details of some of the trimmings have changed a bit as we've gone along (i.e. the headstock got blingy ), and it's turning out to be just beautiful; a lot like I imagined originally, but so much better!

I have a Moore Bettah. I initially wrote to Chuck asking if he would consider making me an ukulele with a flamingo on it. (I had already settled on him being the luthier for me.). It took a while for him to take on the project. Once we settled on him making it, all I told him was -- super-concert, koa, pick-up and flamingo and price. I admire all of Chuck's work. So, I let him loose on it. With a little bit (okay, a lot) of begging for a sound hole design of some sort. I believe even up until the day before he started, the sound hole design was not on his radar. Inspiration did strike though. Anyway.......I left things up to Chuck. Here is why I think most people should let the luthier alone -- we admire their work enough to want one. We like the style and sound. Why wouldn't we think they will make us THE one for us? Maybe I am naive, but we gotta trust them.

Know what? My ukulele is PERFECT for me. I about dropped over when I first saw my sound hole. It is gorgeous. I'm glad I let Chuck do his thing, not my thing.

From a builder's perspective:

Some of the favorite...and best...instruments we've built here in my shop have been those that happened when a client came in and said, "What would you build next for yourself?" Or, "Got any ideas for something cool that you've not built before?"

Now we're talking!

That's how our octave/baritone/travel guitar line of mini-jumbos have come about. And I'm working on a banjola that is basically the same thing...new cittern-like shape, cat's eye soundholes, 5 string banjo tuning...this for a guy who has a couple of my guitars and wanted something new.

Rick Turner said:

From a builder's perspective:

Some of the favorite...and best...instruments we've built here in my shop have been those that happened when a client came in and said, "What would you build next for yourself?" Or, "Got any ideas for something cool that you've not built before?"

Now we're talking!

That's how our octave/baritone/travel guitar line of mini-jumbos have come about. And I'm working on a banjola that is basically the same thing...new cittern-like shape, cat's eye soundholes, 5 string banjo tuning...this for a guy who has a couple of my guitars and wanted something new.

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Hi Rick

I think this works with you because you'll redo something if you're not satisfied with the final product...I think you did that with the Keliyama's uke (side soundport only and none of top). I don't think all luthiers will do that.

And speaking of what I want to build next for myself...it's going to be a 16 fret to the body tenor with a two fret extended neck to be tuned a whole step down...F, Bb, D, G. I'll capo it up to standard tuning for a lot of stuff, but then take the capo off for some of the jazz stuff we do in alternate keys. Kind of like a Pete Seeger banjo, but two frets longer instead of three.

Yes, that's what we did on that sideport-only uke. I wasn't happy with the first go-around, so we trashed that top and made a new one, and I came up with an entirely new bracing scheme.

Yeah, we ate it on that, but the end result was really good.

It's definitely a process to find the right match of features, price, sound, and aesthetics - and schedule. Some of it can be answered through web sites, reviews, etc. without bothering some builders. I'm sure I would love a Moore Bettah or Compass Rose but I know they're out of my league price-wise so there is no point in me contacting them. I have contacted builders and asked about certain features I was interested in and gotten the answer "I don't really do that" - which is fair.

There is a balance between getting what you want and giving the builder freedom to build what they want (or what they are good at). Neither party should be offended if those don't line up - it's just not a good match for that project.

i do as much homework i can on the builder.....try to speak with them directly and through emails...
lately i pick my tonewoods(back and sides) try to decide together on the top...and my style of playing, mostly fingerstyle.....
tell him what options(binding,purfling,rosette etc....) i like...

then I stay away completely....

i figure i am paying for the builders experience and knowledge...so let them do what they do best.....

but most important is Trust in the builder....not price or how the ukes look(tone very important though)....

my 2 cents

Change orders and incomplete communication are the banes of the luthier's existence. I've had all too many folks change their minds too late...the worst was on a 12 string guitar that was spec'd out in excruciating detail on paper and signed off upon by the client. The neck had my usual "A" line peghead with full abalone purfling and ivoroid binding. At one point the client came to my shop, looked at the work in progress, and blithely asked if I could make the neck "look more like a Martin." I wrote her a check for her deposit money and told her to go to Guitar Center post haste...and buy a Martin.

Communication...the record was 130 exchanges of emails. Do you have any idea how much time that took away from building the instrument?

Be kind to your luthier. This stuff ain't easy...neither the building itself nor the business of it all. I'm in hands on at moving past 4,500 instruments now...full building, doing machining, spraying finishes, etc. Yes, a lot with employee help, but there's not an instrument of that 4,500 that I've not done some of the important work on. The building has gotten a bit easier. The selling and customer relations have not.

Rick Turner said:

From a builder's perspective:

Some of the favorite...and best...instruments we've built here in my shop have been those that happened when a client came in and said, "What would you build next for yourself?" Or, "Got any ideas for something cool that you've not built before?"

Now we're talking!

That's how our octave/baritone/travel guitar line of mini-jumbos have come about. And I'm working on a banjola that is basically the same thing...new cittern-like shape, cat's eye soundholes, 5 string banjo tuning...this for a guy who has a couple of my guitars and wanted something new.

Click to expand...

I'm the fortunate recipient of a steel string baritone ukulele and an octave ukulele, niether of which Rick had built one of at the time I went to visit him. When I visited his shop, to duiscuss a custom ukulele with him, the topic of baritone ukuleles came up and Rick mentioned that he was in the process of designing and building a prototype, and that he was going to try stringing it GCEA an octave lower than tenor. He actually said he wanted to build an octave ukulele for himself. That sounded like a great idea to me, but I had also asked him about steel string ukuleles. I ended up asking for both an octave ukulele and a steel string tenor. What I like about Rick's process - I got to know him a bit before talking to him about a cutom because I had taken his "Build an Ukulele in Four Days" workshop - is that I think it helps when a builder is really enthusiastic about a project, and I understood from speaking with him on my visit to his shop that he was reaaly excited about desiging a baritone body and experiementing with octave-lower GCEA tuning. My takeaway from this experience is when I speak to a luthier now, I want to know what enthuses him or her. I buelieve that every luthier I've had the pleasure to meet puts his or her soul into each instrument he or she builds, but at the same time, I want my build to be an adventure (in a good way) for the luthier as well as for me. I think it ultimately comes down to finding a luthier you trust and then just trusting him or her.

I took a chance many months ago to go to Bruce Wei in Vietnam. There has been a lot of bad mouthing of the ukes sold from his eBay, site, but when I saw that does custom work, I contacted him. He told me he concentrates on customs, the ukes sold on his site are built by others. We emailed for a few weeks discussing details, and at a point I went for it, at half the price of luthiers I contacted in North America.

He sent me a basic drawing of the uke, I took that and drew up a detailed drawing. As I waited, I did get some positive feedback from a couple of UU members who got custom ukes from Bruce. It took about 60 days to deliver, and it came out beautifully. The only problem was the tailpiece had a bone tie bar underneath that cracked apart when I changed the strings, so he's making another all steel backed tailpiece.

I've now ordered three ukes, a mahogany mandolele (1) that also came good, but I decided I wanted a black gloss mandolele (2) so I'm selling the mahogany, and a bass uke (3) with custom gig bag.

I'd contact the builder about my request after I've already decided on all the materials and specifications that I'd want in my dream uke. My uke's specifications are very basic so I try to keep communication to a minimum, only asking what is needed to ask and not pester him about things that don't matter so he can get on with his work (unless he contacts me).

To me just saying "Build what you want" (while fine in itself) is more like pre-ordering a spec instrument than ordering a custom.

I most admire customs that are clearly that specific builder's work, but also say something about the owner. (Even if they have to beg a lot to get it. )

Hi Kohanmike! Where did you get that epic custom gig bag???? I'm also working with Bruce Wei on a custom fretboard for a concert uke im building!
Thanks and have a great day!!!!
Nancy

Perhaps the most important distinctions to make when ordering a custom instrument are those between the sonic and functional aspects of the design vs. the aesthetic (jewelry) aspects. More experienced luthiers can help guide you through that dense thicket of design choices; some, like Chuck Moore, can beautifully balance the musical part of the equation with the artistic. Less experienced luthiers often go for the bling at the expense of playability and sound. For instance, over the years I've seen relatively inexperienced guitar makers who have good woodworking chops utterly fail when it comes to understanding playability; their fret work simply sucks. Why? Because, in my opinion, if you haven't been working at it for years as a builder or if you haven't worked as a repair luthier in a busy shop doing at least five fret level, crown, and polish jobs a week for a couple of years, you just don't "get it". You haven't seen enough problem instruments and solved the issues unique to so many.

When you go to a builder like Chuck or Mike Da Silva or Gordon & Char Mayer or any of the others who have a hundred or many more under their hands, you're getting more than just appearance; you're buying into the builder's experience in making real musical instruments.

Ukes are in a funny place these days. They're still not treated quite like "real musical instruments" even by many of the enthusiasts here on the UU. They're considered to be a kind of consumable fashion object, and in that it's not all that different from the 1920s or 1930s...uke and a canoe and a raccoon coat...strum, strum, strum. It's the uke as an object/center of social interaction which is just fine...hey, I love going to our uke club, too, but it's not so much about really having or listening to a great ukulele. And yet, there are builders making ukes at the level of fine guitars for some players reaching (and/or aspiring to) amazing virtuosity. For a real contrast, check out the mandolin world in which a player like Chris Thile has put about $500,000.00 into owning two early 1920s Gibson F-5 Loar signed instruments, and decent F-5 copies by respected small shop builders start at about $6,000.00, and a used 1999 Gilchrist has an asking price of about $24,000.00. http://www.mandoweb.com/Instruments/Gilchrist-Model+5+Mandolin-1999/2274

Rick Turner said:

Ukes are in a funny place these days. They're still not treated quite like "real musical instruments" even by many of the enthusiasts here on the UU. They're considered to be a kind of consumable fashion object, and in that it's not all that different from the 1920s or 1930s...uke and a canoe and a raccoon coat...strum, strum, strum. It's the uke as an object/center of social interaction which is just fine...hey, I love going to our uke club, too, but it's not so much about really having or listening to a great ukulele. And yet, there are builders making ukes at the level of fine guitars for some players reaching (and/or aspiring to) amazing virtuosity. For a real contrast, check out the mandolin world in which a player like Chris Thile has put about $500,000.00 into owning two early 1920s Gibson F-5 Loar signed instruments, and decent F-5 copies by respected small shop builders start at about $6,000.00, and a used 1999 Gilchrist has an asking price of about $24,000.00. http://www.mandoweb.com/Instruments/Gilchrist-Model+5+Mandolin-1999/2274

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That's a really good observation/comment. Sometimes it seems to me that the ukulele takes on a more collectible aspect as well? Given the price point of many ukuleles, it's very easy to see even a casual player with almost a dozen different ukuleles. And often times, they'll hang up the ukulele as if it's a piece of art to be displayed and enjoyed with their eyes and not their ears.

Rick Turner said:

Change orders and incomplete communication are the banes of the luthier's existence. I've had all too many folks change their minds too late...the worst was on a 12 string guitar that was spec'd out in excruciating detail on paper and signed off upon by the client. The neck had my usual "A" line peghead with full abalone purfling and ivoroid binding. At one point the client came to my shop, looked at the work in progress, and blithely asked if I could make the neck "look more like a Martin." I wrote her a check for her deposit money and told her to go to Guitar Center post haste...and buy a Martin.

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Interesting story! I had something like that happen, but on the customer end. I was talking with a builder of bass guitars (specializing in the oft-imitated Fender style) and was looking at a jazz bass. I had some specs that I wanted, and through our email exchange he mentioned that the specs I wanted weren't something he was willing to do, but I could easily mod it once I got the instrument (we were talking about custom pickups and electronics, as opposed to his preferred brands). After a little thought on the matter, I decided against it mainly because if I was buying a custom instrument, I didn't want to have to mod it, especially if that kind of thing went against the builder's vision in the first place.