Almost all ukuleles from China come from only TWO factories?

So I was visiting a popular and favorite ukulele shop and the owner told me something I hadn't heard before. He said that almost all ukuleles made in China come from only two factories. The owners provide their specs and designs and the factories build them.

Has anyone else heard this? I've long known that Kalas and Lanikais come from the same factory but ... all the other major (made-in-China) brands too?

GVlog said:

So I was visiting a popular and favorite ukulele shop and the owner told me something I hadn't heard before. He said that almost all ukuleles made in China come from only two factories. The owners provide their specs and designs and the factories build them.

Has anyone else heard this? I've long known that Kalas and Lanikais come from the same factory but ... all the other major (made-in-China) brands too?

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it wouldn't surprise me. I mean look at the ukes. Many of them look very similar. Also, why would each company have their own factory? There is nothing special about them, just mass produced candy for us addicts. It is the final touch that some dealers or owners put on them that seperate them.

We have seen pictures of the inside of the Koaloha, Flea, Kamaka, and serveral other small manufacturers. Anyone got any pictures of the big factories where Kalas, Ohanas, Lanikais, etc are made?

That would seem to be correct. Kalas, Lanikais, etc,re identical. same bracing, same gears, strings, etc. the company just goes to the factory ad gives his material and hardware specs and presto chango, more Chinese ukes! In fairness, they can make some really nice ukes, like the Ohana and Mainlines, you just pay more fo rthe quality that you want. They can make some real beauties.

This isn't surprising at all. Most products from there are manufactured in one or two plants. The Chinese have manufacturing down to a fine science. Thier factories are state-of-the-art. They can manufacture crappy, or really nice products, depending on the specs the ukulele seller provides, according to what they are willing to pay.

doesnt suprise me either... I've heard that about allot of manufacturing over there really though..

go to alibaba.com and type in ukulele and you too can be a ukulele company lol.

It's not surprising at all..
Several years ago I worked in a bike shop. We designed our own line of bikes and had them built in china.
We had a saying. For every bike we ordered they built 3. One for us, One for the competitor. And for themselves to sell under their own brand name..

mandrew said:

That would seem to be correct. Kalas, Lanikais, etc,re identical. same bracing, same gears, strings, etc. the company just goes to the factory ad gives his material and hardware specs and presto chango, more Chinese ukes! In fairness, they can make some really nice ukes, like the Ohana and Mainlines, you just pay more fo rthe quality that you want. They can make some real beauties.

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I think you mean MAINLANDS not Mainlines.

I don't know this for an iron-clad FACT, but have good reason to believe that Ohanas and Mainlands are made in the same factory as one another. Not the same factory as Kala/Lanikai, but apparently the OTHER factory. Nothing wrong with that, IMO. They do a good job!

Viola Harpstrings said:

This isn't surprising at all. Most products from there are manufactured in one or two plants. The Chinese have manufacturing down to a fine science. Thier factories are state-of-the-art. They can manufacture crappy, or really nice products, depending on the specs the ukulele seller provides, according to what they are willing to pay.

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And to a certain extent the percentage of ukes the seller is willing to toss on the kindling pile. Even the nicer ones coming out of those factories have a fairly high incidence of flaws and the setups are typically pretty poor. The difference between a Kala or Lanikai and the generally nicer ukes like Mainland is in how much inspection and setup the seller (i.e. Mainland) puts into them. That's why I recommend only purchasing Kala or Lanikai, etc., from a seller who is going to inspect them and set them up so you don't have to play ukulele roulette (hey, that would be a good name for a song). MGM is not the only guy who set up Lanikais and Kalas but he is one of the best and I hope he gets well soon because the uke world needs guys like him (and the other Mikes, Mim, etc, of course).

John

Looking at alibaba and other such sites, it's clear that there are way more than just two factories producing musical instruments. But some are better than others, it's clear even from their own company descriptions. One such site even has information about setup and theories on sound and tonewoods and all that. The image at least is one of wanting to make good affordable non-sweat-shop instruments. But yeah, some factories look nicer to work with than others. I wish we knew more about these factories and the conditions in which they're built, but other than an unconfirmed reports of decent pay and decent conditions.

There is a lot of speculation concerning where musical instruments are made.

If ukuleles from different brands look very similar it doesn't mean they come from the same factory. Chinese factories copy other chinese factories.

It is a fact that there is only a couple of factorys pumping out most instruments' and there is nothing we in the western world can do about it' as our labour costs can not compete with China they have it down to a fine art.
But I also believe that there is a lot of people that will pay more for custom made instruments.
Regards, Robert

Ok, go look at Alibaba, it's more than a couple of factories... (though it seems exactly none are uke-specific) But thanks for confirming it as a fact with no evidence to back it up.

Not surprising. Back in the late 50s-mid 60s, there was one HUGE factory in Japan that made pretty much every musical instrument in the country. From low-cost to high end - Diastone to Martin. Epiphone and Ibanez, too, all in one plant. Yamaha later built its own factory where all of its musical instruments were built - I was told it was a mile long.

Plainsong said:

Ok, go look at Alibaba, it's more than a couple of factories... (though it seems exactly none are uke-specific) But thanks for confirming it as a fact with no evidence to back it up.

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There are more than a couple of factories but almost all the ukuleles come from 2 factories is a very good theory. Kala is the most produced ukulele out there. If Lanikai is made in the same factory I think that it would be fair to say that 70% of ukuleles come from that one factory alone? Anyone else have a more accurate percentage? It is early and I really don't feel like researching it.

Looking at some of the numbers of employees of some of those Chinese factories, they are as small an operation as someone like Koaloha. It sort of makes the term "factory uke," which is thrown around so much meaningless. Lots of the small operations in the US and elsewhere also use a lot of jigs and machinery, which further makes the term "handmade" relatively meaningless. I remember once MGM saying all ukes are handmade, which I believe to be true as well, plus or minus a few machines.

Building ukuleles isn't rocket science. Its a skilled trade, and in the case of people like Chuck Moore, Pet Howlett, Ken Timms, Sven, Koaloha, Kamaka, and others in our luthier section, a highly skilled one. I think the difference between a "factory uke" and a great one, such as those guys make isn't whether its made in a factory (meaningless term) or hand made (another meaningless term), its how much care the manufacturer puts into the assembly and final adjustments, finishing, and quality control. The Chinese can make high quality anything. Its just how much you want to pay for the QC and care of assembly.

If you prowl woodworking forums, you read time and again that the two main reasons people use power tools and jigs is the speed and accuracy they impart. Its fair to believe that a fretboard made on a good factory machine will be more accurate than one cut by hand in a miter box. I also notice that almost all the factories report how many people are dedicated to QC. I don't think they are a bunch of peasants just slapping things together and being paid 50 cents a day.