Looking for Uke setup recommendations in MD, VA, and DC area.

lele_2018

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Can anyone recommend me a good luthier to setup my uke? Maryland/Northern Virginia/DC area. Thanks
 
I can't vouch for their setups and I haven't purchased a uke there, but you might check out Fan Guitar and Ukulele (uke-fan.com) in Richmond, VA. I stopped by there one time when I was in Richmond for some meetings, and they've got a nice little shop carrying a range of ukuleles (budget to K-brands as well as a local luthier). We spent a lot of time just hanging out and talking ukes, and they seemed very knowledgeable and willing to do whatever was necessary to serve the customer. I almost pulled the trigger on a Kala tenor there and they offered to put my name on it and put it in the back for a week or so until I made a decision, and I was impressed with that as it could have cost them a sale if I called back and declined. (I told them not to do it since I didn't want it to cost them a sale.) The owner has played professionally and worked and managed a music shop in Hawaii before opening up this shop in VA. All in all, I had a great experience. After visiting there I would have no reservations about purchasing a uke from there or going to them for a setup.

Also, the name is Fan Guitar and Uke, but it's a uke shop first. The front half of the store is all ukes and the back half is guitars with over half of the inventory being ukes.
 
Fan Guitar & Uke also post a lot of good ukulele video reviews on You Tube. When I read the post by mikhou, I knew their name sounded familiar.
 
thank you so much mikhou and RafterGirl for your recommendation. Yes, Fan Guitar & Uke was also my first consideration after doing some research. I once purchased an uke from their website years ago, but never been to their shop. It will take about 2 hours driving for me, I think it will worth it. again, really appreciate it:)
 
Thank you so much for this information, I did not know Mim is in VA. That is really great, one more local place to shop for uke;) Will check with them, Hope it will be closer to my house. Thank you:)
 
Another recommendation for Mim, (if she does outside work anyway). I bought several from her over the years and they’re always well done
 
Mim is in Floyd, VA (actually "Meadows of Dan", south of Roanoke), so if you're in northern Va, it might be a bit of a drive. She'll work on other ukes (not sold by her) while at festivals, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't take in outside work at the shop. She keeps plenty busy just with her own inventory! Do pay her a visit, though. It's worth it just to meet and chat with her. She's awesome and carries a ton of excellent instruments.

Thank you so much for this information, I did not know Mim is in VA. That is really great, one more local place to shop for uke;) Will check with them, Hope it will be closer to my house. Thank you:)
 
thank you, kenikas and Snargle, I will definitely visit her shop one day soon, I saw her videos since a few year ago on youtube, and she has good range of awesome ukes. Thank you again for this information :)
 
Mim did a set up workshop at the Richmond festival a couple of years ago, showing how you can do it yourself.

And yes, she seems to set them up at festivals when she has time. I bet she will be at the Richmond festival this year and probably at Funky Frets festival also...
 
lele_2018, even though I mentioned Fan Uke, I love my Ohana concert that I bought from Mim. The setup was perfect and she's great to deal with. As others have said, I'm not sure if she does setups on ukes that she doesn't sell, but it would be worth an email or a phone call.
 
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