greenscoe
Well-known member
Last week, on the island of Madeira (the ancestral home of the uke), I visited the small workshop of luthier Carlos Jorge Pereira Rodrigues and son. He was most welcoming and described his workshop as chaotic: the photos give you some idea.
They make a range of traditional instruments to order, have no stock, and sell only directly from the workshop. Though they had a small store of timber such as spruce, rosewood and maple, they mainly use wood grown on the island. Several types of cedar grow on the island but are used as one of the possible neck woods rather than for soundboards. A local heavy, dark timber was used for fretboards.
They use mainly hand tools, have no drum sander or resaw bandsaw but hope to buy these in the future. They have small bandsaws and table saws and a drill press. They sometimes have wood sawn or thickness sanded elsewhere. Rosettes were cut by hand though a laminate cutter was used for bindings. Templates and a jig were used to cut fretboards on a small table saw. Titebond original was the only adhesive in use. The instruments were finished in shellac. I showed them photos of some of my instruments and told them about Tru Oil which they were keen to try.
They had a large number of templates and moulds and always build the box, cut a tapered dovetail with saw and chisel and add the neck. Necks were single piece or scarf jointed and often employed wooded pegs not machine heads. Sides were bent by hand and mostly solid linings used (kerfed linings only on guitars).
The son was making a small batch of soprano sized braguinhas (beech) for a local school (130 Euros each). The father several tenor sized instrument with 5 strings (oak or beech back and sides). All were of very light construction. They do not make ukes though are often asked to do so. I was shown videos on the internet of musicians playing their instruments: the classical guitar, the Portuguese guitar (photo), braguinhas, etc. I was told a classical guitar could be made for 1500-3000 Euros.
It was clear Carlos enjoyed his work: the son said his father spent much time meeting musicians and other visitors to the workshop, all of which slowed down progress (but contributed to orders). They were clearly not earning much, but that won’t be a surprise to forum members.
They make a range of traditional instruments to order, have no stock, and sell only directly from the workshop. Though they had a small store of timber such as spruce, rosewood and maple, they mainly use wood grown on the island. Several types of cedar grow on the island but are used as one of the possible neck woods rather than for soundboards. A local heavy, dark timber was used for fretboards.
They use mainly hand tools, have no drum sander or resaw bandsaw but hope to buy these in the future. They have small bandsaws and table saws and a drill press. They sometimes have wood sawn or thickness sanded elsewhere. Rosettes were cut by hand though a laminate cutter was used for bindings. Templates and a jig were used to cut fretboards on a small table saw. Titebond original was the only adhesive in use. The instruments were finished in shellac. I showed them photos of some of my instruments and told them about Tru Oil which they were keen to try.
They had a large number of templates and moulds and always build the box, cut a tapered dovetail with saw and chisel and add the neck. Necks were single piece or scarf jointed and often employed wooded pegs not machine heads. Sides were bent by hand and mostly solid linings used (kerfed linings only on guitars).
The son was making a small batch of soprano sized braguinhas (beech) for a local school (130 Euros each). The father several tenor sized instrument with 5 strings (oak or beech back and sides). All were of very light construction. They do not make ukes though are often asked to do so. I was shown videos on the internet of musicians playing their instruments: the classical guitar, the Portuguese guitar (photo), braguinhas, etc. I was told a classical guitar could be made for 1500-3000 Euros.
It was clear Carlos enjoyed his work: the son said his father spent much time meeting musicians and other visitors to the workshop, all of which slowed down progress (but contributed to orders). They were clearly not earning much, but that won’t be a surprise to forum members.
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