Hanging with the LoPrinzi's (Shop Tour)!!!

Spooner

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Aloha UU peeps!

I recently had to ride off into the sunset to tend to a 4 day music festival that I got together...but I'm back...and seepie. lol.

I've missed this place...even though I have only been an "active" member since April.

Just so you didn't think I forgot about you...I brought back some goodies for everyone!

My event took place in Florida and it just so happened that it wasn't all that far from the very busy and talented luthiers in Clearwater, FL.
You know their ukes as LoPrinzi!!!

I had the unique opportunity to stop in and have a look around their shop...and boy did I learn alot!

Donna LoPrinzi welcomed me into their showroom and much to my amazement...they only had ONE...I say ONE ukulele in stock! It was one of their "standard" concerts. I am more of a tenor guy myself but spent some time playing this one. The look and sound was great!

LoPrinzi ukes are in high demand right now and they are definitely back logged with orders! As we all know internet ukulele sales are way up and their ukes are flying off the shelves before they're even made!

Onto the tour....

Donna told me much about the history of her dad Augustino and how everything evolved into what it is today. Donna is the primary builder of LoPrinzi ukes these days (as well as Augustino Guitars). Auggie puts in a few hours a day but he spends more of his time exploring one of his passons that took a back seat...gun engraving. So if you have a LoPrinzi uke...remember that Donna puts much of her work into these and deserves a great deal of kudos!

She took me all around the shop. There were different areas on the production line...inlays...finish...cutting...sanding. Let me just say that this was a WORKING shop! You could definitely pick up the different "flavors" of wood depending on the room you were in.

Since they make guitars and ukuleles, there were finished and unfinished models everywhere. Their guitars are called Augustino's while the ukes are LoPrinzi's.

I got to see every stage of uke/guitar building while on my excursion of the LoPrinzi shop. I had to ask Donna how she kept track of all of the instruments being built. I mean...there were so many of them in production!

One very interesting subject she touched on was the "sound" of a uke. This struck me as interesting because she the sound she was talking about had nothing to do with the instrument being finished and strung up! It had alot to do with thickness sanding and where she knew the "sound" was. I may not be describing this very well as I had just spent 4 days in the sun lol. The fact that I spent too much time in the "spray room" might have something to do with it as well.

We talked of different woods and how she preferred to make ukes over guitars simply because uke players are much more open to new styles and different woods. Whereas guitar players (classical in this case) have more of a traditional mindset.

One wood that she was quite excited about was Bishop. Donna has made a few guitars and ukes out of this wood. From my understanding, Bishop is a tree in FL. that you can not cut down. It's illegal. It was only when the hurricane winds came in and knocked a Bishop tree down that she was able to get her hands on it.

Donna made mention that our very own MGM picked up one of these babies at one of the festivals. She tild me hoe MGM would go down uke by uke picking strings one at a time and as he went down the line would say "I'll take this one. I'll take that one...." It was told to me that MGM didn't even get through the picking of one of the Bishop LoPrinzi ukes when he said "Oh...I'll take that!" Now, if the LoPrinzi's AND MGM say Bishop is good..well...there you have it!
Needless to say there isn't much of this stuff around. As a matter of fact, Donna kept the very first guitar she made out of Bishop...and she doesn't play!!!

One other notable story was that they made another guitar out of this wood and they thought it sounded horrible. Auggie told her to just put it way somewhere. Six months later in "the closet" Donna went looking for something. She came across the guitar and decided to see what it was up to these days. one strum is all it took to make her eyes light. The Bishop guitar had opened up and became one of the best sounding instruments she had ever heard!

We covered fan bracing techniques, sound ports, various fret board materials and just about everything you can think of. Donna was most hospitable as was Augustino! Auggie was working next door on his "new" passion and I asked if I could take a picture. Proving to be the class act that he is known for, he got to a stopping point and came over to oblige.

Oddly enough, a friend of mine who played over the weekend at my festival mentioned that he had picked up a mandolin in Europe a number of years ago and it was an Augustino. Turns out that Augustino Loprinzi made some mandolins way back under that very same name!
Augustino has made well over 5 figures in instruments in his day and Donna is getting close to that 5 figure mark now! From what I saw lying around the shop...it looks like there are about 2,000 in the works...but then again...I may have spent too much time in the spray room. :p

I have to say that this was a very memorable experience. Donna and Auggie are two of the nicest people you will meet and have talent that spans generations! If you're ever down in FL you must make it a point to visit the LoPrinzi shop. As a uke player, enthusiast or seasoned builder it will definitely be a learning experience! Just make sure you call ahead of time to make an appointment! Tours and showroom visits are by appointment only! Donna spent a few hours with me talking ukes, building and history and I am quite thankful for the time that she and her dad Augustino gave.

They are very gracious hosts as well as kind and generous people!

I put together a quickie photo gallery for all of you UU peeps to check out. I hope you enjoy it and see a glimpse into what I saw on Wednesday afternoon!

Mahalo Donna and Auggie!!!

Check out the slideshow!!!!
 
Thanks for sharing your reflections on visiting the LoPrinzi's shop, Spooner. :D They're great people who make wonderful instruments. The obvious question is, did you put in an order and, if so, for what? Perhaps one made of the special Bishop wood?
 
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Thanks for sharing your reflections on visiting the LoPrinzi's shop, Spooner. :D They're great people who make wonderful instruments. The obvious question is, did you put in an order and, if so, for what? Perhaps one made of the special Bishop wood?

I didn't put an order in per se.
The UAS has been overpowering me lately.
Currently I have a custom uke being made for me now.

I did plant the seed for some Bishop though. ;)
 
Dude... I live in the town next to clearwater.. and you didn't call?


I'm Hurt.


Had I known I definitely would have.
It was also kind of a last minute idea to head over.
I was down for this music festival thing and that consumed all of my time.
I did manage to find a window to check out their shop though.
I'm real glad it worked out!
Next time. :)
 
Nice pics and cool story! Is it really just the two of them that make all those?
 
Thanks Spooner. Clearwater isn't far from me. I'll have to drive up the road and pay them a visit. Do they mind a little drool on their ukes? lol
 
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